PRESS RELEASE
Council of Europe publishes report on regional or minority languages in Sweden
Strasbourg, 12 October 2011. The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers has today made public the fourth report on the application of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in Sweden. The report has been drawn up by a committee of independent experts, which monitors the application of the Charter.
On the basis of this report, the Council of Europe makes a series of recommendations to Sweden to strengthen education for all regional or minority languages. Measures should be taken to ensure that "mother tongue" education offers real and adequate language tuition so that pupils can become fully literate in the languages concerned. Bilingual education in Finnish and Sami should be increased and it should also be introduced for Meänkieli. Finally, the Swedish authorities should establish dedicated teacher training and create teaching and learning materials for all regional or minority languages.
The full report and Committee of Ministers' recommendations can be downloaded from the Charter website (www.coe.int/minlang) (in the "Documents" section).
Further information can also be found on the Charter’s website or by contacting the Charter Secretariat (Council of Europe, F-67075 Strasbourg, minlang.secretariat@coe.int, tel. +33 (0)3 88 41 31 86).
