The Lithuanian Education Ministry will propose to organise online teaching of European languages at schools to discourage students from choosing Russian as their second foreign language.
Education, Science and Sport Minister Jurgita Šiugždinienė says the aim is to reduce the percentage of students opting for Russian as their second foreign language from 70 to 30 percent within five years.
The teaching of German and French could be increased immediately because some of the teachers of these languages work part-time, according to the minister.
Plans also call for offering Russian language teachers the opportunity to acquire a second qualification within five years as well as providing scholarships for university students who opt to study European languages, the minister said.
Figures from the Education, Science and Sport Ministry show that Russian as a second foreign language is the most popular language at schools this academic year, with almost 15,000 sixth graders choosing it. However, this is 10 percent less than in the previous year.
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