Ukraine and Poland prepare joint declaration to guarantee that Polish minority will be able to study in their native language
Ukraine and Poland intend to sign a declaration confirming their commitment to ensure and guarantee the rights of the Polish minority to study in their mother tongue. This was announced by the Minister of Education and Science Liliya Hrynevych at a press conference with the Minister of National Education of Poland Anna Zalewska.
"We have started work on a joint document that confirms mutual commitments in terms of the possibility of providing and guaranteeing the rights of the Polish minority to study in their native language," she said. Hrynevych also noted that Ukraine will continue to adhere to the principle of expanding education in the Ukrainian language.
We are talking about the fact that the language norms of the law "On Education" spelled out the possibility of ethnic minorities being taught in their native language, which, in Polish opinion, provides an opportunity for manipulation since the guarantee itself of this possibility is not clearly regulated.
According to Zalewska, the declaration that will be signed within 2-3 days should remove these fears.
The new version of the law on education says that from September 2018, pre-school and primary education can be carried out in the language of national minorities in parallel with learning of the state language. In secondary school, children will begin studying in the state language, and the language of the national minority will be studied as a separate discipline.
The new version of the law "On Education" came into force on September 28. Poland, Hungary, Romania and Moldova expressed concern that the language norms of the amended law "On Education" violate the rights of national minorities in Ukraine.
President Petro Poroshenko is confident that the Venice Commission's conclusions will make it possible to remove all divergent interpretations of the language norms of the law.