Latvian Inquisition: Government Bans Use of Russian in Schools Despite Ethnic Unrest
Not a word in Russian. Latvia wants to conduct school classes exclusively in Latvian. The majority of parliamentarians voted for the relevant amendments to the law on education. Hundreds of protesters with banners in defense of Russian schools gathered near the Saeima building.
Ivan Vasilenko tried to understand the Latvian experiment with the language.
A "toxic law", "educational poison", "ethnic discrimination." This ambiguous educational reform in Latvia is being surrounded with new, to put it mildly, unflattering reviews. For several months, demonstrations against the total "Latviazation" of schools haven’t stopped throughout the country. Today, from the very morning, hundreds of people have been coming to the rally near the Saeima building, where deputies majority approved the controversial bill. The campaign participants are trying to understand why the authorities don’t take into account the interests of the parents and most importantly, why they’re trying to destroy the Russian community in Latvia with all their might.
Ilya Kozyrev, Russian Schools Protection Staff representative: "In one or two generations, that is around 25-50 years, the number of Russia-speaking people in Latvia will decrease to a symbolic number. Preserving Russian schools is the way for the Russian community in Latvia to survive".
The new initiative of the Ministry of Education and Science of Latvia suggests that by 2021-22 academic year schools of national minorities will be fully reformed. Elementary schools will still retain their bilingualism. But starting from the 7th grade, when the most complex subjects are added in, the vast majority of classes will be in Latvian. In secondary school, that is, from the 10th to 12th grade, the Russian language will be completely prohibited.
Opponents of the reform are sure that the new bill will split the Latvian society in half.
Ilya Kozyrev: "Studying only in a foreign language will divide the Latvian community, our children and grandchildren, into two unequal halves. The first half will shrink very fast. It'll be gradually marginalized. Their future is unqualified jobs or some manual jobs, which don't require higher education".
The authorities of Latvia tried to abolish Russian before. Back in 2004, they wanted to make all schools teach in the state language. The Constitutional Court of the country was against the initiative. Later, the law was criticized at the UN. Latvia took a step back and agreed to conduct only 60 percent of classes were in Latvian. And now, after more than 10 years, Riga still decided to finish what was started.
Miroslav Mitrofanov, Russian Union of Latvia Party Co-chairman: "Russian and the US have good and positive examples when the native language is used as the language for studying even if it's the minority's language. In Russia, in Tatarstan, in Bashkortostan, in some Northern Caucasus Republics, local languages are used in school education, and there's no discussion about depriving children of this opportunity"/
Latvia’s position is unchangeable. The State Language Center has been working in the country for a long time. Locals secretly call it the "language police" or even "the Inquisition." For 25 years, this body has been inspecting all civil servants. If someone, according to the Center, isn't proficient enough in Latvian in the workplace, they must pay a fine of up to 250 euros. A repeated violation can cause dismissal.
These almost medieval measures could be perceived as an unsuccessful joke if it wasn’t for one "but." The most important thing is suffering from experiments with language, education. According to local news agencies, 10-20 years ago, Latvia competed with Germany and Japan in the quality of schools. Now, it’s near the Dominican Republic and Chile in the world ranking. And with the new reform, experts are sure, the educational pique will only continue.
Ivan Vasilenko, Vesti.