More Lithuanian in Minority Schools? The Ministry of Education invites to a public debate.

‘The Ministry of Education, Science, and Sports suggests gradually increasing the number of Lithuanian language lessons and promoting the use of Lithuanian language in national minority schools and promises to engage in consultations with society regarding specific hours of teaching’ – announced Gintautas Jakštas, the minister of education, science, and sports, during the press conference on Tuesday.

-Traditionally, we are assured that the proposed changes are aimed at the students’ well-being, but is this truly the case? I dare to claim it is not- objects Krystyna Dzierżyńska, the president of the Association of Teachers of Polish Schools in Lithuania ‘Macierz Szkolna’.

‘We propose three directions: gradually increasing the teaching and use of the Lithuanian language in schools, strengthening the language skills of teachers in Lithuanian, and granting greater autonomy to local governments and schools themselves in making decisions regarding education in Lithuanian’ – the minister listed. A s he emphasized, the proposals above are open for discussion, and residents can send their opinions on them to the ministry via email.

-During the meeting of the Board of the School Association ‘Macierz Szkolna’ we will certainly consult our best, well-motivated proposals, which we will present for discussion to the Ministry of Education. A school with a native language of instruction must be not only in name but effectively teach in the native language. It must also be a school with excellent Lithuanian language instruction – emphasizes Krystyna Dzierżyńska.

Differences – since elementary grades.

The Minister pointed out the fact that in educational establishments of national minorities in preschool and primary education, the kids have significantly fewer lessons of Lithuanian than their peers.

‘Over the course of four years of education in primary school with the language of instruction belonging to a national minority, students have 665 lessons on Lithuanian language and literature, whereas in schools with Lithuanian as the language of instruction, students have 53% more lessons of Lithuanian language and literature, totaling 1015 lessons over four years of primary school’ – noted Jakštas.

‘If the teaching of the Lithuanian language is to take place at the expense of the Polish language, such a solution absolutely does not enter the equation. – emphasizes Krystyna Dzierżyńska. – The problem rests in the standardized curriculum of the Lithuanian language for early grades, which we have been talking about for a while.  There is a lack of an appropriate Lithuanian language teaching program for children who are just beginning to learn the language in schools belonging to national minorities. Currently, a child from a Polish-speaking family starts the school year on the 1^st of September and gets a textbook and a curriculum identical to a child in a Lithuanian school who speaks the language fluently.  To standardize the curriculum and claim that it provides an equal start is very misleading. The start is nonequivalent and they expect somewhat extraordinary results. In the first grade, the child primarily needs to master their mother tongue while parallelly learning the Lithuanian language. But this absolutely does not mean that Lithuanian textbooks in Polish and Lithuanian schools have to be identical – emphasizes the president of ‘Macierz Szkolna’.

In primary and secondary schools the amount of Lithuanian language lessons, regardless of the instruction language, is already the same.

The deputy minister Ramūnas Skaudžius claimed, that the possibilities of better Lithuanian language education can be made already in preschools and primary grades. The extent to which the number of Lithuanian language lessons will be increased is planned to be consulted with the society.

‘For example, if we dedicated one day to learning Lithuanian in preschools, we could gradually increase by one hour of Lithuanian language instruction each year, and this would not require any additional resources.’ – said Skaudžius.

Social sciences – only in Lithuanian?

Another proposal submitted to a debate is social sciences teaching, i.e. history, geography, and citizenship, only in Lithuanian.

‘Before the renewal of curricula in national minority schools in Lithuanian, citizenship basics were taught in history and geography lessons. The updated history teaching programs anticipate that global events are connected to Lithuanian history, making Lithuanian history an integral part of it’ – said Skaudžius. ‘Separating Lithuanian history and geography from world history from an educational standpoint is already a thing of the past’ added the Deputy Minister.

‘Freedom of Choice’

The Ministry also suggests, that in national minority schools, school communities and local governments themselves should have greater decision-making power in choosing the language of instruction.

‘We propose that, by virtue of the decision of the school council, the mandatory language of the national minority at the secondary education level in that school could become an option to choose’ – said Skaudžius.

It is also considered to enable national minority schools, under their own decision, to hire teachers that would teach some of the subjects in Lithuanian. The Deputy Minister said, that national minority schools already face difficulties finding teachers for subjects taught in the language of the national minority.

The Ministry also proposes discussing a higher level of proficiency in the Lithuanian language among teachers in national minority schools. Teachers nearing retirement age would be exempt from this requirement.

– For many, many years, we have been discussing the need to focus efforts on recruiting good Lithuanian language teachers. After the introduction of a standardized Lithuanian language exam, we emphasized the need for good textbooks, a good curriculum, and good teachers. So, in this matter, we agree, but introducing one, then another, and then a third subject in Lithuanian will simply change the whole concept of Polish schools in Lithuania. This concept has been successful so far because Polish schools have a good level of education, with good results in higher education admission. As indicated by the data presented at the conference for the year 2022/23, it turns out that 47% of graduates from Polish schools and 49% from Lithuanian schools enrolled in higher education – this is not a significant difference. It means that schools with Polish language instruction offer a good level. – points out Krystyna Dzierżyńska.

Closing is not taken into consideration

At the beginning of January, the Minister mentioned the contemplated gradual phasing out of Russian language instruction in schools nationwide. He said that then in the country, there would remain schools of national minorities where instruction is conducted in languages of the European Union or countries friendly to Lithuania. Later, he clarified that the closure of such schools is not being considered.

The most of the national minority schools sit in the south-east part of Lithuania. About 14 thousand people study in comprehensive schools with Russian instruction language, mostly in Vilnius, Visaginas, and Klaipėda. By law, in areas where a significant national minority traditionally resides, at the request of the community, the local government guarantees education in the language of the national minority.