The Transcarpathian Hungarian Pedagogical Association’s position on the right to receive education in the native language in Ukraine

The Transcarpathian Hungarian Pedagogical Association’s position on the right to receive education in the native language in Ukraine in connection with the Law on Complete General Secondary Education.

On January 16, 2020, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Bill No. 0901 on Complete Secondary Education (327 people’s deputies voted in favor). It is worth noting that all other factions and groups, except for „For Life – Opposition Platform” and „Voice” factions, and all deputies from each of the Transcarpathian constituencies supported the adoption of this bill. The „Servant of the People” faction cast 234 votes for the decision.

This ended with a period of 100-150 years in Ukraine, when citizens could freely choose the language of instruction of their children, supplemented the means of assimilation and the creation of a Ukrainian homogeneous nation-state. This process is summarized below based on a study by Constitutional Lawyer Mihály Tóth.

The main steps of this process are:

The Framework Law on Education was adopted in September 2017. Article 7, which regulates the language of education, contradicts the Constitution, significantly reducing, in violation of previous international obligations of the country and bilateral treaties, the right to use the language of national minorities in public education in Ukraine, which had previously existed for 100-150 years:

• persons belonging to minorities can now only learn their native language in primary school (grades 1-4);
• Minority language schools are abolished because, according to Article 1 of the Law, all educational establishments operate in Ukrainian, within which individual classes (groups) can study in the national minority language. It also means that it is only allowed to speak Hungarian in Hungarian classes and lessons, and Ukrainian should be spoken during the break, as well as in meetings, in writing, Ukrainian is also the language of journals and correspondence
• The legal framework and the possibility of training in the native language in vocational and higher education were eliminated, where minority language education can be created as needed and as appropriate.
• The country’s population has been classified into 4 categories in terms of providing access to education in their native language:

1) Ukrainians who can learn their native language at all levels and forms of education,
2) indigenous peoples (to whom only the Crimean Tatars belong) who can study in their native language fully within the framework of primary and secondary education,
3) minorities who speak one of the official languages of the EU and who can learn part of the curriculum in their native language in general secondary education,
4) other minorities (for example, Russians) who can use their native language only in primary education, i.e. up to grade 4.

– In February 2018, the Constitutional Court decision No. 2-p / 2018 citing formal reasons for passing the law (for example, one person voted in lieu of other members of the faction, which is standard practice in the Ukrainian Parliament), repeals the Law on Regional Languages of 2012, which contained the basics of language policy, thereby „clearing” the path to a conceptually different language regime,

– In April 2019, the Rada adopted the Law on the Functioning of Ukrainian as the State Language (hereinafter – the Law on the State Language), Article 21 of which literally reproduces Article 7 of the Law on Education, supplemented by two provisions limiting minority languages: 1) entrance exams to universities are composed exclusively in Ukrainian 2) foreign language teaching is possible only on the basis of Ukrainian language,

– In July 2019, the Constitutional Court ruled by decision No. 10-p / 2019 that Article 7 of the Law on Education corresponds to the Constitution of Ukraine, thus closing, at least at the level of national legislation, the dispute about the constitutionality (legality) of these legislative innovations. (The decision is interesting because the constitutional revision of the law was requested by a group of deputies partly on the basis of the same formal and procedural errors that were in the decision to repeal the law on regional languages, for example, one person voted instead of several, etc. This indicates that the Constitutional Court made a political decision, not a legal one).

In the process mentioned above, Article 5 of the Law on General Secondary Education, which regulates the language of education, reproduces Article 7 of the Framework Law on Education and Article 21 of the Law on the Functioning of the State Language:

– Determines, in addition to the use of the state language, the level of use of the minority language for classes in one of the official EU languages at different stages of the general education process. At the entry level, at least 20% of the 5th grade annual curriculum may be in the state language, rising to 40% in grade 9. At the level of secondary education, that is, in grades 10-11-12, at least 60% of subjects in the national minorities’ classes must be taught in Ukrainian. In the case of non-EU native speakers, at least 80% of class time is taught in Ukrainian, starting with grade 5, while indigenous peoples, such as Crimean Tatars, can study all subjects in their native language, except the subject Ukrainian Language.

– makes it possible to teach one or more subjects in primary and secondary education in English or another official EU language.

– in private elementary and secondary schools financed by individuals and/or legal entities (except for those receiving public funds), the language of instruction may be chosen independently, but it is mandatory to provide students with the opportunity to learn the official language, i.e. Ukrainian literary language at the level corresponding to the C1 language examination according to European language criteria (paragraph 10).

