FUEN critical towards the new administrative regulation in Brandenburg

Today, the Parent-Child-Initiative is planning to hand over a preliminary version of their petition at the Landtag in Potsdam. The initiative is supported by the Domovina, the Union of Lusatian Sorbs, and the Council for Sorbian Affairs at the Potsdam Landtag.

At Tuesday the 21^st March , the Council for Sorbian affairs met,once again to discuss the future of the Sorbian language education in Brandenburg. 

The background for the current protests is the planned revision of the Sorbian-Wendish-School Regulation for Sorbian language education and for using Sorbian in bilingual education as proposed by the Brandenburg Ministry of Education (MBJS).

Amongst others, the revision will introduce a minimum number of 12 students for every age group and instruction across three age groups as a precondition for education in the Lower Sorbian/Wendish language. 

The Council for Sorbian/Wendish Affairs in Brandenburg and the Domowina, the Union of Lusatian Sorbs, fear that the new school regulation will result in a reduction of the quantity and quality of education. In countless schools in the region of Lower Lusatia the language classes will be dropped. Children and younger individuals will be deprived of the opportunity to adequately learn their own language, if they wish so. 

The Domowina demands that each school, if the parents wish so, should offer Sorbian language education. "In this very sensitive area, reductions cannot be accepted. Everything possible must be done in order to accommodate the individuals who are interested in learning the Sorbian language, without having to face any resistance", says the Domowina, a member of the FUEN.

The Lower Sorbian language belongs to the most endangered ones in Europe and is protected under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. 

The FUEN Presidium met in Berlin on 17-18 March and has been informed about the current situation by FUEN Vice-President Bernhard Ziesch.

In recent years, the Land of Brandenburg, which treasures the Lower Sorbian language as a living cultural heritage of the land, has taken several measures to better support and protect the language and culture of the Lower Sorbians. In the year 2014 the Sorbian/Wendish Act was revised, in May 2015 elections took place for the Council for Sorbian/Wendish Affairs at the Brandenburg Landtag. The country has raised its financial support for the Foundation for the Sorbian People and currently it contributes 3,1 million Euro to its annual budget.

The government of Brandenburg has, as of the middle of last year, presented a Plan to Strengthen the Lower Sorbian Language / Krajny plan za zmócnjenje dolnoserbskeje rěcy. It contains a multitude of provisions for language policy. With this plan, according to the FUEN, Brandenburg joins the ranks, nationally and Europe-wide, of the regions that develop concrete plans for their minorities and their respective languages, which go beyond the current legal regulations.

The plan states, that: "it (the plan) is also an invitation to enter into a dialogue and a basis for critical discussions. In order to achieve success in collaboration with the language group and to be able to further develop in accordance with the available possibilities,needs and legal obligations, also the language policy will be further developed.

In this context, FUEN concludes, that pre-school and school education are the strongest guarantees to a continuous language revitalisation and therefore an essential part of a successful language policy. It cannot be in the interest of the Brandenburg government to jeopardise the revitalization measures for the critically endangered Lower Sorbian, with administrative provisions that go against the needs and possibilities of the respective individuals, according to FUEN.

Regardless of the practical contraints and the departmental responsibilities, FUEN encourages all parties to start a dialogue to secure what has been achieved and to aim for common successes. The strong commitment on the part of the Lower Sorbian children and their parents for Lower Sorbian is a further recognition for the importance of this issue.  

ith the support from the elected representations of the Sorb, the Domowina, the Union of Lusatian Sorbs, and the Council for Sorbian/Wendish Affairs, it should be possible to agree to acceptable provisions for a new administrative regulation that can meet the European minority standards, and which can support the ambitious goals of the support for the revitalisation of the Lower Sorbian language.

FUEN will closely continue to follow the further developments in Brandenburg.