Announcement of the Strike Committees of Polish Schools in Lithuania

Dear inhabitants of Vilnius region,

The actions undertaken by the Lithuanian Poles in order to defend Polish education in Lithuanian have given no results. However, we are determined to protect Polish education in Lithuania. We care about our children above all, and we want them to learn in Polish language.

One year after the amendment to the Educational Act the strike committees of Polish schools in Lithuania organise a march from the Lithuanian Seimas to the Chancellery of the Prime Minister and a rally defending Polish education. The march starts next to the Lithuanian Seimas (Gediminas Avenue 53) on Saturday, March 17, at 12 o’clock. Then, there will be a rally next to the Chancellery of the Prime Minister (Gediminas Avenue 11)

We will demand that the discriminating regulations in the Education Act will be cancelled:

–      to give up the idea of standardized exam of Lithuanian language as a native language and as a state one

–      to reintroduce the exam of Polish language as a native one on the list of exams compulsory on the secondary school-leaving examination

–      to give up the elimination of native language in Polish schools through introducing the education of different subjects in Lithuanian

–      to give up the discriminating demand of keeping Lithuanian schools at the expense of the Polish ones

We invite everybody, who is not indifferent towards the lots of Polish education in Lithuania and the interests of our children, to support our demands and to participate actively in the march and the rally.

The strike committees of Polish schools in Lithuania

Albert Narwojsz, the coordinator
Renata Cytacka, the secretary

http://kurierwilenski.lt/2012/01/27/komunikat-komitetow-strajkowych-szkol-polskich-na-litwie/

Tłumaczenie  Sylwia Janus w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Sylwia Janus within the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.