Criticized by the language ombudsman: what changes in education does the draft law on national minorities propose
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On November 24, the Verkhovna Rada received draft law No. 10288 on national minorities, to which it is planned to introduce, in particular, language changes.
Its text is posted on the institution’s website.
Language ombudsman Taras Kremin criticized the draft law and submitted comments to the Verkhovna Rada.
According to the explanatory note, the draft law is designed to “protect the rights and freedoms of persons belonging to national minorities.”
| The draft law on national minorities – what changes are proposed in the field of education. Photo: illiondigital/Depositphotos |
The impetus for its creation was the decision of the Venice Commission – the Council of Europe’s advisory body on constitutional law, which provides conclusions on the compliance of draft legislative acts with European standards and values.
The introduction of changes in view of it is one of the requirements for joining the EU.
Some of the proposed innovations relate specifically to the field of education. It is the only one, the amendments to which refer only to those languages of national minorities that are official languages of the EU. Therefore, Russian is completely excluded.
Changes proposed in the field of education:
- representatives of national minorities will be able to receive basic and specialized secondary education in their native language, if it is an official language of the EU;
- exceptions among school subjects are Ukrainian language, Ukrainian literature, history of Ukraine and Defense of Ukraine – they must be taught in the state language;
- educational institutions will be able to expand the list of subjects to be studied in the Ukrainian language, in particular, if students or their parents request it;
- private institutions of higher education will have the right to choose the language of instruction, which is an official language of the EU, while the state language must be a mandatory separate discipline;
- representatives of national minorities who started studying in schools before September 1, 2018, will be able to complete it under the new legislation.
First Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Evgeny Kudryavets in a comment for “UP. Life” explained that the new norms are aimed at improving the language situation.
“These changes create conditions where during the entire education there will be a guarantee that children from national minorities will study the Ukrainian language, literature and history at all levels, and then take the external examination, without which it is impossible to graduate from school.
Our task is to create conditions for them to study. Further, their integration into society already depends on other factors.” – explains the deputy minister.
As he notes, about 35,000 children in Ukraine learn languages of national minorities. 18,000 of them are educated in Romanian, 15,000 in Hungarian. Other languages include Slovak, Polish, Czech, and Bulgarian.
“Of course, we are conducting active negotiations with Hungary, including on issues of education. However, they are also being discussed with Romania, for example. This is such a holistic vision in dialogue with everyone, not only with Hungary. This country has much more political demands than educational”, – claims Kudryavets.
He also notes that the proposed changes are Ukraine’s first proactive step towards the result of building good-neighborly relations in the European society.
“Of course, many norms will change and be adjusted. This is an evolutionary process.
As for other areas, there are also exceptions for the Russian language. But the amendments are already being prepared for the first reading. I think that the broader exclusion of the Russian language will be taken into account there.” – says the deputy minister.
The draft law on national minorities was criticized by the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language Taras Kremin. He noted that the outlined changes “will significantly worsen the functioning of the Ukrainian language.”
“I believe that this draft law significantly weakens the guarantees of the rights of representatives of national minorities to study in the state language in educational institutions”, – wrote Kremin.
He submitted relevant observations to the Verkhovna Rada. In particular, their language ombudsman noted that due to the proposed changes, representatives of national minorities will not be able to learn the Ukrainian language at the proper level.
“…actually will return the situation in the field of education to the period before 2017, when in some regions of Ukraine a significant number of those seeking education did not even know the state language at the level necessary for passing the ZNO, as evidenced by the relevant official data.
Such a situation will result in a return at the level of higher education to a system that has a segregation character, the inadmissibility of which is also emphasized by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.” – the document says.
Ex-Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Vice-President for Bachelor’s Programs of KSE Yehor Stadny in a comment for “UP. Life” said that he sees a threat in the new draft law.
“In education, he proposes to return us to the state of things that existed before 2018, when approximately 15-20% of students in Zakarpattia and Chernivtsi regions studied from the first to the last grade in Romanian or Hungarian.
I don’t quite understand why it took 5 years to defend Ukrainian positions and prove to partners in the EU that these children later have a problem with integration and the realization of their rights in Ukraine. The problem has not gone anywhere, how will it be solved now? Well, the second question is more prosaic: this is obviously a concession to Hungary, and for this Hungary will cease to be the mouthpiece of the Kremlin in the EU?”, – Stadny shares his thoughts.
Other changes proposed by the draft law concern the languages of all national minorities. However, they can be applied to Russian only five years after the end of martial law.
It is about:
- creation of special bookstores, in which the share of books in the languages of national minorities should be at least 50%;
- holding cultural and artistic events and events to mark commemorative dates related to the history of national minorities in their native languages;
- changes in norms in the media – the share of the Ukrainian language among broadcasters of national minorities should be at least 30%.
“The norms regarding the mandatory share of books in the state language for publishers and book distributors will be reduced. Also, the presence of the state language on television and radio will be significantly reduced due to changes to the definition of the Ukrainian-language program and the extension of preferences provided for the languages of indigenous peoples to all languages, without exception, of national minorities .
In addition, the proposed postponement of the mentioned provisions for the Russian language for 5 years after the abolition of martial law is not an adequate safeguard against Russification. – Kremin commented on the draft law.
Read also: A draft law on national minorities was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada, which should adjust, in particular, language norms. What do you propose to change in the field of education?
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