The work of the UN is to worry, ours is to reassure. This briefly describes the attitude of the Ministry of Education and Science towards the recommendations disseminated by the United Nations to introduce bilingualism in Latvian schools. No changes are planned for language policy in education.
In the opinion of the Ministry of Education and Science, there is no reason to worry about the UN recommendations, Latvia's policy in the field of education has even been assessed relatively positively. This impression comes from face-to-face talks:
"Latvia prepared and submitted the regular report to the UN in writing, but the evaluation of the national reports also envisages a discussion, where the representatives of the countries - experts in various fields - answer the questions of the evaluators. The specific report was discussed earlier this year. The fact that the situation in the field of education was acknowledged as good and did not cause concern is evidenced by the fact that the next report on this field from Latvia will be expected only in 2026.”
Neatkarīgā has already reported that the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) has submitted a report to Latvia on the implementation of the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Latvia in 2008-2017. The examination of the report has been completed, in March the Committee published its final conclusions and provided recommendations to Latvia. You can read them in English here.
The Committee's recommendations have been made in various areas, basically instructing the Latvian state to ensure a better life for the people. The Committee calls on Latvia to eradicate poverty. Increase the budget allocated to the health sector to fight the pandemic. Take measures to integrate Roma people and migrants into society.
Promote the availability of social housing. Reduce the gender pay gap. And then there are a couple of recommendations that, due to the history of Latvia, are quite controversial. Their origin can be traced to complaints about Latvia by some organizations serving the Kremlin. For example, eliminate discrimination in the labor market on the grounds of language skills and also review education policy. Here is a quote from the reminder we are talking about:
"Committee remains concerned that the recent amendments to the Education Law and the Cabinet Regulation No. 716 of 21 November 2018 have discriminatory effect on minority groups and that they create undue restrictions on teaching of and in minority languages in preschool and primary education in both public and private schools. (..) It also recommends that the State party consider revising its language policies and laws in education in order to promote the teaching of and teaching in minority languages and to ensure that they do not affect negatively the educational performance of children belonging to minority groups."
Only 30 years after the restoration of independence, the Latvian state has been able to approach the goal of providing all children with education in the state language, without distinguishing them by ethnic origin. Instead of noting this achievement, the UN is now urging a return to the Soviet regime's bilingualism. But that will not happen. Probably, when creating the official translation, this bilingual education recommendation will be translated and interpreted as friendly as possible to the interests of Latvia. This is also suggested by the explanation of the Ministry of Education and Science:
"The Ministry welcomes the view expressed in the recommendations that the Committee takes note of the explanations provided by the Member State delegation that the education reform itself is not discriminatory.
The request for submitting additional information after one year applies to the effects of climate change, poverty reduction and the impact of Covid, not to education." Thus, the very fact that the UN only “expresses concern” and “recommends considering” revising Latvian education, but does not demand a report soon, means that the alleged discrimination against minorities in Latvia is invoked only in form. Perhaps only because the Kremlin's influence agent Tatjana Ždanoka and the organization МФПЧ Латвийский комитет по правам человека asked very nicely. Who knows.
But the Ministry of Education does not intend to change anything in the language policy, as is implied, not even relating to the very specific instructions of the UN Committee. The head of the press service of the Ministry Jānis Aizpors explains:
"My colleague is taking part in the discussions, and there has been no talk of changing the regulations.
They express their concerns, our task is to reassure them. There is no cause for concern or worries, nothing in the field of languages will change in this regard."
At the end of the explanation given to Neatkarīgā, the ministry summarizes what certain UN experts require and what is the current objective situation with the proportion of languages in Russian schools:
"The Committee's comments are a recommendation calling for equal treatment to be based on the elimination of discrimination in all areas, including education. The Committee has called for the rights of minorities to be respected in education. Concerns were expressed that in grades 7-9, learning 80% of the content in the state language will not provide sufficient opportunities to learn minority language and literature, as well as in the secondary education, the content of which will be taught in Latvian, will not provide opportunities to learn minority language and literature as a specialized course." These are the same arguments that have been used to incite and scare young people for years by so-called defenders of Russian schools acting on behalf of the Kremlin. In fact, they are fighting for the discrimination of Russian children. For most Russian school students, education in the state language is not a problem. On the contrary, after leaving school, it opens up opportunities for them to participate fully in the labor market.
Currently, the situation with the proportion of the language of instruction in Russian schools is as follows:
"The Ministry regularly assesses the situation in the field of minority education. For example, a survey of educational institutions conducted in December 2020 shows that the content of basically all subjects in grades 1-6 is acquired in Latvian in the amount of more than 50%, while in grades 7-8 80% of the content is provided in Latvian. Such conditions are also complied with by private educational establishments."
The UN may continue to be concerned at Russia's request, but Latvia must continue on the path to the goal set in education policy. All children have the right to general education in the state language, without discrimination on the basis of nationality.
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