Based on the outlined political processes, we can conclude that the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2019 have brought no changes in the policy of the ruling Ukrainian elite concerning minorities either in terms of regulating the use of language or in terms of language of education. The decision of the Constitutional Court No. 10-p/2019 made between the two elections fulfilled the will of the previous parliament and the political elite regarding the Framework Law on Education in question. In the newly-created parliament, where President Zelensky’s party, „Servant of the People,” has an absolute majority, a bill passed by the previous parliament was approved in first reading in May 2019 with the full support of the party faction, contrary to the protests of national minorities, neighboring states and numerous international organizations.

The determination to support the anti-minority course is also illustrated by the fact that all this is happening now, not only against the intense criticism from neighboring countries, but despite the radical criticism of the Venice Commission in this regard (Documents No. CDL-AD (2017) 030 and CDL-AD (2019) 039). This is also indicated by the rhetoric of the Ukrainian authorities accompanying the process, which met the expectations of the Venice Commission and eliminated constitutional incompatibilities only at the level of a declaration, while keeping the essence of the legislation unchanged.

In a rule of law, such disagreements would not be allowed to violate the constitutional basis of legislation, restrict the rights guaranteed by previous laws in any field, including the constitutional protection of minorities’ educational/language/cultural rights. In particular, a decision of the Constitutional Court imposing a restriction on the rights of minorities in the field of education in their native language cannot invalidate a provision of the Constitution. Article 10 of the Basic Law provides for constitutional guarantees for the free development, use and protection of languages of the Russian and other national minorities, and Article 53 provides for the right of minorities to an education in their native language. In addition, according to Article 11 of the Constitution, the state undertakes to preserve and promote the ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity of indigenous peoples and national minorities. Article 24 of the Constitution prohibits discrimination on language and Article 22 prohibits the revocation of existing (acquired) rights. The recent Law on Education violates these constitutional obligations.

Only a small proportion of the relevant recommendations of the Venice Commission have been implemented; requirements such as „ensuring that the implementation of the Act does not jeopardize the preservation of the cultural heritage of minorities and the continuation of teaching in minority languages in traditional schools” (CDL-AD (2017) 030 Paragraph 126, paragraph 7) or „repeal the provisions of the law that discriminate against indigenous peoples, languages of national minorities that are the official languages of the EU and languages of national minorities that are not official languages of the EU … (CDL-AD (2019) 039, para. 139, paragraph 3) were not implemented.

The provisions of Article 5 of the Law on General Secondary Education have changed the complete impossibility of education in the native language so that those who can afford it and have a sufficiently large community and are sufficiently determined not to fear the possibility that their children will not receive a certificate of general secondary education, and thus will not be able to study further, continued to provide their children with a secondary education in the language they chose, which in principle means censorship for minorities wishing to learn their in their native language. In addition, they discriminate against students studying in their native language because they do not have equal opportunities in the final examination/entrance examination, since the State Language Law provides that external independent assessment (which also includes the final examination and entrance examination) is conducted only in Ukrainian. Having specified in the law on the state language the possibility to take final and entrance examinations in the Ukrainian language only, the possibility of further amendments has been made dependent on legislative amendments, while the authorities did not take into account the proposals submitted by minorities which could somehow remedy the situation, in the drafting of laws, and The Ministry did not take any measures to implement them.

The Transcarpathian Hungarian Pedagogical Association will continue to assert its constitutional rights to demand that the conditions outlined above be fulfilled:

The Association is awaiting the implementation of the proposals of the Venice Commission to amend Article 7 and to replace the existing provision with a more balanced and clear text.

It is untrue that the restrictive and discriminatory provisions of Article 7 can be removed in the course of its implementation by a special law, which depends on this law, or by-law, since it will lead to an irreconcilable legislative conflict. This is evidenced by the amendment to the Law on Higher Education of 2014. Article 48 (3) of the Law on Higher Education provides that private universities and colleges of Ukraine may independently choose the language of instruction. Therefore, the law passed in 2014 after the Maidan was in line with the Venice Commission’s resolution. An amendment to the law accepted on April 25, 2019, changed the wording of Article 48 governing the use of language in higher education. According to the amendment, the language of education is the state language, and the use of the language is governed by the Law on Education and the recently adopted language law. We are therefore rightly concerned with the intention to amend Article 7 by adopting additional laws, as it is not guaranteed that they will not be amended in a few years because of legal controversy.

