A/HRC/33/42/Add.3 in Vapsten’s traditional territory while the case was before the Committee. Faced with lost productivity due to the temporary shutdown, the company pulled out of the venture in 2015. While the Special Rapporteur does not wish to prejudice the outcome of the proceedings of the Committee, she is of the view that the case of Vapsten poignantly illustrates the need for a domestic regulatory framework that adequately recognizes and protects Sami rights in accordance with international human rights standards. 5. Language and education 49. Under the National Minorities and Minority Languages Act,26 Sami languages spoken in Sweden are granted protections within certain designated administrative areas, including with respect to dealings with State agencies. Those legal guarantees, however, remain only partially implemented, often as a result of a lack of staff with Sami language skills. 50. In Sweden, education in the Sami language is mainly guaranteed in the Swedish Sami schools created in the 1990s. Currently, a Sami school pupil is required to enrol in 800 hours of Sami teaching. Over a period of six years of schooling, that amounts to fewer than four hours a week. Currently, there are only five Sami schools and their coverage does not extend to the entire Sami region. 51. Swedish municipalities may enter into agreement with any of the five Sami schools to pursue so-called integrated Sami teaching, meaning that they commit to provide Sami language teaching similar to that offered by the Sami schools, that is, 800 hours over six years. At present, only 9 of the 19 municipalities in the Sami administrative area provide integrated Sami teaching. In Sweden, Sami teaching is sporadic at best, with no schools providing regular Sami teaching beyond the elementary school levels. 52. The Swedish Educational Decree adopted in 201127 appears to further reduce the possibility for full Sami language immersion. Under the Decree, a student who is a member of a national minority, including the Sami people, has the right to mother-tongue teaching in his or her language. However, in primarily aiming to integrate national minorities, the Decree specifies that only half of the total amount of teaching can be in the mother tongue of the student and it is planned so as to ensure that teaching progressively increases in Swedish. Together, those requirements form an obstacle to effective Sami language teaching and prevent more Sami children from learning Sami languages. C. Finland 1. General legal and policy framework 53. Finland is party to all the major United Nations human rights instruments and voted in favour of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Finland has not ratified the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), although a proposal for ratification is currently under consideration. Similar to Norway and Sweden, in October 2014 Finland endorsed the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and developed a national action plan for their implementation. While the action plan stipulates that Finland is committed to continuing a dialogue relating to the human rights impacts of business activities with United Nations bodies for indigenous peoples, there is no specific consideration of the impact of business operations in Finland and their potential impacts on the Sami people. 26 27 14 Lag (2009:724) om nationella minoriteter och minoritetsspråk. Skolförordningen (2011:185).