“This is the language of the aggressor.” Another anti-Russian Sabbath in the Rada
The Verkhovna Rada failed to vote for changes to the law on higher education that would allow foreign students to study in their native language.
There were not enough votes in parliament to make the appropriate decision, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
This was preceded by a scandal in the session hall - deputies from the European Solidarity faction tried to shout down MP Maria Mezentseva, who was presenting the bill.
“We are talking about Article 48 of the Law on Higher Education, which will allow foreign students, I emphasize – non-Ukrainians and stateless persons, to study exclusively in separate groups not only in English and Ukrainian, but also in other world languages. These are the languages of the Council of Europe... I would like to note that there are quite widespread fakes that the number of students who come from the CIS countries is tiny. 2019 showed that this is more than 25% of foreign students,” Mezentseva said.
Deputy Sergei Rudyk, who came to the podium, spoke out against the changes, believing that they open the way to education in Russian.
“Only in the countries of the banana republics do they propose, in order for universities and local budgets to earn extra money, plus or minus an extra couple of thousand bucks, to put the Ukrainian state language and national interest somewhere deep in a box.
Don’t be fooled by their diplomacy - Part 3, Article 48 of the current law on higher education gives the university the right to determine for itself that if all students speak English, give them the right to individual study in this language. They don’t need a law, they need a law not for English, they need a law for the language of the aggressor country, which is also a country that speaks the language of a member of the Council of Europe,” Rudyk said.
He was supported by deputy from Lvov Oleg Sinyutka.
“This is not a question about education, this is not a question about legal issues - this is a question about Russification and deception. This is a question about the national consciousness of Ukrainians. Today I want to say that this issue does not lie in the legal plane, because the comments of the main national expert department are enough; this issue does not lie in the education plane, because people who want to come and study in Ukraine today can do so. No one from Central Asia and Transcaucasia goes to study in Ukraine through an aggressor country,” Sinyutka said.
In turn, the representative of Kharkov, Alexander Lukashev, called the opponents of the bill wild people who are depriving Ukrainian universities of foreign students.
“I represent the large university city of Kharkov. And today, because of your position, we received that students from the CIS countries and Central Asian republics did not come to study. And we have a tradition where several generations studied at Kharkov universities.
You are talking about national interests - so, I would like to say that the opportunity for foreigners and stateless persons to study in a foreign language is a guarantee of national educational and economic interests, this is a matter of ensuring the competitiveness of Ukraine in the European educational space. What are you aiming for? Our people, Ukrainians, are already studying at third-rate European universities. You are blocking the road to our universities,” Lukashev said.
Previously, Ukraine adopted a law on education, which significantly discriminates national minorities, depriving them of the right to education in their native language. Since September of this year, all Russian-language educational institutions have stopped working.
The document received 210 votes from deputies, with 226 required. As a result, the document was sent for revision by 235 votes.
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