Committee seeks to safeguard Sami children's language rights
The Nordic Council Committee for Knowledge and Culture at the 2025 theme session in the Finnish parliament in Helsinki.
This relates to a member's proposal from the Nordic Green Left (NGV) party group to increase the production of Sami educational materials and the training of Sami teachers. According to the committee, a study should be conducted on how the language rights and needs of Sami children are being met in the Nordic Region. The committee is calling for increased co-operation between Norway, Sweden, and Finland to safeguard the future of the Sami languages.
The committee proposes the establishment of a Nordic co-operation group to remove obstacles to co-operation on schooling in the Sami areas. In addition, the committee wants to see concrete measures to safeguard Sami children's rights to education in their mother tongue by way of increased Nordic co-operation.
“The Nordic countries have a joint responsibility to safeguard the future of the Sami languages. Children having the right to be educated in their mother tongue is a prerequisite for the survival of these languages,” says the chair of the committee Veronika Honkasalo.
Lack of Sami teachers
The shortage of teachers is a crucial issue. Demand is heavily outstripping supply when it comes to qualified Sami teachers, with the Sámi University of Applied Sciences (Sámi allaskuvla) only training between 25 and 30 teachers per year.
Liv Inger Somby, the university's rector, spoke to the Nordic Council committee in February and emphasised the importance of the Nordic countries acting together to address the shortage of Sami teachers. The university can currently train between 25 and 30 teachers per year, but the demand is far higher.
The committee believes that both the Nordic Council of Ministers and the governments of Norway, Sweden, and Finland should foster deeper and longer-term co-operation to boost the number of qualified Sami teachers and production of Sami educational materials.
Nordic responsibility for Sami languages
The committee wants the Nordic countries to share the responsibility for the future of the Sami languages and believes that the issue should be a political priority. The Nordic Council of Ministers' 2024 language declaration states that the Nordic countries have a joint responsibility for preserving and developing minority languages.
“Nordic co-operation is required to ensure that Sami children get access to education in their mother tongue,” says vice chair, Lars Mejern Larsson.
The committee was unanimous in its support for the member's proposal and emphasises the importance of the Nordic countries working together to remove obstacles to freedom of movement and find joint solutions. The committee is now continuing its efforts and wants to see the implementation of concrete measures through stronger Nordic co-operation.
