The Crimean Human Rights Group have recently conducted a monitoring the access to education in the Ukrainian language in Crimea and Sevastopol.
During the research, the following was taken into account:
– languages, which are used in the educational process in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea,
– total number of students, who learn their native language,
– national and age composition of the population of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (for determination of the approximate number of students, who speak Ukrainian or Crimean Tatar).
The collected information covers 2013-2016.
As a result of monitoring, it was found out that the number of students who were taught in Ukrainian in Crimea has decreased by 36 times from the beginning of the occupation. For example, in 2013, 13,589 people in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea received education in Ukrainian, whereas in 2016 the number of such students dropped to 371. Accordingly, the number of classes with the Ukrainian language of education decreased by 31 times in two years.
The facts gathered by the Crimean Human Rights Group on the discrimination of Ukrainians in access to education in Ukrainian were transferred to the International Court of Justice as part of the “Ukraine vs. Russia” evidence base about Russian violation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in Crimea and Sevastopol. On April 19th, the International Court of Justice of the United Nations issued an order and preliminary provisional measures, among which there was a demand unanimously approved by the judges for the Russian Federation to ensure the availability of education in Ukrainian in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
