An incident occurred at one of the educational institutions in the capital of Ukraine, resulting in an administrative penalty for a teacher. A teacher at a Kyiv lyceum was fined for violating language legislation by allowing the use of the Russian language in the educational process.
According to RBC-Ukraine, citing the page of the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language, Elena Ivanovska, the inspection was initiated following a complaint from a parent. The appeal came from a veteran of the Russo-Ukrainian war, whose child is a first-grade student at this lyceum. The student's father reported a violation of children's language rights during a lesson.
Reason for inspection: cartoon in Russian
State control was carried out by a representative of the Commissioner, Igor Spiridonov. During the investigation, it was revealed that during a lesson in the 1st grade, the teacher used a fragment of a cartoon with sound accompaniment in Russian. The teacher herself admitted this fact during the review of the inspection materials.
Spiridonov stated that any explanations related to an "educational purpose" cannot serve as grounds for deviating from the law. He emphasized that the Ukrainian school is obliged to teach and communicate exclusively in the state language.
"The use of the language of the aggressor state, particularly in education, is a gross and inadmissible violation of legislation," stated the ombudsman's representative.
Zero tolerance and fine amount
As a result of the state control, Elena Ivanovska issued a ruling on the application of an administrative penalty. The fine amount was 3,400 hryvnias. Igor Spiridonov called this result an important signal for the entire education system: there will be "zero tolerance" for violations of language legislation in schools.
Particular emphasis was placed on the fact that children, especially first-graders, should not have to defend their own language rights. "It is the obligation of the educational institution, administration, and teaching staff to ensure the educational process is conducted in the state language," noted Spiridonov.
Recall that according to Article 21 of the Law of Ukraine "On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language," the educational process in educational institutions must be conducted in the state language. Previously, Elena Ivanovska also advocated for initiatives to cancel the "special status" of the Russian language and discussed the possibility of banning Russian-language versions of websites.
