A/HRC/46/57/Add.1 39. For example, Kurdish-minority children do not receive any school teaching in their own language. Uighurs have been given permission by the Ministry of Education and Science to implement programmes for the teaching of their language in three schools in Chui and Osh Provinces; this has not yet been implemented. 40. With regard to the Dungan minority, there are 10 schools in Chui Province and 1 in Osh Province which teach their language, for only one hour a week: there is therefore no teaching in the Dungan language itself, as opposed to the language merely being taught as a subject in public schools. Furthermore, according to information shared with the Special Rapporteur, every year, representatives of the Dungan minority are obliged to write letters to the Ministry of Education and Science and Members of Parliament in order to ensure that even this one hour a week of teaching in their language is respected and maintained. 41. In terms of Dungan-language textbooks, it was brought to the Special Rapporteur’s attention that for the past five years there had been only one series of 7,000 textbooks in that language. 42. Since 2015, the option of using the Uzbek language in the national high school graduation examinations, which offer access to university education, has been revoked. Since then, exams can only be taken in Kyrgyz or Russian. The abolition of university admission tests in the Uzbek language has already been described by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination as potentially discriminatory for children whose education was partially delivered in the Uzbek language. In the view of the Special Rapporteur, 5 the abolition of the admission tests in Uzbek is potentially unreasonable and unjustified, and therefore discriminatory, given the previous use of such tests and the significant proportion of students for whom Uzbek is the first language. 43. The Special Rapporteur’s 2017 practical guide on language rights considers, among other things, the impact of international human rights, such as non-discrimination. This means, in the area of public education and with regard to the use of a minority language, that “where there is a sufficiently high numerical demand, public education services must be provided in a minority language to the appropriate degree, broadly following a proportional approach. This includes all levels of public education from kindergarten to university. If demand, the concentration of speakers or other factors make this not feasible, State authorities should as far as practicable at least ensure availability of minority language teaching. In addition, all children must have an opportunity to learn the official language(s).” 44. The language of education is, however, not the only issue of concern for minorities from a human rights perspective that was expressed to the Special Rapporteur during his visit. A different barrier occurs in relation to members of one Mugat community in Osh municipality, who informed the Special Rapporteur that only one school was accessible for some 800 students. Initially built in the 1970s for some 180 students, the limited space in the school means there have to be four shifts of about 200 students each in the one building, so students receive three or four formal teaching lessons of 45 minutes’ duration a day. Others apparently have to travel, by their own means, a significant distance in order to be able to receive any education at all. Despite numerous requests in 2017 and 2018 to the Ministry of Education, local officials and the State authorities for Osh Region, no clear responses were received, with the result that it would appear that Mugat children are dealt with in a discriminatory manner in terms of access to education, compared to other children. The results, unfortunately, are often low levels of educational achievement, poverty, inability to qualify for employment in most areas, and situations where these Mugat children become vulnerable and excluded. 45. Kyrgyzstan should ensure that its policy on language use in education does not discriminate, directly or indirectly. This means that it should increase the number of schools that use Uzbek as the language of instruction, ensure appropriate and proportional budgetary resources for the provision of quality mother-tongue education, while providing effective 5 8 Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Language Rights of Linguistic Minorities: A Practical Guide for Implementation (2017).