“Minority schools” and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities

Abstract

“Minority schools” and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities

Based on the frequent use of the term “minority schools”, the author examines whether this is suitable as a legal term and, also how the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) deals linguistically and normatively with the issue of teaching both the respective minority language, as well as in it, and the teaching of the state language, as well as in it. From the numerous opinions of the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention (ACFC) on the Convention, case studies are presented which show that the ACFC rejects monolingual schools, and even more so segregation in the education system, and prefers a bi- or multilingual educational system that begins in this form as early as preschool.