Politicians about the Lithuanian language exam: It is so bad but the discrimination exists.

The chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Education (pl. Sejmowy Komitetu Oświaty, Nauki i Kultury), Science and Culture Audronė Pitrėnienė claimed that the difference in the results of the Lithuanian language exam between alumni of Lithuanian schools and schools of national minorities is not considerable. On the contrary, the representatives of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania, EAPL (pl. Akcja Wyborcza Polaków na Litwie, AWPL) are still asserting that the standardized exam is a discrimination.  

‘The difference in results actually is not so important. There is the other side of the coin.We must work hard in order to unify the examination program and curriculum so that we will avoid surprises on exams in the future’, said Pitrėnienė.

The member of the Parliament on behalf of EAPL Józef Kwiatkowskiagrees that the difference in results is not considerable but is convinced that the standardized exam troubles national minorities’ school alumni to enroll at colleges.

‘The difference lies in 4 percent and it is not so bad. But we should pay attention to the number of graduates who get 50-90 points and who get 90-100. We need a more careful and more detailed analysis’, said Kwiatkowski.

This year graduates of national minorities’ schools for the first time passed the standardized exam and only during checking had partial ‘privileges’ which will be decreasing every year.

The vice-president of the Parliament Jarosław Narkiewicz avowed that students of national minorities’ schools were in unequal conditions because they had been studying due to the new program only for few years.

‘Nothing is strange. Ones had been studying during 12 years, others during 8 years and due to the new program only 2 years. Taking into account the fact that it is not their native language results are worse’, said Narkiewicz.

To his mind, due to the new program students should be studying for 12 years and only then it is possible to carry out the standardized examination although ‘the same marking is impossible’.

‘In my opinion, you showed your attitude to the minorities and the equal rights one more time. We clearly see that the equal rights are violated because the conditions are not equal’, emphasized the vice-president of the Parliament.

Source: http://pl.delfi.lt/aktualia/litwa/politycy-o-egzaminie-z-jezyka-litewskiego-nie-jest-zle-ale-dyskryminacja-nadal-istnieje.d?id=65191167

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