Poland and Ukraine reach agreement on language of education for national minorities
At a press conference in Kyiv, Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture and National Heritage Piotr Glińsk says that a mutual understanding has been reached with Ukraine regarding the law on education and its ramifications for the languages of national minorities, UNIAN reports.
“Today, as I just found out, a mutual understanding has been signed – a statement by the leaders of the education departments after the extremely fruitful visit of Minister Zalewska to Ukraine which took place last week, and the mutual understanding achieved with Ukraine,” said Glińsk.
The report mentions that on October 17, Ukrainian Minister of Education and Science Liliya Hryvnevych and Polish Minister of Education Anna Zalewska said that a declaration will be signed guaranteeing representatives of the Polish minority a complete secondary education in Polish schools in Ukraine in their native language, with a gradual increase in the proportion of subjects taught in the Ukrainian language.
On September 25, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed the law “On Education”, the language-related provisions of which (Art. 7 on language of education in Ukraine) caused concern in Poland, Romania, Hungary, Greece and Bulgaria. The new law in Ukraine will introduce a 12-year secondary education, for which the language of the education process and educational institutions will be the official language – Ukrainian.
Poroshenko instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Science to make the necessary consultations with Ukraine’s European partners, especially with the Council of Europe. On September 28, Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin sent article 7 of the law “On Education” to be reviewed by the Venice Commission. Its conclusion on the law will be ready by December.
As reported earlier, Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowsky refused to sign a joint letter with Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó to the Kyiv authorities regarding the Ukrainian law on education.