The ministry proposes to amend the law to introduce the requirement to allocate at least five hours per week to Lithuanian-language education in pre-school education programs of national minority schools.
The existing legislation requires allocating at least 4 hours per week to Lithuanian-language education in pre-primary education groups. Lithuanian-language education is not mandatory for pre-school-age children, but may be included in the program at the request of parents.
The measure would cost 213,100 euros in the period between September and December 2019 and another 639,400 euros in the full year 2020.
Municipalities with large ethnic minority populations do not object to the idea, but Eugenijus Jovaisa, chairman of the Lithuanian parliament’s Committee on Education and Science, does not expect the amendments to be easily passed in the parliament.