various messages

Fri Nov 25 20:48:03 UTC 2005

1.  Fiji:

Fijian Language Policy Soon
By fijivillage
Nov 24, 2005, 12:44

The Education Ministry is expected to complete its policies for the use of
Fijian language in schools within the next few weeks. According to the
Director of the Curriculum Development Unit Alekisio Sela, the matter will
be finalised by Education Ministry CEO Alumita Taganesia. Meanwhile
Principal Cultural Officer for the Fijian Affairs Ministry Mere
Ratunabuabua said the government aims to introduce the Fijian Language
Policies first to the Education Ministry before embarking on other
initiatives like introducing signage.

She said the main aim is to make Fijian the national language and
consultations are still ongoing. She also highlighted that a Fijian
dictionary was published for school students earlier this year to assist
them in learning the Fijian language.

http://www.fijivillage.com/artman/publish/article_25050.shtml

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2. Language Controversy in Kyrgyzstan

Language Controversy in Kyrgyzstan
As pressure grows for curbs on the status of the Russian language, some
argue that alone will do nothing to promote the use of Kyrgyz.

By Cholpon Orozobekova in Bishkek (RCA No. 422, 23-Nov-05)

The recurring issue of language policy in Kyrgyzstan is much more than an
abstract matter for academic debate, as it tends to raise awkward
questions about identity and nationhood, and who is embraced within those
concepts. Language which comes down to whether Russian should enjoy the
same status as Kyrgyz has come up time and again since the country became
independent in 1991. The last occasion was five years ago, when the then
president, Askar Akaev, succeeded in according Russian the status of
official language while Kyrgyz kept the title of state language. It was a
compromise that granted Kyrgyz superior status while allowing Russian to
be widely used in public life.

After a lull of several years, the issue has come to the fore again as
politicians debate the wording of a proposed set of wide-ranging
amendments to the constitution. The Ashar movement, which as long ago as
1989 was lobbying for improved status for the Kyrgyz language in the then
Soviet republic, published a statement in the press on November 10 calling
for Russian to lose its official status. This public statement was
followed by the establishment of a campaign headquarters for protecting
the state language from the expansion of Russian.

The move was supported by Kyrgyz nationalist-minded groups such as the
Asaba party and the Uluu Birimdik movement, which pledged to use the
ongoing constitutional process to lobby for changes in favour of Kyrgyz.
The role played by Russian in society should remain and [even] be
increased, and study of the Russian language should continue, said Emil
Kaptagaev, who heads Uluu Birimdik. But the fact that Russian has been
made an official language reduces the sphere where the state language is
used; it allows people to say they write and speak the official language,
which prevents the state language from ever establishing itself.

Doolot Nusupov, who is one of the leaders of Asaba, insists that
Kyrgyzstan has done more than enough to uphold the position of Russian.
Uzbekistan and the Baltic states put considerable pressure on Russian and
dont indulge it the way we do here, he said. Russian-speaking citizens
have been holding various press conferences since our appeal, and they are
aggravating relations between the two peoples even further. It would be
better if they stopped harking back to the Russification of the Soviet
period and began to study some Kyrgyz at least a bit, out of respect for
the country.

Ethnic Russians and others who use the language as their main means of
communication were taken aback at what they saw as evidence of a
nationalist upsurge. On November 15, the Russian Union of Compatriots
wrote to President Kurmanbek Bakiev urging him not to let the country be
divided into Kyrgyz and non-Kyrgyz. The union even asked the president to
authorise criminal lawsuits against anyone fanning the flames of ethnic
hostility. Before doing anything that might be seen as encroaching on the
Russian minoritys rights, Kyrgyzstans leadership is likely to consider the
views of Moscow, whose political and economic influence on this small
republic remains strong. As journalist Masha Postnikova noted, such an
action may displease President Vladimir Putin.

Since Russian is commonly used as a second language by ethnic Kyrgyz,
concerns about upsetting the status quo are not restricted to Russians. We
must all think about the future of Kyrgyzstan, commented journalist Azamat
Tynaev. Its a future that does not belong just to the Kyrgyz. The Kyrgyz
republic has always been a multiethnic country. If everyone leaves and
only the Kyrgyz remain, we ourselves will suffer most of all. As an ethnic
Ukrainian, Larisa Vasilkova, falls into the category known here as the
Russian-speaking population. But in fact she not only speaks Kyrgyz
fluently, she teaches the language at the Slavonic University in Bishkek.

Asked about the proposed downgrading of the status of Russian, though, she
replied, I am very unhappy. I speak in Kyrgyz and respect the language,
and this is the gratitude I get. This IWPR contributor conducted a brief
and unrepresentative survey of passers-by in Bishkek. Those who were just
visiting from rural areas appeared generally favourable to the nationalist
agenda. Whats the point in calling this country Kyrgyzstan if we cant
improve the status of our own Kyrgyz language? asked Kenesh Bakasov, from
the Jetyoguz region in Issykkul region. We ourselves let the Russians take
over.

