• What is the dialogue "So who exactly are you then?" about?

The political or military delineation of borders frequently results in members of various ethnic groups who speak different, mutually incomprehensible languages suddenly finding themselves in one country. Even though both ethnic groups have lived within the territory in question for hundreds of years (even thousands of year, in the case of the Poles in Těšín for instance), by virtue of a political act the members of one nationality suddenly find themselves in a country whose official language is their own, and the second group in a country which does not even recognise their language as being official.

In the same way as the Czechs, who emigrated for many reasons (to Romania, Croatia, South American, the USA, etc.), several other foreigners are attempting to preserve their maternal tongue and other cultural traditions in a new country, even though they feel good and are satisfied to live there. Each country can help them in this endeavour, not only because members of various nationalities have a human right to this, but also because they thus support the development of a multicultural environment and the potential of human society. Not for nothing do people say: “The number of languages you know is the number of people you are.” Human rights, including the right to be taught in a foreign language and the right to learn a foreign language, can be enshrined in law. In the Czech Republic, the rights of ethnic minorities (members of different ethnicities living traditionally or intensively within the CR) is enshrined in the Act on the rights of members of national minorities, as amended.

• What is...?

Courses in foreign languages: We probably don’t need to be reminded how many opportunities we have these days to learn foreign languages. However, this teaching takes account of the fact that the language is not our maternal language. It is therefore not in-depth, intensive or fast. We can also travel abroad and undertake a work or study trip. When living in a new environment, we often learn more quickly. However, members of different nationalities frequently live traditionally and need to develop their language (maternal for them, foreign for us) more intensively than Czechs. For this reason, they have greater requirements on language teaching.

Compatriot organisations and maternal language courses: If foreigners live in their new country for a longer period of time, they usually gradually feel the need to protect the inheritance of their original traditions. If this is permitted by the legislation of the country where they live, they pool their resources and establish various compatriot organisations (organisations of persons born in the same region or country). These organisations can more easily avail themselves of financial and other types of support from the state in order to maintain the traditions of their native culture. The organisations themselves also have the opportunity to earn money through their own efforts. Their activities include the organisation of cultural or sports events, financial appeals, meetings with the local authorities and state bodies, the organisation of children’s camps, and language courses (as well as nurseries and schools) for their compatriots, so that the children of foreigners who were born in the new country do not forget the maternal language of their parents.

The Act on the rights of members of national minorities, as amended: Act 273/2001Sb. was approved on 10 July 2001. It is based on the principles of a democratic and legal state, the principle of the protection of human rights (i.e. the right to national or ethnic identity), and it guarantees members of national minorities the right to effective participation in cultural, social and economic life and in public matters, especially those which relate to national minorities. The Act delineates the basic terms (national minority and a member thereof), and in the second section the rights of members of national minorities. It is explicitly stated in the Act: “No detriment may ensue to anyone from membership of a national minority.” The Act guarantees a right to the free choice of nationality to members of various ethnic groups, their right to congregate, their right to participate in the resolution of matters which relate to national minorities, their right to the use of their name and surname in the language of the national minority in question, the right to multi-linguistic names and signs, the right to use the language of the national minority during official contacts with offices and courts, the right to use the language of the national minority in elections, the right to training in the language of the minority, the right to the development of the culture of the minority, and the right to the expansion and acceptance of information in the language of the minority. The rights of members of a national minority are also specified in more detail in the Administrative Infractions Act, the Municipalities Act, and in the Acts on elections to local authorities of municipalities and regions, on regions, on schools, the Act on the City of Prague, etc.

A member of a national minority under Act 273/2001 Coll.: A national minority is a community of citizens of the Czech Republic living in the territory of the current Czech Republic, which differs from other citizens usually in respect of a joint ethnic origin, language, culture and traditions, forms a sizeable minority of the population, and at the same time manifests the will to be regarded as a national minority for the purpose of making a joint effort to preserve and develop their own particularity, language and culture, and for the purpose of the expression and protection of the interests of their community, which has been historically created. A member of a national minority is a citizen of the Czech Republic who registers for a nationality other than Czech and displays a wish to be regarded as a member of a national minority together with others who register for the same nationality.

