Lithuania’s Supreme Administrative Court ruled Wednesday that the current allocation of Lithuanian language lessons in primary schools for ethnic minorities violates the law, saying pupils receive fewer state-language classes than required.
In a ruling by an expanded panel of five judges, the court said existing rules do not comply with the Law on Education, which stipulates that in national minority schools, Lithuanian language instruction must be an integral part of the curriculum and receive the same amount of teaching time as the minority’s native language.
Under the current system, pupils in grades 1 through 4 at national minority schools receive five Lithuanian language lessons per week, compared with seven lessons in their native language. By contrast, pupils at Lithuanian-language schools receive eight Lithuanian lessons per week in their first year and seven lessons per week in grades two through four.
The court said the law allows for elements of Lithuanian language instruction to be integrated into other subjects, but this does not justify allocating less time to Lithuanian than to the native language of the national minority.
Although general education plans allow school councils to reduce the number of lessons devoted to a minority’s native language and reallocate them to Lithuanian language and literature, the court noted that this option is discretionary rather than mandatory. As a result, it does not guarantee equal teaching time for Lithuanian, the court said.
The ruling also found that the current rules violate the constitutional principle of the rule of law, which presupposes a hierarchy of legal acts.
The case was brought by MP Laurynas Kasčiūnas, leader of the opposition conservative Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats. He argued that the existing model creates a knowledge gap between Lithuanian-language and minority schools, leaving pupils in minority schools at a disadvantage due to insufficient proficiency in the state language.
Even before the ruling, Education Minister Raminta Popovienė said the ministry planned to increase the number of lessons devoted to Lithuanian language instruction for primary school pupils in national minority schools. She said the ministry had agreed to set standards for the number of lessons.
Current hygiene standards limit the school day to a maximum of five lessons in grade one, six lessons in grades two through four, and seven lessons in grades five through 10 and in gymnasium grades one through four.
The ministry has proposed increasing the maximum number of weekly lessons for primary school pupils from 30 to 31 or 32.
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