Ukraine and Poland signs declaration guaranteeing the right of national minorities to study in their language
Ukraine and Poland signed a declaration guaranteeing the rights of national minorities in the two countries to receive an education in their native language, as reported by the press service of the Ministry of National Education of Poland.
"On Wednesday, October 25, Minister Anna Zalewska reported that the Ministers of Education of Poland and Ukraine signed a Declaration on the Protection of Persons Belonging to National Minorities (the Polish minority in Ukraine and the Ukrainian minority in the Republic of Poland) to study in their native language," the report says.
It was noted that the declaration is the culmination of Polish-Ukrainian negotiations on the language norms of the Ukrainian law "On Education."
According to the new version of the law on education, effective September 2018, preschool and primary education can be implemented in the language of national minorities in parallel with learning the state language. In secondary school, children will begin studying the state language, with the language of the national minority as a separate discipline.
The new version of the law "On Education" came into force on September 28th. Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova have expressed concern that the language norms of the new version of the law violate the rights of national minorities in Ukraine.
On October 19th, Ukraine and Hungary agreed on the implementation of the language norms of the law on education.