In recent months, Tatarstan has been losing what little it had that distinguished it from other Russian regions. In 2017, Moscow did not renew the agreement on the division of powers with Kazan, which gave Tatarstan a certain autonomy. In local schools, at the height of the school year, compulsory teaching of the Tatar language was canceled. Previously, it was taught on the same basis as Russian, but now only two optional hours per week are left. Pavel Shmakov, director of the SolNTse boarding school for intellectually enthusiastic children from Kazan, was outraged by the speed of this decision and the violations with which, in his opinion, it was made and went to court. DW spoke with Shmakov about why he advocates reducing the number of Tatar language lessons, but is against making it optional.
DW: On March 1 there will be another court hearing in your case in the Vakhitovsky District Court of Kazan. Why are you fighting for the Tatar language in schools?
Pavel Shmakov: The whole story began, as you know, at the end of July 2017, when Putin said in Yoshkar-Ola that people should not be forced to learn a non-native language. Then, at the beginning of October, we unexpectedly received a letter from the prosecutor’s office saying that we had been inspected and our curriculum analyzed. No checks were actually carried out. A few days later, a meeting of school directors in our district took place; such meetings were held in all districts of Kazan in the presence of district prosecutors. It was conducted by the heads of the Kazan education department. I asked how and why we received inspection papers, although there were none.
At these meetings we were ordered to begin dismissing Tatar teachers. Within two months we were obliged to fire teachers. After that, prosecutors began to come to us with real checks. They began to interrogate the children why they needed Tatar, why they were learning it.
-... And you filed a protest.
I thought the position was wrong. There were obvious violations: interrogations of children in the absence of parents, prosecutors entered the boarding school without permission, photographed personal belongings of children; such actions according to the Constitution are allowed only with court approval. I filed a lawsuit against the prosecutor's office.
I believe that such actions (reducing Tatar lessons - Ed.) cannot be done quickly. In principle, they can be done, curricula sometimes change, this is normal. But such actions are done during the big summer holidays. Several court hearings have already taken place, several judges have changed, they do not want to resolve these issues, they are postponing them to a later time. The matter is dragging on. Putin asked not to force people to learn a non-native language. But we have several hours of English a week, and they are required to be studied.
In the end, curricula and recommendations were adopted so that Tatar was taught only voluntarily and for no more than two hours a week. Putin’s phrase is contradictory, and it does not say in what time frame this must be done. And interethnic tensions are quickly escalating in our country. I have lived here since birth, my dad and my grandfather lived here. There were no particular interethnic conflicts. There was tension only in the early 1990s. And then it calmed down. And now they are dividing again: you are a Tatar, and you are a Russian. You will choose Tatar, but you will not. I remembered that when I was a schoolboy, there was a funny, but not very good situation: the Russians were playing football, and the Tatars were going to learn Tatar. But it wasn't tough yet. It just wasn't quite right. And now it started to get rough.
- Your position is to reduce the teaching of Tatar, but not in a hurry?
Do everything slowly as possible. By February, we increased the number of Russian language hours, since we had fewer of them than we should have according to the law. Another thing is that Tatar teachers are not to blame for this. And the prosecutor's office and Rosobrnadzor, who should monitor this.
I think that the issue will be postponed again until March 18, before the Russian presidential elections. The most important result of the courts is that we will be able to convince children to voluntarily learn Tatar. This took time. And in other schools this was done humiliatingly for the Tatars: they fired many Tatar teachers, set the Tatars against the Russians, and the Russians against the Tatars.
- The authorities' decision has many supporters. Tatarsky, they say, was forced to study whether the student wanted it or not. What would you answer to these people?
What I tell my parents. There are no interethnic complaints or conflicts at our school. We have changed the methodology of teaching Tatar. We don't have homework. We show a lot of films and cartoons in Tatar, children go to museums, Tatar singers and scientists are invited. The Tatar language is taught as a pleasure for children. We have reduced the amount of Tatar, but made sure that there are no statements from parents. I believe that on the land of Tatarstan - this is the only place where there is a homeland of the Tatars - everyone should study the Tatar language for a certain number of hours. Another thing is that you can discuss how many hours, and maybe less than it was. We need other methods: we used to teach grammar and letters. This is wrong: when there are a lot of Russians and Tatars nearby, you just need to talk, sing songs, dance, listen to beautiful Tatar music, and so on. Then it will be natural, pleasant and beautiful. First of all, respect each other. If this culture is not respected, then interethnic conflicts are possible. This is much worse than controversy.
- But from a pragmatic point of view, the authorities’ decision is logical - Tatar is not required for work or for studying at universities, right?
