Elena Novoselova
The new law “On Education” passed by the Ukrainian parliament essentially forbids citizens from receiving an education in any language other than Ukrainian. Beginning on 1 September 2018, students will only be able to study in Russian or the languages of other national minorities before the fifth grade. And beginning in 2020, Russian, Hungarian, Romanian, and other languages will be removed from the lower grades as well. Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Russkiy Mir Foundation, Vyacheslav Nikonov, reflects on how this trend meshes with Ukraine’s attempt to become a full-fledged European country.
[Photo: Official State Duma website]
– In your opinion, why did they feel compelled to pass this new law?
– This law was intended to Americanize the Ukrainian education system. Firstly, by introducing a 12-year course of study. This makes sense only as a means of fighting youth unemployment, which is at a very high level in Ukraine. They have been cutting back on studies in scientific disciplines, and this goes against the interests of a contemporary society: a knowledge society and the digital economy. In addition, students will have much more choice among academic subjects in the upper grades. But we have to remember that American schools haven’t shown very positive results in recent years.
– In Ukraine, it has been announced that these new measures are a step toward Europeanizing the country. Do you agree?
– Democracy means, first and foremost, defending minority rights. These include the right to use one’s native language. In our country, classes are taught in 65 languages, and no one is trying to make Russian the only option.
– What will result from this educational policy?
– This is a serious blow to Ukrainian identity. Because bilingualism has always been a defining characteristic of the Ukrainian nation. After all, it’s no accident that such a major symbol of Ukraine as Taras Shevchenko wrote poems in Ukrainian and his diaries and prose in Russian. Ukrainian heritage consists precisely in this. To deprive Ukrainian citizens of the Russian language is to reject the competitive edge to be gained from knowing a language of global import.
As I see it, this is also politically dangerous for the Ukrainian leadership, insofar as it delivers a blow to the country’s cohesiveness. It’s obvious that the Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine will defend their right to speak in their native language one way or another. What’s more, it’s clear that Russian always represented for Ukraine the language of culture, the language of industry, and the language of the urban intelligentsia. Of course, teaching students in a non-native language reduces their ability to master the material. This is an axiom. That is, all of this is a blow to the country’s intellectual potential.
– Even though this law affects all national minorities, many people are saying that it is primarily directed at Russia. Do you agree?
– Yes, the law is certainly directed at Russia and Russianness. It will contribute to the further deterioration of cultural ties. This is a continuation of the hysterical campaign being waged in Ukraine. There, they are taking down monuments to the very people who introduced Ukrainian-language education. I am referring to Lenin, who gave Ukraine its whole eastern part and insisted that the people there study in Ukrainian.
– Does the Russkiy Mir Foundation have centers in Ukraine?
– We have centers in Luhansk, Donetsk, and Gorlovka, though a shell hit one of them.
Source: Rossiyskaya Gazeta
