“The official language is Spanish”: Petro to those who promote English as a second language in schools

President Gustavo Petro lit the controversy on Tuesday, suggesting during his speech, that in educational institutions English should not be promoted as a second language for boys and girls.

According to the president, this should not be an obligation, Taking into account that laws in Colombia stipulate that Spanish is the official language.

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“A group that tries to privatize education wants to force us to make the second language English. Yes, of course, English is important, but not by obligation as a second official language in schools, by God. The Constitution orders an official language, and is Spanish, ”he said.

The president also questioned that in schools foreign language chairs are taught, but not of native languages of the country.

“I I want students to study English, and German, and French, and Chinese. But the greatest amount of languages in Colombia are not those, they are those of indigenous peoples. And there is one of the blacks, which does not appear, that is not official, ”he added.

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In that sense, CRiticated the decisions of some judicial bodies that have lying appointments of ambassadors of his government not to speak this language.

“Then a magistrate appears out there, that I do not want to criticize, saying that I cannot send ambassadors because they do not have English, and they left the San Carlos school, which is bilingual. This issue must be studied, because there must be education in English, in Chinese and in other languages, but not as an obligation to impose it as a second language. Colombia has an official language, and the others could be when the English English languages, the indigenous languages and others that exist in Colombia recognized as officers, ”he said.

It is worth mentioning that on Tuesday the Foreign Ministry published a draft decree that proposes to modify the requirements to occupy the position of ambassador to Colombia, Eliminating the requirement to master a second language, such as English, currently contemplated in Decree 274 of the year 2000.

According to the justification memory that accompanies the project, The Ministry states that this knowledge is no longer essential for the exercise of the position.

The Foreign Ministry explained that the ambassador’s figure acts as a direct agent of the president in the conduct of foreign relations, so the technical requirements can be flexible according to the priorities of the Executive.

According to the official text, the elimination of the requirement also seeks to reduce social, economic and cultural inequalities, and guarantee a greater representation of people belonging to historically discriminated groups.