MINORITY EDUCATION

the attempt of national educational systems to preserve the cultural identity of linguistic, religious, and racial or ethnic minorities while assimilating those minorities into the nation's economic and social mainstream. In countries characterized by the use of several languages, such as Belgium, Switzerland, and India, careful compromises have been worked out to acknowledge cultural differences. Belgium, which recognizes three languages of instruction in the schools, has parallel ministries of education for French and Flemish speakers. India encourages the use of the official language of a particular Indian state in the early stages of education, and in upper secondary or higher education, the use of Hindi or English. Conversely, the Malaysian government insists on the use of Bahasa Malaysian as the language of schooling, with the stated aim of establishing national unity in a country characterized by sizable minority groups. The problem of having several religious minorities within a country became pressing with the establishment of mass elementary education in the 19th century. Up until then, the churchwhichever church it might behad controlled education, but since the 19th century educational systems have been increasingly financed by national governments. One solution to the religious problem was to insist upon a state monopoly in education, as in the Soviet Union or China after their communist revolutions. Another solution was to insist upon a secularized public educational system, as in France or the United States, where religion is not permitted to be taught in the public schools, but where religious groups may establish their own private schools. In countries where there is a high degree of religious homogeneity, as in some Arab countries, religious teaching is encouraged in the schools, and the interests of church and state are deemed to coincide. In many countries the problems posed by race and ethnicity have affected not only political stability but also educational policy. The UN Declaration of Human Rights has made it increasingly difficult for governments to base their educational policies explicitly on the category of raceas was done in South Africa. Most governments usually concede, in law, that equality of educational opportunity will be provided without reference to race or ethnicity. Because such equality of educational opportunity is rarely achieved in practice, some governments are moving toward educational policies of positive discrimination in favour of minority groups. This policy takes different forms in different countries. China's constitution recognizes that China is a multinational state and that all nationalities are equal. Research institutes for the nationalities were established from the 1950s onward, and Chinese and minority teachers were trained for work in the autonomous regions, districts, and counties. Bilingualism became official policy, even where this occasionally meant the preparation of glossaries and dictionaries in the local languages. In its broadest aspects the Chinese problem was not dissimilar from that of the Soviet Union, where, although Russians made up half the population, more than 100 other nationalities existed. As in China, separate glossaries and dictionaries were developed. In both countries the difficulties were often practical: a certain density of population was required for the efficient organization of instruction in minority languages. The other difficulty with the policies was their long-term goal: Chinese and Soviet commentators tended to avoid the term assimilation. In contrast, assimilation was the overt aim in educating minorities, mainly immigrants, in 19th- and early 20th-century United States and Canada. In recent years both countries have recognized the implications of sociological research on minority education and the political power of minority groups to enter claims at national, regional, and local levels for equal educational treatment. Changes in Canadian law have guaranteed the right to education in French in several provinces, and, where appropriate, in English as a minority language. In addition to the special provisions for Indians, Inuit, and Mtis in some provinces and territories, the policies have been extended to permit initial instruction in heritage languages, for example, Ukrainian in Edmonton and Winnipeg, or Italian and Chinese in Toronto. Similar, though not identical, developments have occurred in the United States. Most notable was the removal by the Supreme Court in 1954 of the legal basis for racial discrimination in education. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 also provided a basis for improvements in several areas of minority education. Provisions for bilingual education entitle non-English-speaking students to special language assistance. These provisions are utilized mainly by Hispanic students.