The Verkhovna Rada published a draft law on education in national minority languages. Its adoption should help unblock the opening of two negotiation clusters for Ukraine's accession to the EU, which Hungary is blocking. This is reported by reported "Ukrainska Pravda".
In the draft law it is stated that education in schools should be conducted in Ukrainian. At the same time, in classes where students are taught in the language of Ukraine's indigenous people or a national minority language that is an official language of the EU, students can use this language alongside Ukrainian during study and communication at school.
The draft law also introduces the concept of general secondary education institutions with the status of a national minority (community) institution of Ukraine. Such status can be granted to an institution where the number of students educated in the language of a national minority (community) exceeds 50% of the total number of students.
It is allowed for the educational program of an institution with groups taught in national minority languages to include the study of national history by students, the preservation of material and spiritual culture related to national identity, and the preservation and use of national traditions, national symbols, and customs.
Educational documents can also be duplicated in the national minority language upon the request of the student's parents.
In addition, the draft law proposes to grant parents the right to initiate the expansion of the list of subjects taught in Ukrainian. This will require a written application from parents of at least two-thirds of the students in the respective class or group, after which the educational institution will make a relevant decision.
To the draft law reacted Prime Minister of Hungary Péter Magyar. He positively assessed it and noted that this draft law should strengthen the legal guarantees for education in the Hungarian language in Ukraine.
