EU Nation Plans to Eliminate Russian Language Instruction in Schools
The recent education reform in the Czech Republic restricts the selection of a second language to only German, French, or Spanish. Read Full Article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
The Czech Republic is set to limit the selection of second languages for schoolchildren as part of its latest education reform, restricting options to German, French, or Spanish.
In late December, the country’s Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports approved revised Framework Educational Programs for preschool and primary education. This new program will be unveiled to the public during a press conference on Tuesday.
Under the reform, English will become mandatory as the first foreign language for all students starting in first grade, rather than in third grade as it currently stands. The study of a second language will be compulsory from seventh grade, with the choice “limited to three foreign languages.”
The implementation of this reform will occur gradually, with full enforcement not anticipated until 2034.
Criticism has arisen from educational experts regarding these changes. According to Seznam Zpravy, “today, one-fifth of children learn” Russian. Hana Andrasova, head of the Department of German Studies at the Faculty of Education of the University of South Bohemia, expressed her disapproval, stating: “I do not agree with the elimination of Russian. In my opinion, it has the right to life.”
This approach mirrors recent actions taken by several EU member states, which have historically had substantial Russian-speaking populations. In 2022, Estonia's parliament enacted legislation mandating that Estonian become the primary language of instruction in all schools and kindergartens by 2029, resulting in the funding for Russian-language education being eliminated.
The UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights raised concerns in 2023, indicating that the new education law could introduce “potentially discriminatory measures affecting the rights of ethnic and linguistic minorities in education.”
Similarly, the Latvian government declared last April that from September 2025, schoolchildren will be barred from studying Russian as a second foreign language, with this phase-out expected to be completed by the end of the decade.
Despite a 2017 migration survey revealing that 25% of Latvia's population is ethnic Russian, the remaining language options will consist solely of EU languages, along with those of Iceland, Norway, and Lichtenstein.
Moscow has accused the Baltic nations of marginalizing ethnic minorities and their languages. Last May, Sergey Belyayev, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second European Department, stated to TASS that in recent years, the “Russian language has been almost completely squeezed out of all spheres of public life, including the education system” in Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania.
Mathilde Moreau for TROIB News
In late December, the country’s Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports approved revised Framework Educational Programs for preschool and primary education. This new program will be unveiled to the public during a press conference on Tuesday.
Under the reform, English will become mandatory as the first foreign language for all students starting in first grade, rather than in third grade as it currently stands. The study of a second language will be compulsory from seventh grade, with the choice “limited to three foreign languages.”
The implementation of this reform will occur gradually, with full enforcement not anticipated until 2034.
Criticism has arisen from educational experts regarding these changes. According to Seznam Zpravy, “today, one-fifth of children learn” Russian. Hana Andrasova, head of the Department of German Studies at the Faculty of Education of the University of South Bohemia, expressed her disapproval, stating: “I do not agree with the elimination of Russian. In my opinion, it has the right to life.”
This approach mirrors recent actions taken by several EU member states, which have historically had substantial Russian-speaking populations. In 2022, Estonia's parliament enacted legislation mandating that Estonian become the primary language of instruction in all schools and kindergartens by 2029, resulting in the funding for Russian-language education being eliminated.
The UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights raised concerns in 2023, indicating that the new education law could introduce “potentially discriminatory measures affecting the rights of ethnic and linguistic minorities in education.”
Similarly, the Latvian government declared last April that from September 2025, schoolchildren will be barred from studying Russian as a second foreign language, with this phase-out expected to be completed by the end of the decade.
Despite a 2017 migration survey revealing that 25% of Latvia's population is ethnic Russian, the remaining language options will consist solely of EU languages, along with those of Iceland, Norway, and Lichtenstein.
Moscow has accused the Baltic nations of marginalizing ethnic minorities and their languages. Last May, Sergey Belyayev, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second European Department, stated to TASS that in recent years, the “Russian language has been almost completely squeezed out of all spheres of public life, including the education system” in Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania.
Mathilde Moreau for TROIB News
