The FINANCIAL– The Committee of Experts of the European Charter of Regional or Minority Languages of the Council of Europe, in its new report on Slovenia published today, acknowledges the efforts undertaken by the authorities of Slovenia to protect the languages spoken in their country, and provides a number of recommendations to strengthen their presence in education, including through teacher training, and in mass media.
In Slovenia, the Hungarian and Italian languages continue to enjoy a relatively high level of protection and measures are taken by the authorities to support the implementation of the existing legal framework. Bilingual education in Hungarian and Slovenian, as well as education in Italian are provided at all levels of education apart from university.
There is a legal basis for an extensive use of Hungarian and Italian, which are official along with Slovenian in certain areas and are used to a certain extent in courts and administration. Together with the Hungarian and Italian national communities, in 2022 Offices for Bilingualism were set up, tasked with supporting and monitoring the use of these languages in public life. This is a development to be welcomed, the committee stresses.
As regards mass media, since 2021 additional funds have been granted to remedy the staff situation for the Hungarian and Italian radio and television programmes. Legal provisions for the use of Hungarian and Italian also exist in the economic sector.
Certain shortcomings remain, however, when it comes to the use of these languages in practice.
A shortage of professionals with an adequate language proficiency is increasingly affecting areas such as education, courts, administration or media. The committee recommends strengthening the presence of Hungarian in bilingual education and providing adequate teacher training for teaching in Hungarian and in Italian.
A more pro-active approach from the authorities and further organisational measures are needed to facilitate the use of Hungarian and Italian in administration. There are concerns regarding the impact of the restructurings and savings which need to be made by the public broadcaster, in particular when it comes to the Italian language programmes. The Committee of Experts also emphasises the need to ensure the provision of radio and television programmes in Hungarian and Italian at an appropriate level.
As regards Romani, afternoon lessons have been provided since 2021 as part of a pilot project at two schools, but so far there is no regular teaching of or in this language. Romani is present to some extent in the media. The committee recommends teaching Romani language and culture at all appropriate levels.
Besides, as the Slovenian legal framework still makes no provision for the recognition of Croatian, German and Serbian as traditional minority languages, the Committee of Experts recommends recognising them as minority languages traditionally spoken in Slovenia. In addition, it stresses the need to raise awareness in Slovenian society about the regional or minority languages, their history and cultures as an integral part of the cultural heritage of Slovenia, in mainstream education and in the mass media.
Discussion about this post