NMT in minority languages and new rights for schools — the law on education in minority languages enters into force on Tuesday
Kyiv • UNN
The law enters into force on October 13 and expands the use of the languages of Indigenous peoples and national minorities in education. Schools will be able to obtain the corresponding status.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a bill on ensuring the educational rights of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine and persons belonging to the national minorities (communities) of Ukraine. The document was published in the Holos Ukrainy newspaper on Monday, October 12, UNN reports.
Details
Returned with the signature of the President of Ukraine
On October 12, the document was published in the Verkhovna Rada's official newspaper, Holos Ukrainy.
According to the transitional provisions, the bill "shall enter into force on the day following the day of its publication," that is, on Tuesday, October 13.
According to the adopted bill, the language of the educational process in educational institutions is the state language; however, in an educational institution where a class providing instruction in the language of an indigenous people of Ukraine or a national minority of Ukraine that is an official language of the European Union operates, the right to use the language of the respective indigenous people of Ukraine alongside the state language is guaranteed.
It is established that, at the students' request, the tasks of the multi-subject test/external independent evaluation shall be provided in the language of an indigenous people of Ukraine or a national minority, except for tasks in subjects of the linguistic and literary field.
At parents' request, schools will be able to determine a list of subjects that may be taught in the languages of indigenous peoples. However, the number of requests must exceed ⅔.
Schools in which more than 50% of students receive education in the language of an indigenous people will also have the right to be recognized as national minority general secondary education institutions.
Such schools will have the right to use the respective status in their names and founding documents in the corresponding language of an indigenous people.
Additional information
It should be noted that in November 1992, the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages was signed to protect and promote historical regional and minority languages in Europe.
Ukraine ratified the Charter in 2003, and it entered into force in 2006.
Under the Charter, Ukraine applies its provisions to the following languages: Belarusian, Bulgarian, Gagauz, Hebrew, Yiddish, Karaim, Crimean Tatar, Krymchak, German, Modern Greek, Polish, Romani, Rumei, Romanian, Slovak, Hungarian, Urum, and Czech.
In June this year, Zelenskyy signed Bill No. 14120, which provides for the exclusion of the Russian and Moldovan languages from the list of those protected by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.
Reminder
On October 7, EU ambassadors cleared the way for the start of negotiations within the accession process with Ukraine and Moldova on the single market and competitiveness. Budapest lifted its veto on the talks. Hungary had blocked this step since the summer, demanding that Ukraine adopt legislation concerning the educational rights of national minorities.