- May 15, 2012
- 270
The National Language Inspection checked the Vilnius region
The National Language Inspection checked how the local government workers, which didn’t pass the matura exam from Lithuanian, know the Lithuanian language. In Giedrė Černiauskaitė’s opinion many irregularities were detected.
26 local government workers didn’t possess proper certificates that determine their knowledge of the national language. ‘There are many abnormalities in the local government and it’s a very rare situation. Usually, there are fewer such situations in the state institutions,’ said DELFI Černiauskaitė.
The clerk underlined that they didn’t talk to the workers but they checked the documentation. ‘We didn’t talk to the workers but we just checked their personal data. Inferring from the results either the local government documentation is run very sloppily or the workers didn’t present the proper documents to the administration or they failed the exams. For example, a few had the second category though on held by them positions the third is required,’ said the inspector.
According to law the A category state clerks should possess the highest (third) category of the knowledge of the national language and the lower clerks (category B and C) should have certificate of the second category of the language knowledge.
‘Those who don’t have a proper certificate have time until July to provide the certificate. If they don’t provide it, we will meet them and discuss it,’ stated Giedrė Černiauskaitė.
In the opinion of the local administration of the Vilnius region the situation is not tragic. ‘Yes, we got the information from the National Language Inspection and the situation is not as bad as it is presented. The majority of people have the certificates but simply haven’t shown it to the authorities. They have to supplement them. And the number of people who don’t have the certificates is not big,’ said PL DELFI Walentyna Rudinskaja, the head of human resources department.
The inspection checked a few Home Affairs Ministry institutions in which several abnormalities were found as well, but they are already fixed.
According to law, any professional activity without a proper certificate of the knowledge of Lithuanian is punishable by a reprimand or a fine of 200-500 Lithuanian litas. In case of a repeated violation a fine amounts to 500-1000 Lithuanian litas.
If a person possesses a proper certificate but doesn’t know the language at a demanded level, he has 3 months to pass a proper exam. The evasion of taking the exam is punished by a fine of 300-600 litas.
The certificate of knowledge of the national language should present just the people who didn’t pass the exam from Lithuanian in the period of studying in the educational posts.
Tłumaczenie Adam Gałązka w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Adam Gałązka within the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.
