Multilingual education can be an important means of preparing everyone in society; that is, persons belonging to minorities as well as majorities, to participate on an equal footing in multilingual societies and may also facilitate their participation in the broader regional or global economy. Opportunities to acquire sufficient knowledge of the State and official language(s) are essential for effective social and economic participation, and States should ensure that minority pupils receive education in the State and official language(s) in combination with adequate opportunities to learn their minority language or to receive instruction in this language.99 17. States should ensure that in accessing public goods and services, persons belonging to national minorities are able to do so in a language that they understand, and preferably in their own language, as well as in an environment that is respectful of their agency and identity, including their gender. Public service providers should accommodate and respond to these needs. Language is the gateway to participation in society. The language(s) used by State authorities can either limit or enhance the access of persons belonging to national minorities to public goods and services and thus their level of participation in social and economic life. Not offering public goods and services in a language that minorities understand, and in minority languages where possible and appropriate, can exclude or disadvantage national minorities in terms of social and economic opportunities. This can have a negative impact on their full and equal participation in particular and on the integration of a diverse society as a whole. The right of persons belonging to national minorities to use their language in public and in private, freely and without any form of discrimination, orally and in writing, individually and with others, and to be able to use their language in contacts with public authorities as possible and necessary, has been elaborated in various international instruments.100 99 FCNM, article 14; UN Declaration on Minorities, article 4 (3); Copenhagen 1990, paragraph 34; OSCE HCNM, The Hague Recommendations regarding the Education Rights of National Minorities (1996); and UNESCO, Convention Against Discrimination in Education, article 5(1)(c) (1960). 100 Inter alia ICCPR, article 27; Copenhagen Document, paragraphs 32 and 34; OSCE HCNM The Oslo Recommendations regarding the Linguistic Rights of National Minorities, Recommendation 14 (Oslo Recommendations) (HCNM 1998); FCNM, article 10; CoE, European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML), article 10 (1992); and FCNM AC, Thematic Commentary No. 3 on The Language Rights of Persons belonging to National Minorities (Commentary on Language) (2012). See also: Ballantyne v. Canada, UN Human Rights Committee, 1993. Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Social and Economic Life 41