We continue to insist on the amendment of Article 7 of the Basic Law on Education, guaranteeing the former acquired rights that municipal and private educational institutions have the right to choose the language of instruction, and that students have the right to take the final and entrance exams in that language, in addition to Ukrainian, for which textbooks need to be provided in Hungarian for every subject at every level of education – from kindergarten to high school.

Regarding the stages of education, we recommend the following to ensure the rights of minorities and preserve the culture of minorities:

1. Within the framework of Hungarian-language education in kindergarten, a curriculum for the study of native language and folklore should be developed and/or approved at the state level, as well as appropriate methodological material, as no programs have been developed or approved yet. At the national level, no progress has been made in this regard.

The state should also provide kindergartens with qualified caregivers who speak the minority’s native language. Secondary education of Hungarian-speaking teachers (vocational school level), as well as bachelor’s and master’s degrees in private or public higher education institutions should be provided.

2. At the elementary school level, we face the following problems:

2.1. The current standard does not allow minority schools to teach a foreign language at a level similar to that of Ukrainian schools because a smaller number of hours is available. According to previous practice, the description of the number of hours specifically stated how many lessons can be devoted to Ukrainian, national (Hungarian) and the chosen foreign language. For the academic year 2019-2020, this was modified by giving the languages a total number of hours and then establishing a different regulation on the number of hours required to teach Ukrainian, which takes up more than half of the total number of hours. The remaining hours can be divided between Hungarian and foreign languages. Either the native or a foreign language can be taught properly. In our correspondence, the ministry made it clear that we could choose Hungarian as a foreign language or English, both being European languages. This calls into question the legal status of the native language of minorities, attributing it to the category of foreign languages, as if we were immigrants in our own homeland. We have suggested increasing the number of minority language lessons by the number of foreign language lessons available for Ukrainian schools.

This would mean 2-3 additional hours a week. Thus, Ukrainian, native language and foreign language would be taught in as many hours as in Ukrainian schools, although in the Hungarian class the students would have 2-3 lessons more each week, but it is accepted and even requested by the parents themselves. The answer was that it could not be provided because of the danger to the health of the children, and it would be necessary to spend the same amount from the state budget for each child, if the Hungarian students received more, it would violate the rights of Ukrainians. If this remains in force, the rights of national minorities will be violated, since they will not be able to study their native language and a foreign one on the same level as the students in Ukrainian schools.

2.2. The adopted standard on Ukrainian does not take into account the specifics of minority languages and contains a completely unrealistic set of requirements. The curriculum promotes assimilation, not integration.

2.3. The state vocational and higher educational institutions do not train primary school teachers for schools of national minorities.

Our suggestions:

2.1. We decline the proposal to include the native language to the category of foreign languages (Section 23 of the State Standard). Make it compulsory to teach a foreign language in elementary grades from second grade, as in Ukrainian schools, 2-3 hours a week, as in Ukrainian classes. For this purpose, extend the language base for minorities to the number of foreign language lessons taught in Ukrainian schools. Thus, the Ukrainian, native language and foreign language would be taught in the same number of hours as in Ukrainian schools, although in Hungarian classes the students will have 2-3 additional hours per week, but it is accepted and even requested by the parents themselves.
Taking into account the right of all citizens to equal access to education, the Pedagogical Association appeals to the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine to make adjustments to the relevant standards and to develop standard curricula that will ensure the realization of this right.

2.2. It is necessary to develop realistic requirements in the national standard for learning the state/Ukrainian language, which takes into account the specifics of teaching a second language to children for whom it is not native. Based on the experience of some European countries, the Pedagogical Association estimates that schools with languages of instruction of national minorities can complete the study of the state language by the end of primary school at A1 – entry-level according to the international standard.

2.3. The state should ensure that primary schools (grades 1-4) are provided with qualified teachers for the education in their native language. Provide vocational training for Hungarian-speaking teachers, as well as trainings at bachelor’s and master’s levels in public or private higher education institutions.

3. At the level of basic secondary education:

3.1. After graduating from elementary school, 40% of subjects must be taught in the state language: this is total discrimination, which makes quality education in general subjects impossible. On the one hand, it requires an immediate change of language in the transition from elementary to basic education, which is a pedagogical nonsense in the case of almost all subjects. In other words, if a child studied science at the elementary school level in Hungarian, how can you teach them geography or biology in Ukrainian the following year? Expecting a specialist teacher to prepare students for a language change next year is also absurd, since he or she must teach the same subject, not the language, in the same number of hours. That is, such a transition will also lead to a deterioration in the quality of education.

