Lithuanian language learning opportunities in Kaliningrad on decline – daily

This year, optional Lithuanian-language courses became unavailable in the schools of the Nesterovsk and Slavsk districts.

“I do not blame the authorities of these two districts, because I am certain that it is not up to them to decide on whether or not to run optional Lithuanian-language courses. These decisions are now made by the regional administration, its Education Ministry officials,” Gintaras Skamarocius, chairman of the Kristijonas Donelaitis Society, told the paper.

Aleksas Bartninkas, head of the Association of Lithuanian Language Teachers in the Kaliningrad region, says that some districts have no Lithuanian language teachers at all.

Around 10,000 Lithuanians live in the Russian exclave bordering Lithuania.