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Gov't Approves "Urgent Scheme" to Improve Slovak in Minority Schools
Wednesday 17 March 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, March 17 (TASR) - The Government on Wednesday unanimously approved a scheme proposed by Education Minister Jan Mikolaj to enhance what is seen as an alarmingly low level of Slovak at schools teaching in minority languages.
The proposal was submitted after the State School Inspectorate put the aforementioned level in its report at slightly over 50 percent.
Mikolaj told reporters that the proposal was so urgent that he didn't even put it up for inter-ministerial review. He further stated that the Education Ministry had to take action based on the aforementioned alarming findings but stopped short of dealing with whether the number of Slovak language classes will be increased.
Under the approved scheme, the Inspectorate will conduct special checks on the level of language knowledge at schools teaching in ethnic-minority languages. A training schedule for teachers teaching Slovak at the schools in question is due to be completed by the end of May.
Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom during his recent visit to the Serbian province of Vojvodina declared that ethnic Hungarians should learn the state languages of Serbia, Romania and Slovakia as a foreign language. Solyom added that he doesn't back bilingual education as it leads to the loss of the mother tongue.
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