Idea to create a Moscow centre for teaching native languages supported in North Caucasus

The study of native languages in Moscow schools is being hampered by the lack of teachers and the specifics of the school group formation, members of the Moscow ethnic communities say. The activists proposed Mayor Sergey Sobyanin to organize distance learning in native languages and create a Centre for the Study of Languages of the Peoples of Russia.

Sixty six members of the Moscow public communities have signed a relevant appeal to Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, dated December 28, 2020.

The authors of the appeal, a copy of which was received by the "Caucasian Knot", expressed their "concern about the lack of opportunities to exercise the right of schoolchildren to study their native languages."

According to the authors of the appeal, the main obstacle to organizing the study of native languages in schools outside the national republics is that "due to the existing standards, it is practically impossible to assemble a class or group within one school to study a native language other than Russian." Another obstacle is the lack or absence of specialists in the languages of the peoples of Russia.

In their appeal to Sergey Sobyanin, the public activists of the Russian capital expressed several initiatives, which, according to them, will contribute to the preservation of languages. In particular, the activists proposed creating the Centre for the Study of Languages of the Peoples of Russia in Moscow with the involvement of specialists from Moscow and the national republics.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 19, 2021 at 12:24 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.