3.2. The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine has not taken steps to reform the teaching of the state language, and the current system does not, in essence, provide for the acquisition of the state language in the system of national minority schools at the level of the state standard. Since the independence of Ukraine, no academic or school vocabulary has been created and published with financing from the state budget. The vocabularies we work with in our schools have been compiled by the Uzhgorod National University and teachers from our Association and published at the expense of the Hungarian state. In addition, adequate didactic resources were not provided: modern textbooks, workbooks, school dictionaries, professional dictionaries, etc.

If a student lives in a non-Ukrainian language environment, there are completely unrealistic expectations about learning Ukrainian, as some plans require knowledge of Ukrainian at levels B2 by the end of the 9th grade (or even C1, according to some plans) from an average Hungarian elementary school graduate. And this is so while the current program is not intended to develop language competences or communication skills at all, but is almost exclusively focused on grammar rules and their application as if the students already spoke Ukrainian. Teaching Ukrainian literature is the same for students of Ukrainian schools and minorities, so it is unrealistic to implement it in a qualitative way.

3.3 The curricula do not ensure the preservation of the identity of the national minority and the development of the native language, literature, culture and history of national minorities. No programs and standards have been developed for these issues. World literature, previously taught as an integrated course with Hungarian literature, is now also planned to be taught in Ukrainian.

Our suggestions:

3.1. We believe that in order to preserve the quality of education, it is necessary to preserve the right of the children to be taught in their native language, and not to limit the percentage of subjects taught in the native language. During classes, teachers can familiarize children with the specific terms of the subject in the Ukrainian language, which develops their vocabulary, while maintaining the language of instruction. In order to master the basic competences of knowledge of the state language, it is necessary to reform the study of the Ukrainian language according to European examples, and the language must be acquired during the Ukrainian language and literature classes.

3.2. We believe that the quality assurance of Ukrainian language learning should be implemented not by increasing hours or switching to other subjects in Ukrainian, but by developing appropriate standards and programs, methodologies, textbooks, didactic materials, dictionaries based on them, taking into account the language specificity of each minority. One of the first steps should be the development of a large academic dictionary, and then other dictionaries, and their publication – preferably at public expense. Based on the experience of European countries, the Transcarpathian Hungarian Pedagogical Association believes that schools with languages of instruction of national minorities can implement the education of the state language by the end of elementary school at level A2 for an average student – the basic level of the international standard.

3.3. In order to preserve national identity, you should introduce into the invariant component the teaching Hungarian folklore at the expense of compulsory classes of 1 hour per week in grades 5-6, the history of the Hungarian nation in grades 7-8-9, also 1 1 hour per week. The Transcarpathian Hungarian Pedagogical Association has developed and published educational programs and textbooks entitled History of the Hungarian Nation, History of the Hungarian Music. We ask for your permission to include them in the approved curricula, which have been allowed for use in the educational process with the possibility of their inclusion in the curriculum of the institution.

When designing a curriculum for subjects that affect identity development, such as art, art and fine arts, singing and music, works and artists, the hallmarks of Hungarian culture should be part of the curriculum and set of requirements.

When planning to teach Hungarian and literature, consider the following:

• curricula and curriculum requirements should be adapted to those in force in Hungary because in terms of language and literature teaching, the important thing is only what is effectively used in a country where that language is official, because this is where the qualified professionals are;

• Hungarian-language educational institutions should be able to adapt and use Hungarian textbooks and workbooks at least in Hungarian language and literature to ensure the availability of textbooks. It would also be economically advantageous for the Ukrainian state.

4. At the high school level:

4.1. At the level of upper secondary education, 60% of subjects taught in the Ukrainian language, as planned, will result in the termination of Hungarian-speaking schools or a significant deterioration in the quality of instruction in such schools. At the secondary school level, we are completely dissatisfied with this approach and strongly reject it and interpret it as a complete restriction of existing rights: a compulsory instrument of assimilation.

