Vilnius authorities to change the statute of Francišak Skaryna Gymnasium

September 1 at Francišak Skaryna Gymnasium

This will allow the formation of classes where the main language of instruction will be Lithuanian, reported the BNS agency.

Changes are planned for Vilnius's Francišak Skaryna Gymnasium, where instruction is in Belarusian, the Lev Karsavin School with Russian as the language of instruction, and the Gymnasium in Grigiškės, where instruction is in Polish and Russian.

"The statutes of some schools are being changed; Lithuanian is being additionally introduced, which opens up the possibility of forming classes where the main language of instruction is Lithuanian," said Vilnius Vice-Mayor Vytautas Mitalas on the eve of the meeting.

According to Vice-Mayor Mitalas, this decision was reached without confrontation and with the support of the schools themselves.

"Representatives of national minorities will continue to be able to study their native language, but the main language for subjects, as exams are taken in this language, will be the state Lithuanian language," emphasized Vytautas Mitalas.

The vice-mayor noted that such changes are necessary for students to better prepare for and pass exams, BNS reported.

The Francišak Skaryna Gymnasium in Vilnius positively received the adoption of changes to the institution's statute. The deputy director of the gymnasium, Juratė Narvaišienė, called this step very appropriate.

"This is how it should be according to the law. In national minority schools, there should be two languages of instruction: the state Lithuanian language as the main one, and the language of the national minority. It's simple, now this will also be stated in the institution's statute," said Ms. Narvaišienė, who is temporarily acting as the gymnasium director, to Svaboda.

Radio Svaboda spoke with Mikola, the father of one of the students at Francišak Skaryna Gymnasium.

He believes that the changes to the gymnasium's statute will not hinder the Belarusian education of children but will ensure compliance with the law and facilitate the admission of new Belarusian children.

"This decision was expected, I would welcome it, as it will promote integration and provide additional opportunities for children to learn the Lithuanian language, which they will greatly need. At the same time, of course, most parents consider it very important to preserve the Belarusian-language essence of the gymnasium — that's why Belarusians consciously send their children to study here. And the gymnasium administration assured parents that the educational process would remain predominantly Belarusian-language, and the institution would remain Belarusian in essence," believes Mikola.

According to Mikola, parents of the gymnasium students welcomed the official position of the city of Vilnius when, on January 28 this year, the municipal council adopted a protocol resolution, in which it noted the unique character of the gymnasium as the only state school outside Belarus with Belarusian as the language of instruction and declared its intention to continue supporting it.

"As a parent, I very much hope that the addition of the state language to the gymnasium's statute will not lead to the squeezing out of Belarusian and that the city will keep its word," Mikola shared his hopes.

The Francišak Skaryna Gymnasium in Vilnius, which has about 400 students, was founded in 1994 initially as a school, and in 2013, it received gymnasium status. It is the only state educational institution in Lithuania with instruction in Belarusian.

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