will, in the near future, enable schools to provide instruction in Finnish at upper secondary level without necessitating amendments to provisions regarding the right to instruction’.21 Promotion of multicultural and intercultural elements in education Article 12(1) makes clear that State obligations concern not only education available for minorities but also that of majorities. The wording of Article 12(1) is close to that of Article 4(4) in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious or Linguistic Minorities (1992). According to the Commentary to the Declaration, multicultural education involves educational policies and practices which meet the separate educational needs of groups in society belonging to different cultural traditions, while intercultural education involves educational policies and practices whereby persons belonging to different cultures, whether in a majority or minority position, learn to interact constructively with each other.22 With regard to the multicultural element of education, State Parties make occasionally critical self-assessments of their implementation of Article 12. For instance, Germany reported that ‘knowledge of the culture and language of these minorities in Germany is passed on to a much greater extent in the respective traditional settlement area than in other parts of the national territory’.23 Crucial fields of action for State Parties are that of school curriculum and the provision and revision of textbooks with multicultural and intercultural content and form. Measures should not be limited to the geographical areas where national minorities live.24 In its first State Report25, the Czech Republic identified some of the school disciplines needing specific attention: ‘Education of the majority population about the culture, history, language and religion of national minorities has traditionally been neglected. In spite of a certain progress made during the last ten years, Czech instruction books remain largely textbooks of the Czech ethnic nation, its history, its culture, its fight for ethnic autonomy and later state sovereignty, always in contrary to the German element. It is as though the Czech Lands have not traditionally been the home of various ethnic, cultural and religious communities, especially the German and Jewish national minorities, and also the perpetually disregarded Romanies. ’ In order to guarantee the intercultural element in education, which includes intercultural dialogue (Article 6 and 12), dissemination of knowledge of minority cultures (Article 12) and the learning of the majority language by persons belonging to minorities (Article 14), State Parties must make assessments of different possibilities for the structuring of teaching. As mentioned earlier this requires as a first step the collection of baseline data on the needs and aspirations of different groups and individuals. State Parties regularly report on different methods and structures accommodating minority education and, specifically, minority language education. The examples below are drawn mainly from cases where language is perceived as the crucial element of education. Others 21 The State Report of Norway ACFC/SR(2001)1. A. Eide, Commentary to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic. Religious and Linguistic Minorities, E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.5/2001/2 (2001), paragraphs 64-70. 23 The State Report of Germany ACFC/SR(2000)1, under Article 12. See also State Report of Bulgaria ACFC/SR(2003)001. 24 The Advisory Committee Opinion on Austria ACFC/INF/OP/I(2002 009, paragraph 56. 25 State Report of the Czech Republic ACFC/SR(99)6, under Article 12. 22 15