Lithuania: Vilnius schools to stop offering Russian as second language

Lithuania’s Vilnius city municipality plans to stop offering Russian as a second foreign language to sixth-grade school students as of the academic year 2024/2025, LRT reports. Deputy mayor Arunas Sileris said that the municipality wanted to increase the availability of official EU languages at schools. Going forward, sixth-graders will be able to choose French, German, and Spanish language classes, he said. The city is consulting with foreign embassies on recruiting more language teachers. Russian remains the most popular second foreign language in Lithuanian schools, chosen by over 60% of students. However, Education Minister Gintautas Jakstas expects only a few schools in Lithuania to offer Russian language classes in ten years, BNS reports.