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I agree with it. Therefore, when in the fifth grade they study five hours of Tatar, then, in general, this is a lot. Normal would be three or two. A person who is going to leave for Tver or Moscow does not really need the Tatar language. ...We have many interethnic marriages. Every year we go on hiking trips to Tatar villages. Everyone who lives in these parts needs a certain minimum level of language knowledge. Does everyone need math? For a philologist or historian - to a minimal extent, but necessary. There is a certain cultural minimum. On the territory of Tatarstan it is the Tatar language.
- But two hours is allowed. Is this less than the minimum you talked about?
Two hours would be fine if they were mandatory. And they are voluntary. After all, mathematics is not voluntary for us. And English, and geography, and history too. At our school, we resolved the issue: we have two hours, by decision of the parents, they became mandatory for everyone, although formally the lessons are voluntary. In addition, we have many Tatar clubs, so we have not reduced the workload of Tatar teachers. We will reduce it a little in the summer, when we can slowly change our curriculum. Removing it completely from the mandatory grid is fundamentally wrong. Many Tatars will then stop teaching him, because pragmatically he is not very needed. The culture of the Tatar people will be destroyed.
Another small example. In Tatarstan, the Tatar language was studied more, and Russian less, than in Russia. However, out of 88 regions, Tatarstan is in third place in terms of the level of the final exam in the Russian language. Bilingualism is important. When children learned both Tatar and Russian, they knew Russian better.
- In February there was a rally against the abolition of teaching Tatar. You were also present at it. But few people came. Does this mean that the topic is not very relevant for residents of Tatarstan?
I was the only Russian there. There were about 120 people. The rally was announced many times, but this was the first time it was allowed. I was wearing a jacket, jacket, T-shirt, shirt. And within half an hour I was freezing. It was simply cold standing at the rally. When spring comes, more people will come to such rallies.
- At this rally there was a slogan calling on the Russian authorities to ratify the European Charter for Regional Languages. Do you think the current decision to reduce Tatar language lessons is somehow related to the fact that Russia has not yet done this?
I think it's related. It seems to me that Russia is trying to follow its own path of building a rigid pyramid of power. But in such a huge state, such a rigid pyramid does not work well. Saltykov-Shchedrin has this phrase: “The severity of Russian laws is softened by the optionality of their implementation.” It seems to me that Russia is trying to do something that is impossible in this situation. This decision regarding languages leads to a decrease in the diversity of cultures in Russia. After a while everything will return, everything will change. But “some time” can take years and decades.
The debate about teaching the Tatar language in Tatarstan schools does not subside. The day before, on October 25, the Kazan mayor's office held a rally in support of the language; before that, teaching programs at a special meeting of the top officials of the republic. Almost every day, Russian-speaking and Tatar-speaking activists hold protests in defense of their own positions. Against this background, “Idel.Realii” discussed language problems with those whom they directly affect and who can be affected - with Tatar teachers. On October 24, these people sent a “letter of pain and anxiety” to the deputies of the State Council of Tatarstan. What do teachers think about the further teaching of the Tatar language and literature in schools, what are they told by the administrations of educational institutions, what do they expect and what do they count on?
At the request of the speakers, their names have been changed.
Liliya, work experience - five years:
I no longer have any emotions. For two months there is no certainty: when can we leave school, are we going to be fired, or should we look for a new job? I am currently looking for a new job, since I know for sure that the hours of the Tatar language will be reduced. For example, they will leave one literature and language lesson in the lower grades, and in the 10th and 11th grades, perhaps, they will completely remove it.
There is no direct pressure from the administration yet. Now we are working as usual. But it is known for certain that changes will occur either after the first quarter or after the new year.
What we are waiting for and afraid of is cuts. First of all, they said, pensioners and young people will be “thrown out” - these are unmarried girls, without children, or whose children are already in school. Those with children under three years old will not be touched. The rest should all be laid off. We don’t know how our republic can allow an outcome in which so many teachers will be fired even without compensation.
Renata, work experience - three years:
Usually, until the fourth grade, children love Tatar and study it with interest.
We have a gymnasium, and I believe that the children studying here are slightly different. They show consistently good results and have interested parents. Up to the fourth grade, the Tatar language is taught using the Litvinov method. It allows for a minimum number of lessons, as children receive maximum knowledge for this age. The technique is good, but it is not on the federal list. The question is why? Also, for the second year now, as an experiment, we have been teaching our lessons using the methodology of V.N. Meshcheryakova. You just need to get involved in the process and work, which is what we did and subsequently got a good result.
Usually, until the fourth grade, children love Tatar and study it with interest. This is precisely the period when the child does not yet think about anything else, does not reason: he needs to study Tatar or not. He is here and now, at this very moment he is interested and he listens and teaches. In grades five to eight, the transitional age begins, and teaching methods also change. Training is based on textbooks by R.R. Nigmatullina. and here the specificity is lost. In addition, the children are no longer the same, there is no enthusiasm, questions begin about why they need Tatar, calls from dissatisfied parents. What is the omission here? We always discussed this with our teachers. Where are our interested children?
