18:23 27.09.2017

Ukraine notifies CoE of its intention to send language article for examination by Venice Commission

2 min read
Ukraine notifies CoE of its intention to send language article for examination by Venice Commission

The Ukrainian Education and Science Ministry has sent a letter to the Council of Europe (CoE) announcing its intention to send an article on the language of instruction in the recently adopted education law to the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission).

"The Education Ministry sent a letter to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, where it formally expressed its intention to send Article 7 of the law on education to the Venice Commission," the ministry's press service told Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.

On October 6, Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland and Ukrainian Education and Science Minister Lilia Hrynevych met in Strasbourg (France) on this matter.

The procedures for submitting Article 7 of the education law for examination are continuing. The ministry has already provided the respective documents for this purpose to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, and the latter will forward the document for examination by the Venice Commission.

On September 25, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed the education law passed by the Verkhovna Rada on September 5.

Among other things, the law stipulates that the state language is a language of learning at educational institutions, but one or several subjects in two or more languages, namely, the state language, English and other European Union official languages can be taught in compliance with the educational program. People, who belong to ethnic minorities, are guaranteed the right for learning in the native language along with the Ukrainian language in separate groups of communal pre-school and primary school institutions.

On September 26, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry said that the country intended to block rapprochement between Ukraine and the EU because of the law on education.

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