March 2005

<<back

print>>

ONE STEP FURTHER FOR THE SUPPORT TO LOW GERMAN AND SATERFRISIAN IN LOWER SAXONY’S SCHOOLS

March 2005 – The Parliament of the Land of Lower Saxony (Germany) adopted on 24 February a resolution for the support to Low German and Saterfrisian in the schools of the Land. The parliamentary debate was carried out in Low German. The resolution, entitled “The regional Low German and Saterfrisian languages in school”, is in fact the final version of a text discussed in the Land’s Parliament last year (see Mercator-Legislation’s news: June 2004), now modified by the Culture Commission and approved by all parliamentary groups. The text states that these two minority languages are components of the Land’s identity and that, as such, they must be preserved, promoted and strengthened in a sustained way. It explains that, while Low German is widely used in rural areas, both in working and private life, and in several cultural fields, such as in amateur theatre, literary publications and newspapers, Saterfrisian is only spoken in a very small area by about 2,000 speakers and therefore needs special protection.

The resolution contains a set of petitions to the Government of the Land which, in summary, concern the need to secure the chair of Low German language and literature in Lower Saxony, the further implementation of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the consideration of Low German with stronger compulsoriness in the field of teacher training.

The concrete measures to be carried out by the Government are the following: 1. To keep on implementing in a continuous way the commitments acquired on the basis of Article 8.1 of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages; 2. To secure a chair of Low German language and literature in Lower Saxony, in order to guarantee, for instance, possibilities to complement teacher training; 3. To create the necessary conditions for schools located in the speaking areas of these two languages to offer classes for their learning; 4. To initiate learning projects of these two languages in the different school types and in several schools grades; 5. To produce class materials and recommendations, as well as to test and introduce them in class; 6. To provide and strengthen reliable expert advice for schools as regards these two languages; 7. To coordinate curricular and extra-curricular activities for the learning of these two languages in regional level institutions; 8. To suggest and promote the networking of pre-school and school initiatives for the learning of these two languages; and 9. To promote the involvement of adults who are proficient in these two languages in school activities.