A/HRC/43/47 Annex Education, language and the human rights of minorities: sample questionnaire and list of contributors A. Sample questionnaire Call for Submissions by 30 September 2019 Education, Language and the Human Rights of Minorities In accordance with his mandate pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 34/6, the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Dr. Fernand de Varennes, intends to present a thematic report at the 43rd Session of the UN Human Rights Council, which will provide a detailed analysis and highlight the issue of “Education, Language and the Human Rights of minorities”. The report will address areas pertaining to the recognition, protection and promotion of minority language in education, including the teaching of and in minority languages, and the adoption of inclusive pedagogical and educational approaches, with the view to ensuring equal access to quality education by persons belonging to minorities, in line with the international commitments under the post-2015 development agenda (SDG 4). The report will also provide suggestions and recommendations addressed to all relevant stakeholders at the local, national, regional and international levels, and identify examples of good practices and initiatives that recognize and support the linguistic rights of minorities and promote inter-culturalism and multilingualism in the educational systems. Context The issue of education as a human right and its contours and impact for minorities constitutes one of the thematic priorities of the Special Rapporteur. It is also a topical issue, given the persisting significant challenges faced by minorities around the world today in accessing quality education and in particular education that contributes to the preservation of their language and identity. Laws and policies which provide for a monolingual approach to education and to the provision of services, and which also impose restrictions on the use of minority languages in the public sphere, especially as medium of instruction, are often based on the misconception that investing in minority languages and creating an environment for their use and further development would alienate minorities from the learning of the national/official language, create linguistic segregation that would undermine minority integration and threaten national unity, societal cohesion and harmony. Research has shown that inclusion of minority languages in education, both as separate subjects and as mediums of instruction, and the adoption of inter-cultural and multi-lingual approaches and methods in educational and vocational training programmes, have a direct positive impact on the educational performance of minority students, their self-esteem and development, and their integration in society in general. In addition, protection of minority languages and the recognition, respect and promotion of the educational needs of minorities, is a crucial component of the protection and preservation of minorities’ cultural heritage and promotion of society’s diversity and development, and thus an important factor in reducing inter-ethnic tension and preventing conflicts. In 2009, the inaugural session of the Forum on Minority Issues focused on minorities and the right to education and recommended that States provide adequate opportunities to persons belonging to minorities to learn their mother tongue or to learn through the medium of the mother tongue, and such opportunities be chosen in consultation with them. It also recommended that teachers and appropriate teaching and reading materials, including textbooks, should be available in the mother tongues of minorities. 18