I decided for myself that my health and the health of my family is important to me. I don't know what will happen next.
In grades 10-11, the Tatar language is taught and studied for show. It all depends on the teacher. Keeping an exhausted 11th grader occupied requires teaching talent and experience.
Speaking about the current situation around the language recently, I think it’s terrible. Everything is being decided somewhere by someone. There remains a feeling of ignorance, but it must be overcome. I decided for myself that my health and the health of my family is important to me. I don't know what will happen next. I can’t even imagine the experiences of teachers who have dedicated their entire lives to teaching the Tatar language.
Rashida, work experience - 20 years:
There is very little time left until retirement. I don’t know what to say here. This whole situation just threw me off balance. I have been working in Kazan all my life and teaching children the Tatar language, mainly in middle and high schools. All my life I have been explaining to them that our language is a great wealth, knowing it, understanding it and speaking it is necessary and important for preserving culture and traditions. Our young people don’t think about their roots, they don’t think about who their ancestors were. It comes with age. Neither current students nor their parents even want to hear about it. It is clear that for many of them the Tatar language is a must, and now there is a chance to get rid of it. So they took active civic positions.
It is clear that for many the Tatar language is an obligation, and now there is a chance to get rid of it. So they took active civic positions
The fact that they are now planning to remove Tatar will lead to an increase in the hours of the Russian language. They will schedule two lessons every day. Then they will complain that there is too much Russian in their lives. In this case, two or three people will attend the optional Tatar sixth lesson.
My school hasn’t directly told me to pack my things yet, but they are already talking behind my back. Of course, they will lay off me first, then little by little others. They will pay for a month - that’s already good.
Venus, seven years of work experience:
Of course, they will lay off me first, then little by little others. They will pay for a month - that’s already good.
I don’t even want to say anything about it. So far everything is quiet, lessons are going on as before. No one is canceling anything, but also no one is promising anything. The mood among teachers is bad; everyone understands that there will be layoffs. The children also know that from the second quarter there will be fewer Tatar lessons, but they are not particularly concerned about this.
We have a school where parents don’t throw tantrums. In this regard, they, like their children, react quite calmly. They know that they can choose the curriculum themselves, change the program, so they do it.
Nobody seems to be thinking about what will happen to teachers who will be left without work: neither the school administration, nor the state.
The controversy surrounding the compulsory teaching of the Tatar language in Tatarstan schools flared up with renewed vigor after the president Putin that forcing a person to learn a language that is not his native language is unacceptable. Inspired by this statement, the “Committee of Russian-speaking Parents of Tatarstan” is now canceling compulsory Tatar lessons, and Tatar activists, on the contrary from Putin, are preserving the study of Tatar as the state language.
October 18 "Idel.Realities" for commentary on the President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and tried to find out his position regarding the situation with the Tatar language, but he refused to comment. His press secretary Eduard Khairullin When asked when it would be possible to hear the position of the head of the republic, he succinctly answered: “We’ll let you know right away.”
It is noted that parents of fourth-grade students made this request to the director of the educational institution and replace Tatar language lessons with mathematics, Russian or computer science.
The parents did not expect that their request would be approved. " We expected to receive a standard response: they say that the state languages in Tatarstan are studied in equal amounts. But the director surprised us. She promised to review the curriculum,” said one of the parents.
However, the students' parents are in no hurry to rejoice, since the director only invited parents to review the curriculum.
Earlier, Inkazan reported that Rosobrnadzor voluntarily made the study of the Tatar language in educational institutions of the republic on behalf of the Prosecutor General's Office. Its results must be submitted by November 30, 2017. The instruction following the results of the Council on Interethnic Relations, which was held in July, was given by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.
In general, at open debates, parents of schoolchildren whose native language is Russian proposed making the study of Tatar not mandatory, as it is now, but voluntary. In their speeches, they referred to the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the decision of the government of Bashkiria, which abolished the compulsory teaching of the national language in educational institutions of the neighboring republic. Their opponents stated that studying the national language in schools helps preserve the cultural identity of the people.
Chairman of the All-Tatar Public Center Farit Zakiev stated that in Russia the number of Tatars speaking their native language has decreased. According to him, it is necessary to “ensure that Russian parents demand Tatar education for their children.” He also proposed introducing bilingual exams for admission to the civil service in the republic and increasing the salaries of those who speak Tatar by 25%.
Let us remind you that 68% of Tatars and 80% of Russians agreed with the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, who stated that “forcing a person to learn a language that is not his native language is just as unacceptable as reducing the level and time of teaching Russian in schools in the national republics of the Russian Federation.” The publication presented the results of a study commissioned by Business Online in the summer of 2017.
