Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson (left) And the Ministry of Education and Communications Krista Kiuru participated in the debate in parliament on Thursday on the bill opposing mandatory Swedish language in education. Photo – Lehtikuva.
A citizen initiative bill opposing mandatory Swedish-language classes in the Finnish school system was discussed in the parliament on Thursday when the lawmakers from the treasury and opposition benches expressed mixed reactions.
The initiative received support mostly from the opposition Perussuomalaiset (Finns Party).
Finns Party legislator Vesa-Matti Saarakkala believes the matter is about the wish of the people
“We can decide whether the change will happen through the citizen-led imitative or in due course through elections,” said Saarakkala, adding that as it stands, the issue will remain on the agenda.
Lawmakers spoke in the parliament on the bill. Photo – Lehtikuva.
Another supporter of the initiative is Janne Sankelo, an MP of the ruling Kansallinen Kokoomus (National Coalition Party).
Sankelo said from on his career in the Finnish basic education he had found that compulsory education bore more harms than the benefit of knowing Swedish language.
The Suomen Ruotsalainen Kansanpuolue (Swedish People’s Party of Finland), another component of the five-party alliance government has actively defended continuation of compulsory teaching of Swedish language. The support has also been received from other political parties.
Representatives of other parties also have pointed out the possibility of other regions choosing Russian language to replace Swedish.
Education Minister Krista Kiuru, however, said not all subjects can become optional in educational institutions as relevance is given importance. The minister pointed out that things are taught in schools because they are also important.
The bill initiated by a citizens’ movement in March 2013 got the mandatory 50,000 signatures and was placed in the parliament in August 2013 for consideration.
The initiative was organised by Vapaa Kielivalinta (a group that supports freedom of language choice), the Finnish Alliance, the Finns Party Youth and the National Coalition Party Youth with a view to making Swedish optional, not mandatory as it is now in the school system.
Finland is a bilingual country where the other official language is Swedish.
According to the citizen initiative law which entered into force in the beginning of March 2012, at least 50,000 Finnish citizens entitled to vote have the right to submit an initiative for enactment of an act to the parliament.
Earlier, the parliament rejected two such bills – same-sex marriage and fur farming – due to lack of adequate support by the lawmakers.
