Russia: Protesters rally in Bashkortostan to save language education

[Harold Schiffman]

Protesters rally in Bashkortostan to save language education
April 21 2009


UFA, Bashkortostan – Some 2,000 demonstrators gathered in Ufa, the
capital of the Russian republic of Bashkortostan, to protest Moscow's
policy of removing elements of ethnically specific education from
schools, RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service reports. The demonstrators
came from across Bashkortostan on April 18 to protest Moscow's plans
to remove so-called regional and ethnic classes from schools in as of
September 1. The activists say the decision to ban classes on the
history, geography, and languages of the republics may lead to a
complete loss of ethnic and linguistic identity.

The demonstrators adopted a resolution stating that the new
restrictions abuse the right of Russia's ethnic minorities to obtain
an education in their own languages. People from Bashkortostan's
Ukrainian, Chuvash, Daghestani, and Kazakh cultural centers took part
in the protest. Tatar organizations in Tatarstan are also protesting
the proposed changes to their schools' curricula.




Copyright notice: Copyright (c) 2007-2008. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with
the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut
Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036

http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/49edb5fd28.html


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