JUDGMENT No. 12.-UPPER SILESIA (MINORITY SCHOOLS) 43 In the course of the oral proceedings the German Government expressed the opinion that the principle of equal treatment of al1 nationals laid down by Articles 67 and 68 of the Convention would be violated if, as regards the mere admission of a child to a minority school, a declaration containing anything besides a mere request for admission were to be demanded from the person responsible for the child's education. This reasoning appears to be as follows : no special declaration is required for the admission of the child to a majority school; consequently, by virtue of the principle of equal treatment, the same should be the case as regards admission to minority schools. The Court is unable to adopt this reasoning. I t considers that Article 67 (see Annex) has no relation to the question set out above. As regards Article 68, i t should be observed that it cannot be construed leaving Article 69 out of consideration. In laying down the obligation to grant appropriate facilities for a child speaking the language of the minority to be taught in public primary schools in its own language, this article clearly shows that it is perfectly compatible with the principle of the "same treatment" guaranteed by Article 68, to restrict the enjoyment of these "facilities" to children whose language is the minority language. And if, to ensure the observance of this rule, a declaration as to the language of the child is required, that also cannot be regarded as a violation of the principle of the "same treatment" established by Article 68. Article 69, in fact, bestows an advantage which is dependent on the fulfilment of certain conditions; the fact that this advantage is not obtainable if the conditions in question are not fulfilled does not therefore raise any question of equality of treatment. I t follows from what has already been said that a refusa1 to admit to minority schools (classes or courses) children who, according to the declaration of the perçons responsible for their education, only speak Polish or in respect of whom the declaration as to the child's language is lacking, cannot be regarded as contrary to the Convention. If a declaration has been made, it must always be respected. With regard to Article 131, as well as to Article 74, the Court . 6