LRT: Lithuania removes Lomonosov, Derzhavin from school curriculum

Lithuania’s Ministry of Education, Science and Sport has removed works by Russian scientist and writer Mikhail Lomonosov and poet Gavriil Derzhavin from the ninth-grade curriculum for Russian-language minority schools, following a proposal by Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius.

“From this academic year onwards, neither Lomonosov nor Derzhavin remain in the ninth-grade curriculum for the native language and literature of the Russian national minority,” the ministry told BNS, LRT reports.

Both authors are associated with the Classical and Enlightenment periods of literature.

In August, Sinkevičius proposed revising the general education curricula adopted in 2022 and “no longer teach Lithuanian schoolchildren about patriotism and citizenship using the works of Lomonosov, a writer who glorified Russia’s imperial wars’.”

The prime minister also proposed adding works by Ukrainian literary classic Taras Shevchenko to school curricula. The initiative was welcomed by Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Science.

However, Shevchenko has not been added to the curriculum. The Lithuanian ministry said a more detailed analysis of the curriculum was needed before such a decision could be made.

By Sabina Mammadli