Ukraine not to change language article of education law - minister

She told this to journalists before a government meeting on Wednesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"We will not make any changes to Article 7 of the law on education. In fact, the recommendations of the Venice Commission imply only the need to extend the transition period. This is especially relevant for the national minorities for which it is difficult to study the Ukrainian language," Hrynevych said.

She said that according to these conclusions, Ukraine must formulate a model of education for national minorities in the law on general secondary education.

As reported, on September 25, President Petro Poroshenko signed the law on education, certain provisions of which, in particular, Article 7 concerning the language of instruction in Ukraine, raised concern in a number of countries. Poroshenko instructed the Foreign Ministry and the Education and Science Ministry to hold consultations on this law with European partners, including the Council of Europe.

On September 28, Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin submitted the education law for consideration by the Venice Commission.

On December 8, the Venice Commission issued an opinion on the language of instruction article of the education law. In particular, the commission recommends "to amend the relevant transitional provisions of the Education Law to provide more time for a gradual reform; to exempt private schools from the new language requirements in accordance with Article 13 of the Framework Convention; to enter, within the framework of the implementation of the new Education Law, into a new dialogue with representatives of national minorities and all interested parties on the language of education; and to ensure that the implementation of the Law does not endanger the preservation of the minorities' cultural heritage and the continuity of minority language education in traditional schools."

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