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Ukraine’s new education law makes Ukrainian the language of instruction in all schools

Source: Mercator Network Newsletter 135: Mercator Research Centre

On 5 September 2017, Ukraine’s Parliament passed a new education law. Expected to come into force in 2020, it will raise teachers’ minimal salaries, and extend the basic education study period from 11 to 12 years. It also states that the entire education process in all educational institutions will be in Ukrainian.

Previously, students in Ukraine were able to study in the language of an ethnic minority living in Ukraine, meaning that all lessons were conducted in the minority language. Right now, 10% of students – some 400,000 children – receive education in Russian, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian, Moldovan or Slovak.

The law has been hailed as revolutionary by Ukrainian politicians, but the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Hungary and Romania have strongly critisized it. The foreign ministers of Hungary, Greece, Romania, and Bulgaria have complained to the Council of Europe and OSCE about the violation of the rights of their minorities in Ukraine.

Read more at: the Kyiv Post The Euromaidan Press