Petőcz Kálmán (szerk.): National Populism and Slovak - Hungarian Relations in Slovakia 2006-2009 (Somorja, 2009)
Zsuzsanna Mészáros-Lampl: Magyars and Slovaks in Southern Slovakia - Exercising Language Rights
Magyars and Slovaks in Southern Slovakia... Most Slovaks do not complain about opportunities to use Slovak language on ethnically mixed territories, quite the contrary; according to a survey carried out in 2007, six in seven of them (86%) expressed satisfaction regarding opportunities to use Slovak in official contact while seven in nine of them (78%) were satisfied with opportunities to be educated in their mother tongue. The evaluation of opportunities to be educated in respondents’ native language in their district of residence clearly indicates that most Slovaks and ethnic Hungarians are satisfied with the current status quo and that Slovaks are slightly more satisfied than ethnic Hungarians. According to ethnic Hungarians, there is no difference in opportunities to receive education in Slovak and in Hungarian from the viewpoint of particular types of educational establishments; the only exception is the insufficient number of secondary schools where Hungarian is the language of instruction. According to Slovaks, opportunities to study in Slovak are better than in Hungarian (please see Graph 9). Graph 9 Respondents’ satisfaction with opportunities to study in native language in the district of residence 0 20 40 60 80 100 Slovak kindergartens Slovak primary schools Slovak secondary schools Hungarian kindergartens Hungarian primary schools Hungarian secondary schools 177
