The exclusion of Spanish from the New High School Reform

disputes, inconsistencies, and resistance

Abstract

This article offers a critical analysis of the removal of the mandatory teaching of Spanish in Bill 5,130/2023, approved by the Federal Chamber on 07/09/2024, and in Law 14,945/2024, which restructured the New Secondary Education model. Grounded in the framework of linguistic educational policy (Shohamy, 2009; Lagares, 2018; Arnoux, 2020), the study investigates how political, economic, and geopolitical disputes shape the exclusion of Spanish from the Brazilian curriculum. Methodologically, it develops a documentary research approach (Prior, 2003; May, 2004), based on the analysis of linguistic instruments —bills, official documents, and expert statements— published between 2016 and 2024. The central objective is to reconstruct the historical trajectory of Spanish within basic education and to understand the political context that enabled its removal. The results reveal that this decision reflects pressure from private sectors interested in reorganizing public education and a limited conception of plurilingualism that, paradoxically, restricts students’ access to additional languages. Furthermore, the findings highlight a disregard for the established trajectory of teacher education and a distancing from the constitutional principle of Latin American integration. The study concludes that the exclusion of Spanish represents a socio-educational and democratic setback, while resistance movements reaffirm the language as a linguistic right and a tool for inclusion.