Paul
Goble
Staunton, June 6 – s criticism from
non-Russian republics and nationalities, Duma Education Committee chairman
Vyacheslav Nikonov says that the draft will be “reworked in a fundamental way”
to clarify what he says are some of the misconceptions among many opponents about
the measure.
Many republics, he tells Kommersant, “mistakenly conceived the
draft law as being about the exclusion of national languages from the obligatory
part of state standards.” But that isn’t the case: those languages will be
required for those who choose them (kommersant.ru/doc/3650865 and nazaccent.ru/content/27413-v-gosdume-poobeshali-kardinalno-pererabotat-zakonoproekt.html).
The
latest draft specifies that “the republics will be able to establish the
obligatory study of the native language, as long as the hours of Russian are
not reduced, Andrey Isayev, first deputy chairman of the United Russia Duma
fraction. If parents choose a
non-Russian language as native, their children will study it “on an equal basis
with Russian.”
“If however parents are against
their child studying the national language,” Isayev continues, “they will be
able to choose Russian as their native one,” and thus have an open slot for
other courses like English or science or mathematics.
The next session of the Duma group
working on revisions will take place on Friday, Kommersant says. But the
measure will not be taken up by the entire Duma until the fall. Until that time, the debate will continue;
but the promise of some changes may cause some now upset to avoid protests
until after the World Cup or even the summer holiday season.
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