In the Verkhovna Rada, they propose banning private schools from teaching in the Russian language

Members of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada are proposing to ban private schools from teaching in the Russian language.

A corresponding bill amending the law “On Complete General Secondary Education,” published on the Ukrainian parliament’s website, was submitted by MPs Nataliia Pipa (Holos party), Ihor Huz (For the Future group), and Volodymyr Viatrovych (European Solidarity party).

The explanatory note to the bill says that “cases have been recorded in Ukraine of unlicensed private educational institutions for school-age children operating and using the Russian language in their educational process.” In this connection, the bill proposes to remove “the right of private institutions to independently determine the language of instruction,” including by prohibiting the use of the state language of the Russian Federation.

On January 7, Ukraine’s State Service for Education Quality reported that it had begun checking information about a school in Kyiv at a monastery of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). According to the Ukrainian outlet Slidstvo.Info, more than 60 children in grades 1–9 study there and 16 teachers work there, and pupils reportedly study using Soviet-era textbooks.

The organization’s management at the monastery says it is a family club and that the instruction is supplementary. Nevertheless, the State Service for Education Quality said it would work together with law enforcement to take measures “to hold those responsible accountable.”