Minority Polish community protest against education reform

Описание: (17 Mar 2012) 1. Wide of protest march by Polish community, protesters holding banner reading: (Lithuanian) "Stop destroying national minorities' education system"
2. Mid of protesters holding Lithuanian and Polish flags
3. Various of protest march
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Mirek Sheibak, Polish organiser of protest against law imposing Lithuanian language exams on minority schools:
"We gathered together to express our protest against the new law of the education, this law unfortunately makes a big threat to our schools, the schools of the national minorities, but also for the schools of Lithuania all together. Trade unions of the Lithuanian teachers also support our meeting."
5. Mid of protest march
6. Banner reading (English) "Stop minority discrimination"
7. Pan of gathered protesters
8. Banner reading (Lithuanian) "Stop politics of discrimination and denationalisation."
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Maria Kilchkovskaia, Polish teacher protesting against law imposing Lithuanian language exams on minority schools:
"We are here to show our protest to disagree with certain statements that are in the new law of education, basically about our right, to fight for our right, to have education in minority schools in the national language."
10. Mid of protesters at rally applauding
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Alina Semionova, Polish student protesting against law imposing Lithuanian language exams on minority schools:
"We are here to say a word we don't want to learn on a new 'istatymas' (meaning law in Lithuanian) law and we just want to have our rights and say our words."
12. Wide of protest rally, police monitoring
13. Man holding Polish flag
STORYLINE
Members of Lithuania's Polish community took to the streets of the capital Vilnius on Saturday to protest against new reforms in education.
Around 5-thousand people participated in the protest march which began near the Lithuanian parliament and ended next to government offices.
According to the new plans, exams in minority schools would be in Lithuanian, a move strongly opposed by the sizeable Polish community living in the country.
"This law unfortunately makes a big threat to our schools, the schools of the national minorities, but also for the schools of Lithuania all together," said Polish protest organiser Mirek Sheibak.
The reforms are likely to affect Russian and Belarussian schools in the country, as well as Polish ones.
The Polish community were also protesting against laws that forbid the writing of their names in Polish in their passports and in daily use.
They were also calling for street names in predominantly Polish areas to be written in Polish as well as Lithuanian.

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