Kyrgyzbek Narkeev, who comes from the village of Achakaindy in Naryn
region, also supports curbing the status of Russian, We have not only
failed to teach Russians to speak Kyrgyz, we have even granted official
status to Russian. And we look over our shoulders, wondering what Russia
will say, how well live without the Russians and so on. We will live
without Russians, even if they leave. However, interviewees who identified
themselves as long-term Bishkek residents were less strident on the issue.
Kyrgyzstan depends on Russia, so Russian shouldnt be touched at the
moment, said Ainura, a Kyrgyz woman, who added, Nothing will change if we
do change the status of Russian - we have always spoken it and well keep
on doing so. But it would offend Russia.

The language question is clearly of concern to those lobbying on behalf of
Kyrgyz or Russian, but it has also been an issue that politicians have
seized on whenever the time was right. Although Kyrgyz enjoys senior
status, little was done to promote it for many years. President Akaev
established a state commission to develop its use, but there were long
periods when there was no funding for the agency. In part this neglect may
be due to the fact that the Kyrgyz elite have tended to conduct their
daily business in Russian.

Since the March revolution, some senior officials have shown more of an
interest in Kyrgyz. For example, Defence Minister Ismail Isakov ordered
that all commands and military terminology should be translated into
Kyrgyz, and soldiers even began singing their army songs in the language.
Former foreign minister Roza Otunbaeva ordered diplomatic negotiations to
be translated into Kyrgyz, while Justice Minister Marat Kayipov proposed
that cabinet meetings should be conducted in the state language rather
than Russian. Kayipov also suggested that the amended constitution should
be drafted in Kyrgyz and then translated into Russian.

Edil Baisalov, who heads the NGO Coalition for Democracy and Civil
Society, accepts that Kyrgyz has had a bad deal over the years, but says
changing the law will not fix things. He recalled how his brother was
unable to find a good kindergarten that used Kyrgyz as the teaching
medium, so that his daughter could have a good grounding in her mother
tongue. Since Kyrgyzstan became independent, most schools have used Kyrgyz
rather than Russian as the principal language, but there are still
relatively few in the capital, where all the prestigious, well-equipped
schools use Russian. There isnt a single decent Kyrgyz-language school or
kindergarten in Bishkek. Everything is in Russian, complained member of
parliament Kubatbek Baibolov. We only have ourselves to blame. What sort
of country is it that cannot develop or attend to its own state language?

Baibolov, too, believes that placing legislative restrictions on Russian
is not going to help Kyrgyz, Those who consider themselves ultrapatriotic
think its enough to change the status of Russian. But we believe that
without altering the status of Russian, more attention must be paid to
promoting the state language.

Cholpon Orozobekova is a correspondent with Radio Azattyk, the Kyrgyz
service of RFE/RL.

http://www.iwpr.net/?p=rca&s=f&o=258200&apc_state=henh

 Institute for War & Peace Reporting
Lancaster House, 33 Islington High Street, London N1 9LH, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7713 7130     Fax: +44 (0)20 7713 7140
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3. South Africa

Mikro scrap ends as pupils find schools
Sue Blaine

Education Correspondent

WESTERN Capes education department said yesterday it had complied with a
court ruling by ensuring alternative places for 16 English-speaking
children who could not attend the Afrikaans-medium Mikro Primary School in
the Cape Flats. The department also seems to have avoided further problems
from the parents of 60 children it had to displace from the waiting list
for De Kuilen Primary School to accommodate the 16.

De Kuilen principal Francois Lubbe said yesterday district departmental
officials had told him the 60 children had been placed elsewhere. The move
brings to a happy conclusion a fight that began in February when Mikro
refused to take the English-speaking children because it said it would
have to change its single-language policy.

The Supreme Court of Appeals in March upheld Mikros right to set its
language policy and instructed the department to find other places for the
21 children. Five of these have independently found a school. Even the
opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), a critic of the African National
Congress-led provincial governments education policies, was happy with
yesterdays result.

Its great that its working itself out, said Helen Zille, the DAs education
spokeswoman. The standoff between the schools and the provincial education
department escalated into a heated debate, with the ANC and the department
fending off accusations from the DA and the Freedom Front Plus that the
Mikro situation was part of a nationwide campaign against Afrikaans in
education.

The debate over language in schools is not over yet. Last month a
Kimberley judge upheld Northern Cape education MEC Archie Lucass order
that three of the provinces Afrikaans-medium schools had to allow teaching
in English to accommodate black pupils. Last Monday the schools filed an
application for leave to appeal.

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A118499