Director of the Riga Ukrainian secondary school Lidia Kravchenko forwarded this initiative. She offers to give a precise definition of the status of such schools, mechanism of their financing and the role of school councils, self-governments and national culture associations in their formation and activities.
The adoption of this law can help national minorities preserve and develop their culture and traditions following the demands of the law on Education implying the transfer of national minorities' schools to the Latvian language, Guntis Vasilevskis, representative of the Latvian Education and Science Ministry, said at the session of the ministry's consultative council on national minorities' education.
The initiative to draft a law on national minorities' schools was backed by most members of the consultative council, which consists of 29 representatives of national minorities' schools, public organizations, the Riga parliament and the Education and Science Ministry.
Igor Pimenov, representative of the Latvian association for the support of national minorities' schools, expressed hope that this law would let Russian-language schools preserve the dominating role in education and follow the state education standards set up by the government. According to the law, 60% of the educational program should be taught in Latvian and 40% in the native language.
Latvian media also approved the proposal to draft this law.
Meanwhile, Russian newspapers published in Riga criticized the consultative council's initiative. This is a roundabout maneuver, the Telegraph newspaper said. "Does Latvia need a Latvian school with elements of Russian folklore?" the Chas (Hour) newspaper inquired.
Chas doubts if this law can be drafted and adopted. According to the newspaper, the Latvian authorities try to prevent rallies of protest against the transfer of national minorities' schools to the Latvian language in September. In this case any means to an end are acceptable, the newspaper says.
