State Duma deputy calls teaching English in schools 'creeping submission to the West'

The deputy's statement

State Duma deputy Alexei Zhuravlyov said on the air of the NTV program 'Meeting Place', that teaching English in schools amounts to 'creeping submission to the West' and a threat to the country's sovereignty. In his view, along with a foreign language, children may be instilled with alien cultural values. As an example, he cited the notion that a person is supposedly valued more if they speak English rather than Russian. The deputy also said that when traveling in Europe he deliberately does not use English and communicates only in Russian.

A contrast with actual demand

The parliamentarian's statement differs markedly from the actual picture of language demand. Back on September 1 Moscow deputy mayor for social development Anastasia Rakova reported, that English remains the most popular foreign language among Moscow schoolchildren, and students' preferences have not changed much in recent years. Children also show interest in French, German, Spanish and Chinese. Chinese, according to her, is gaining popularity: more than 6,000 schoolchildren are already studying it, mostly in the upper grades.

Previous statements on the topic

The idea of abandoning English in schools has sparked disputes before: political scientist Kochetkov has already criticized the proposal to cancel its teaching. No new legislative initiatives or decisions following Zhuravlyov's statement are reported in the publication — for now it is merely a deputy's remark on television, not adopted measures.