The right to tuition in the language of the national minority (section 11):
(1) members of national minorities who have traditionally lived in the Czech Republic for a long time have the right to upbringing and education in their maternal language in schools, nurseries, and educational establishments, under the conditions stipulated by a special legal regulation.
(2) Members of national minorities under paragraph 1 may establish, under the conditions stipulated by special legal regulations:
a) private schools using the language of the national minority as the official school language or with classes in the language of the national minority offered as a subject on the curriculum,
b) private preschool facilities and private educational establishments.

School using the language of the national minority as the official school language: A school where tuition in all or selected subjects takes place in the language of the national minority.

• Topic

The application of the rights of members of national minorities and education in their language
In order for the state to ensure the application and enforceability of the rights of members of national minorities in practice, it must establish various other organisations which either supervise compliance with the rights or directly support the application thereof. One of these organisations is the Council of the Government for National Minorities, the members of which are representatives of the bodies of the public administration, and representatives of the eleven officially recognised national minorities. The Council for National Minorities participated on the creation of the rules pertaining to grant policy (Government Regulation 98/2002), under which the right is realised of national minorities to preserve, develop and present their cultures. As well as this, there are advisory bodies established at various ministries for the question of national minorities: the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs – the Commission of the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs for the Realisation of Measures for the Support of the Employment of Groups with Difficulty on the Jobs Market, the Ministry of Culture – Advisory Board of the 1st deputy minister for Questions of National Culture, whose members are representatives of national minorities, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports – Advisory Group for Questions of National Education – the aim being to ensure the coordination of approaches within the sphere of the education of national minorities at basic and secondary schools. The Ministry of the Interior also has its own advisory body. The local authorities of the municipalities and regions also have a duty to look after the rights of members of national minorities.

If, when a census of people is being taken (every ten years), more than 10% of the population of a specific municipality register as belonging to a nationality other than Czech or Moravian, the municipality is obliged to establish a “committee for national minorities” – a local authority and initiative body. Half of the places on the committee must go to members of national minorities. If less than 10% of the population registers as belonging to a nationality other than Czech, the municipality may, but does not have to, establish this body. However, in practice the problem frequently arises that, for various reasons, the members of several nationalities do not register their nationalities. The figures then processed on the basis of the census are not sufficiently reliable. Similarly, a region must establish a “committee for national minorities” when 5% or more of people register as being of a nationality other than Czech. This body is both advisory and provides initiatives.

And thirdly, if 10% or more of citizens in a municipality register as being other than of Czech or Moravian nationality, tuition must be provided in the language of the national minority under the Education Act.

The current conception of the joint part of the baccalaureate examinations assumes that schools will offer the language of a national minority as the official school language. In the Centre for the Reform of Baccalaureate Examinations, there are national standardised tests in the language of the national minority, but also in the language of national minorities.

• Stories and examples

Legislation is one thing and practice is another. Even though the law generally lays a duty on municipalities to protect the rights of national minorities, a municipality will frequently not seek concrete resolutions which could really help such minorities. While in Těšín, it is commonplace for schools to offer tuition in Polish and for pupils to graduate in Polish, the Roma people around the entire republic do not have so much as one basic school with lessons offered in Romany. Often the state, regional and municipal authorities communicate with a person they regard as a representative of the nationality in question, without this necessarily being the case. On the contrary, they frequently discourage honest attempts at cooperation. We mustn’t overlook the fact that there are several steps from the formulation of a law to its realisation, and that a bill does not in itself resolve everything. It will continue to depend upon the decisions we reach as to how we will fulfil the terms, not only of the letter of the law, but also its spirit, where it is not possible to include every smallest detail in the bill. Let’s not forget that it is people who write the laws, nothing writes itself.

• Sources

Acts:

Act 273/2001 Coll., on the rights of members of national minorities.

Education Act 561/2004 Coll.

Internet:

Centrum pro reformu maturitní zkoušky (www.cermat.cz)

Zhřívalová, P. a Valeš, F. (2006). Koncepce politiky vlády vůči národnostním menšinám, antidiskriminační legislativa v ČR a kompetence územně samosprávných celků v oblasti realizace vládní politiky (The conception of the policy of the government in respect of national minorities, anti-discriminatory legislation in the Czech Republic, and the competence of the local authorities in the sphere of the implementation of government policy). Praha: AMČR. (www.amcr.cz)