4.2. Ukrainian high school standard for graduates of national minority schools offers C1 language proficiency. The proposed standards do not take into account the fact that Ukrainian is a second language for minorities, and the existing programs do not support the development of language skills, but remain focused on grammar. Knowledge of the state language is currently assessed by the final exam, which is at the same time the entrance examination for Ukrainian philological education, and is equivalent to the C1 level. The tests do not measure language competencies, but mostly grammatical knowledge at the level expected of future students in humanities. For a decade, i.e. since 2008, when external independent assessment in the Ukrainian language has been made compulsory, the Transcarpathian Hungarian Pedagogical Association has been requesting the introduction of a two-level exam: lower requirements for the average graduate and higher for future humanities students. This did not happen; instead, last year, minority school graduates were given a lower passing score in the case of EIT assessment, but this was not the case for the score in the state language, the grade of which is indicated in the high school diploma. Those who have not obtained the required number of points in the Ukrainian language, could not submit their documents to any higher educational institution, because for all specialties, even for Hungarian philology, the achievement of a passing score in Ukrainian is obligatory.

4.3 There is no central examination of the mother tongue of nationalities in the associated examination centers. This is offensive and discriminative.

4.4. In addition to the four EU languages (English, German, French, Spanish), other EU languages are not tested, for example: Bulgarian, Greek, Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Czech, Hungarian, although these languages can be learned as a foreign language according to the existing curricula, and not only for minorities but also for Ukrainian-speaking students.

4.5. According to the Law on the State Language, unlike the practice of the previous decades, it is possible to pass the final exams, which also means entrance exams in all subjects, only in Ukrainian, which is a limitation of rights and discrimination, since not the general knowledge of the student will be assessed, but rather the level of their proficiency in Ukrainian.

4.6. The Law on General Secondary Education stipulates that from 2024, the secondary education level will operate with at least four tenth grades. Due to the article that regulates the number of classes (up to 30 people), this means that at least 91 tenth grade students must enroll in high school in order to start their studies. This regulation makes it impossible to provide secondary education at the level of national minorities.

Our suggestions:

4.1. In order to preserve the quality of education, it is necessary to preserve and continue to ensure the right of children to be taught in their native language, and not to limit the percentage of teaching subjects in the native language. It is important to further ensure that one can complete the final/introductory test in the main subjects in Hungarian. We fear that the provisions of the Law on Education will be disadvantageous or discriminatory for minority schools.

4.2. In minority language schools, the study of the national language should be conducted according to the standards of the second language (taking into account the specific language of the indigenous population of the respective national minority). The minimum requirements for the purpose and content of teaching the second language at the levels defined by the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference) and recommended by the European Council’s Resolution (November 2001) should be used to create national systems for assessing language competence. Developing a theoretical and practical basis for mastering Ukrainian as a second language requires new approaches, techniques, and a special interpretation of linguistic phenomena. These general educational standards should be the basis for the study of the Ukrainian language as a second language, which should meet the needs in the social, humanitarian, educational, socio-cultural, country-specific fields of communication. International practice shows that a B2 level of a certain language is required of university graduates and is not a requirement for secondary school students. An exception may be Ukrainian philology, which requires level B2. Based on the experience of European countries, the Transcarpathian Hungarian Pedagogical Association believes that schools with national minority languages of instruction can implement the teaching of the state language by the end of high school at B1 – intermediate I level. Introducing the study of the state language according to this concept requires changes in the external independent assessment of the knowledge of school graduates with the language of instruction of national minorities. Graduates of these schools are required to undergo EIT according to the standards of appropriate language proficiency levels. Prior to the entry into force of the above standards and the introduction of new standards for assessing the quality of knowledge during the EIT, the adapted lowered threshold for assessing knowledge of the Ukrainian language and literature of graduates of institutions with the language of instruction of national minorities should be applied. Use this adapted threshold when assessing the quality of knowledge in the case of State Final Exams.

4.3. It is crucial to make it possible to pass an independent external native language exam or take a Hungarian language final exam in Transcarpathia. The requirements and content of the Hungarian final exam should be adapted to the requirements in force in Hungary.
Continue to provide the opportunity to take the final/entrance tests in professional subjects in Hungarian. We fear that the provisions of the Law on Education will be very disadvantageous for minority schools.

4.4. An independent external evaluation should be allowed to be passed in other EU foreign languages, such as Bulgarian, Greek, Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Czech, and Hungarian as a foreign language.

4.5. It is necessary to abolish the provisions of the Law on the State Language, which, unlike the practice of the previous decades, stipulate that the final examinations, and therefore the entrance examinations in all subjects, are required not in the language of education, but in the Ukrainian language, which is a narrowing of the law and discrimination, because in this way not the level of knowledge, but the level of command of the Ukrainian language will be evaluated. Positive experience from European countries where national minorities are allowed to take their final exams in their native language should be used.

