The Rada adopted the law on education in national minority languages: what it provides and why it is important

Today, October 12, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted Law No. 16119 on Ensuring the Educational Rights of Indigenous Peoples and National Minorities by 266 votes in total. The document guarantees the opportunity to receive education in their native language alongside the state language and should bring Ukraine closer to opening the next negotiation clusters for accession to the European Union.

This was reported by the press service of the Verkhovna Rada.

It is noted that the document guarantees children from national minorities and indigenous peoples, whose languages are official languages of the European Union, the right to receive education in their native language alongside the state language.

The law also provides for the possibility of granting schools the status of a general secondary education institution of a national minority. This will be available to institutions where more than 50% of students study in the language of the relevant national minority.

In addition, educational programs should include the study of history and the preservation of material and spiritual culture associated with national identity. Parents will also be able to apply for duplicates of documents on the education of their children in the languages of national minorities.

After the bill was passed, MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak announced that he had instructed the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada to immediately sign the document and send it to the president for signature. According to the bill’s card, at the time of publication, the document was being prepared for signing.

The adoption of the document is one of the steps in the process of Ukraine’s European integration. The issue of educational rights of national minorities, in particular the Hungarian community in Ukraine, was part of the negotiations between Kyiv and Budapest.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orban said that the adoption of the law will bring an intergovernmental conference with Ukraine closer. According to her, the document was prepared within the framework of agreements between Kyiv and Budapest reached in May and June.

The Hungarian side also emphasized the need to monitor the practical implementation of the law. To this end, they plan to create a mixed intergovernmental commission with a subcommittee on education, which should include representatives of Transcarpathia and national minorities.

Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Vsevolod Chentsov previously stated that the adoption of the document could allow Ukraine to open 2 EU negotiation clusters as early as October 13: “Internal Market” and “Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth.”

Thus, the law should regulate the issue of teaching in the languages of national minorities and at the same time contribute to Ukraine’s advancement in negotiations on accession to the European Union.