Ukrainian schools to become bilingual

The director-general of the directorate of pre-school, school, extracurricular and inclusive education of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Oleh Yeresko, said on Ranco vdoma that the agency was considering the option of teaching Ukrainian schoolchildren in two languages in parallel.

As Yeresko noted, it is planned to start the reform at high school.

We have institutions where children with an aptitude for learning foreign languages come together. They practice early language learning. But eventually we plan that in high school the major subject will be taught in two languages - Ukrainian and English - he said.

Yeresko said that English was chosen as the second language for Ukrainian pupils not by chance, but because "the best study materials have been published in this very language".

It should be added, currently there are 60 countries where English is an official language or one of the official languages. Some countries in the list, such as India, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada, the Philippines, England and the USA use English as an official language.