4.6. The Ministry of Education and Science should apply other requirements, such as the one concerning the minimum number of classes, as in the case with schools with Ukrainian language of instruction. Positive European experience must be taken into account and a positive coefficient should be applied to preserve the network of minority educational institutions.

5. At the level of higher education

5.1. Adopted in 2014, after the events the Maidan, the Law on Higher Education allowed private universities to choose their language of instruction in accordance with the resolution of the Venice Commission. Article 48, paragraph 3 stated that „… higher educational establishments of private ownership in Ukraine have the right to freely choose the language of instruction …”. In 2019, the same Parliament decided to regulate the language of teaching in private higher educational institutions. That is, in the current wording of the Law of Ukraine „On Higher Education” this item has already been deleted, while the following regulations remain:
«1. The language of the educational process in higher education is the state language.”
«3. The use of languages in higher educational institutions is determined by the laws of Ukraine „On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as a state language” and „On education” »

5.2. It is still not possible for minority languages to be part of the final/entrance exam system. Although an internal final exam is allowed, it is not part of the state’s system of independent assessment. It is not possible to apply for the native language exam in the admission procedure. For example, for high school graduates entering the Transcarpathian Hungarian Institute named after Ferenc Rakoczi II it is not possible to take the entrance exam in Hungarian language and literature, even when enrolling in the Faculty of Hungarian Philology, since there is no independent evaluation of these subjects. When passing the internal language exam, we can determine only whether the applicant speaks Hungarian.

5.3 The new law on higher education also makes it impossible to obtain higher education for national minorities, even in the case of private universities. Because the external testing system allows assessment of knowledge only in Ukrainian. That is, even if someone has studied Hungarian at a higher education institution, they will still have to take the final exams in Ukrainian, which puts graduates of Hungarian higher education in an extremely disadvantageous situation.

5.4. The new law on higher education also aims to limit the autonomy of private universities by allowing the rector’s title to be granted only to persons whose accreditation has been approved by the Ukrainian state (for example, associate professor of professor). This is also significantly different from European standards.

5.5. The accreditation process under the law on higher education still contains extreme standards. For example, the Transcarpathian Hungarian Institute is not able to accredit the kindergarten pedagogy department because there is no person with a doctoral degree who would also have obtained a basic education as a kindergarten teacher.

5.6. The work of private universities is complicated by the process of naturalization of diplomas and degrees obtained abroad. In the process of naturalization, almost the entire process of assignment of the academic title is repeated. Because it is necessary to translate the text of the scientific dissertation into the state language, which is sent to the lecturers. In the case of a positive conclusion, the work is referred to the Scientific Council appointed by the Ministry of Education and Science, which can ask to re-defend the thesis and then secretly vote on the awarding of the academic title. There are almost no positive developments in this matter.

5.7. The rules of employment of foreign professors remains too bureaucratic. Regional administrations need to contribute to their implementation. They cannot apply for a temporary residence permit and cannot work without permission. They must apply for a temporary residence permit every year, otherwise they cannot obtain a work permit and tax ID. The degree of professors is credited to the number of qualified lecturers of the institution, but only if it is naturalized, which can only be initiated by Ukrainian citizens, who have a permanent place of residence. This procedure is humiliating for an internationally recognized scientist.

Our suggestions

5.1. We insist on maintaining the existing rights to study in our native language. We demand that Article 7 of the basic Law on Education be amended as follows: „Ukrainian state and private property schools have the right to freely choose their language of instruction.”

5.2. The Ukrainian State must provide the opportunity for the national minorities to pass their high school final/college entrance examinations in their native language.

5.3. With regard to private higher educational institutions, provide the choice of the language of instruction by the founder or owner of the institution, as well as the possibility of final examinations and writing the theses in the language of instruction.

5.4. Ensure the autonomy of the higher educational institution with regard to the requirements of the Rector’s degree and amend the Law on Higher Education as follows: «The candidate for the position of head of higher educational institution must be fluent in the state language, have a scientific degree and/or higher scientific degree (for arts higher educational institutions- a scientific degree or an arts doctorate degree) and work experience in scientific and educational positions of no less than 10 years. The candidate for the position of head of an institution of state or communal property should be a citizen of Ukraine».

5.5. Adapt European standards when developing the Licensing and Accreditation System.

5.6. The procedure for naturalization of academic degrees obtained abroad should be simplified; we propose the conclusion of a new treaty with Hungary on this subject.

5.7. Simplify the procedure for obtaining a residence permit in Ukraine, obtaining a work permit for foreign nationals working in higher educational institutions.