The UAB rector, Javier Lafuente, has assisted to the first Day about the language within the university and research system, organised by the Generalitat, and which has taken place at the historic enclosure of the Santa Creu and Sant Pau's Hospital (barcelona). Conselour Gemma Geis has announced the implementation of a plan to strenghten Catalan, which is starting to be drawn up, and which will be released in April. The head of the Univiersities and Research Department has thanked the rectors of the catalan universities for their "incorruptible commitment" wih the language, and praised the job done by the language services of the higher education institutions. 

According to Geis, Catalan is the "most used language in the university system". As shown by the data presented by the General Director of Social and Territorial Impact of Knowledge, Xavier Quinquillà, "a 70.5% of the university teaching uses Catalan, a 26.8% uses Spanish and a 22.1% uses other languages". These numbers do not sum up to 100%, and that's because we have to take into account the offer of subjects in more than a language. Then, Catalan is used in the 73.9% of the subjects, a 72.2% use Spanish and a 5.5% use other languages.

Conselour said that "there is room to improve", and that's whi the Generalitat will promote the strenghten plan which has been announced today. The plan will be drawn from the Commitment Against the Educational Crisis, supported by the Catalan Public Universities Association ant the student movement. The plan's purposes are "strenghten the use of catalan as the main language at universities", "to guarantee the language rights", "to improve students' and professors' language competencies", to "increase the use of Catalan in research and transferences" and "to strenghten ties between Catalan-speaking university systems". 

Many cultural, language and university institutions have sent some representation to the ceremony, which has included the intervention of the General Secretary of Language Policy, and two debates in which some students, professors and journalists have participed. 

See the original post at the UAB's Press Room.