State Advisor of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev at the beginning of August, he expressed the opinion that the media had made “a futile fuss” about Putin’s statement. "He was concerned about the deterioration of teaching the state language - Russian. Yesterday I watched on TV, a delegate from Romania said that we need to try to speak the Tatar language in the family. This is the basis! Everything depends on ourselves. We know, if we take it, we will do it. From us our future depends,” Shaimiev said on August 3.
Head of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov During the plenary session of the VI Congress of the World Congress of Tatars in early August, he stated that the Russian authorities need to preserve the Tatar language and traditions. According to Minnikhanov, the best option would be to reflect pressing issues in the new law on state national policy, work on which is currently underway.
Earlier, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan also issued an official statement regarding calls to abolish the compulsory study of the Tatar language in schools of the Republic of Tatarstan. The ministry noted that, based on Article 68 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the republics that are part of Russia can independently establish national languages for their region.
Subjects:
Serious disputes surrounding the teaching of the Tatar language continue to shake the information space of Tatarstan and neighboring republics. The chairman of the board of the National Parents Committee also joined the discussion Irina Volynets. In an author's column written for Realnoe Vremya, a social activist opposes the imposition of Tatar on schoolchildren. At the same time, the columnist notes that no one takes away the right to learn a child’s native language.
“No, I’m not against Tatar”
After a very specific thesis Vladimir Putin At a meeting of the Council on International Relations held in Yoshkar-Ola, about the fact that the study of the native language should take place exclusively on a voluntary basis, Tatar was again discussed in Tatarstan. Moreover, the President of the Russian Federation issued a corresponding decree, according to which the prosecutor’s office must conduct a corresponding inspection by November 30.
Nobody took away our right to study Tatar as a native language, but until now this legal right in fact turns out to be an obligation for all students without exception.
No, I’m not against Tatar, especially considering that I’m a Tatar on my mother’s side and have been accustomed to hearing Tatar speech since childhood. But, despite the fact that I myself studied this language both at school and at university, I was never taught to speak it fluently. Even though I always got an A in this subject.
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“Where is the Republican Ministry of Education looking?”
It is no secret that for more than twenty years, children in Tatarstan, as well as in many other regions of Russia, have not received enough basic knowledge of the Russian language. What is the result? Schoolchildren for more than one generation have not had equal opportunities for admission to, for example, Moscow universities compared to schoolchildren in Moscow and St. Petersburg (except for children whose parents can pay for tutors). It is especially offensive that the level of ignorance of Tatar by our children is total, with the exception of children with whom Tatar is spoken in their families.
Why is this happening? Subjects of the Russian Federation at the local level introduced compulsory study of the Tatar (and in other national republics, respectively, Bashkir, Tyvin, etc.) language as their native language. This status was determined for him by local parliamentarians. It was determined back then, during the collapse of the USSR. And according to the Decree of the Government of Tatarstan, Tatar and Russian are recognized as the official languages of the Republic.
But since the compulsory study of two state languages is too much, Tatar was given the status of a native language. Moreover, for all children, including those whose native language is Russian. It should be noted that teaching Tatar begins in kindergarten (2 hours a week). In secondary schools it increases to 5-6 (!) hours per week. It is interesting that in fee-paying schools of national republics there is no compulsory study of local languages. Where does our so categorical Republican Ministry of Education look in such cases?
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“Engel Fattakhov answered all the questions that this is not Bashkiria here and we will figure it out ourselves. It's clear how. But we live not only in Tatarstan, but also in Russia!” Photo by: Maxim Platonov
“But we live not only in Tatarstan”
The quality of the Tatar teaching methodology, undoubtedly leaving much to be desired (with the rare exception of individual teaching talents), deserves a separate discussion. Meanwhile, Tatar is taught by reducing the lessons of the Russian language and Russian literature established by the Federal State Educational Standard. For example, the prosecutor's office of Bashkortostan has already reported that it will monitor the voluntary nature of studying native Bashkir, but this department of Tatarstan is still silent. The media make their requests, but the authorities seem to have fallen into a coma.
A new reason for reflection was the very definite statements of the Minister of Education of the Republic of Tatarstan, which surprised us with their directness and peremptory nature. Engel Fattakhov He answered all the questions that this is not Bashkiria here and we will figure it out ourselves. It's clear how. But we live not only in Tatarstan, but also in Russia!
But what about the national identity of the Tatars, Bashkirs and other peoples inhabiting great Russia, another reader will reasonably ask? And as it was in Soviet times, national languages were taught in the republics as an elective. And everyone who wanted to learn a truly native language (as well as those who were not native speakers of the national language of the republic) had the opportunity to do so without hindrance. Let us emphasize: they had the right, but were not obliged. This wonderful practice should be resumed. After all, you won’t be forced to become relatives - I hope everyone will agree with this.
