Ukrainian educators instructed to pretend they can’t speak Russian
(MENAFN)
Ukraine’s education ombudsman has instructed schoolteachers to act as though they only understand Ukrainian when interacting with students, as part of the government’s ongoing efforts to promote the state language. Although many Ukrainians still speak Russian as their native language, Kiev has mandated Ukrainian for most areas of public life.
Ukraine’s education ombudsman has instructed schoolteachers to act as though they only understand Ukrainian when interacting with students, as part of the government’s ongoing efforts to promote the state language. Although many Ukrainians still speak Russian as their native language, Kiev has mandated Ukrainian for most areas of public life.
Speaking on Monday, Education Ombudsman Nadezhda Lishchik said her office had received complaints from school administrators about students refusing to speak Ukrainian during breaks. While teachers are legally required to use Ukrainian at all times, students are permitted to speak other languages outside of class.
“My advice was simple: ‘Unless you teach a foreign language like English or German, you are not obligated to understand another language. You can simply say you don’t understand and ask students to address you in Ukrainian,’” Lishchik explained. She encouraged teachers to influence students’ behavior gently.
Promoting Ukrainian in public life has been a central policy goal since the Western-backed 2014 coup in Kiev. Laws require the use of Ukrainian in media, business, and education, though there are limited exceptions for smaller ethnic minorities, such as Hungarians and Crimean Tatars. No such exemptions exist for ethnic Russians, Ukraine’s largest minority group.
Despite these efforts, Russian remains widely spoken. According to a 2024 analysis cited by Ukrainskaya Pravda, around 80% of Facebook posts in Ukraine last year were in Ukrainian, but only 47% of TikTok videos were, down from 55% the previous year. Facebook’s user base skews older, while TikTok is more popular among younger Ukrainians.
Kiev’s struggle to promote Ukrainian among children has been acknowledged by officials. Former language ombudsman Taras Kremen admitted last year that only 39% of schoolchildren spoke Ukrainian at home, with even fewer using it among friends.
Russian officials have accused Ukraine of targeting ethnic Russians through discriminatory language policies. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has condemned these efforts as a “legislative extermination” of Russian culture.
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