The new legal provisions in Ukraine clarify that a mother tongue can be used in all instances not only during school classes, President Nicusor Dan said on Tuesday, when he welcomed the promulgation by Volodymyr Zelenskiy of legislative amendments to the right of national minorities to mother tongue education.
"The new legislative provisions strengthen the legal framework for education in the languages of minorities recognised as official languages of the European Union, along with the Ukrainian language. We believe that, this way, Ukraine strengthens its position as a candidate for integration with the European Union, a process that Romania firmly supports. The new legal provisions clarify that the mother tongue can be used in all circumstances, not just during classes," Dan wrote in a social media post.
He assures that efforts will continue with the community and the Ukrainian authorities so that the implementation of the legislation offers Romanian children the opportunity to learn in their mother tongue, including in the high school cycle.
"To ethnic Romanians in Ukraine and their families, this issue is not an abstract one. It is about the language in which children learn, about preserving their identity and about passing on a cultural heritage for generations. We will continue the honest dialogue with Ukraine, with the conviction that the results of our cooperation will be better and better, to the benefit of both countries. Romania actively promotes its interests, among which the rights of Romanians everywhere occupy a preeminent role," wrote Dan said.
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The right to use the language of an EU minority in school in Ukraine is guaranteed, according to a new law adopted by the Parliament of Romania's neighbouring country, the Ukrainian Embassy in Bucharest said on Tuesday.
The diplomatic mission says in a social media post that Ukarine's Verkhovna Rada parliament passed on Monday the law that secures the educational rights of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine and of the people belonging to national minorities (communities) living in Ukraine
According to the embassy, the new regulations extends the possibilities of exercising educational rights in the mother tongue for the indigenous peoples of Ukraine and for persons belonging to national minorities.
The law establishes a system of complementary guarantees, which concerns the language of instruction, the institutional recognition of schools where teaching is carried out in the languages of national minorities, and establishes the ways of getting parents involved, ensuring cultural identity and guaranteeing the continuity of the educational process.
The new piece of legislation also introduces a new official legal status for the educational establishments of national minorities. A school in which more than 50% of the students study in the language of the respective minority can acquire this status, which can be reflected in the official name of the institution and in its constitution.
School curricula may include the study of the history, material and spiritual culture, traditions, symbols and customs of the respective national minority. That creates for the respective schools a more consistent legal framework in order to support the educational process and preserve cultural identity.
Also, in case of reorganisation or dissolution of a public establishment of general secondary education (secondary and high school education) providing tuition in the language of an indigenous people of Ukraine or a national minority (community) of Ukraine, students are guaranteed the possibility to continue their studies, at the request of their parents, at the appropriate level of general secondary education, in another educational establishment with appropriate status, where tuition is provided in the language of the respective indigenous people or national minority (community) of Ukraine and functioning within the same territorial administration.
