Protesters rally in Bashkortostan to save language education
Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
Publication Date | 21 April 2009 |
Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Protesters rally in Bashkortostan to save language education, 21 April 2009, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/49edb5fd28.html [accessed 1 June 2023] |
Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
April 21 2009
Protesters defended their right to education in the their native language.
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.