The Russians want to abolish the Tatar language in Tatarstan schools. What Putin said: parents from Tatarstan ask the Prosecutor General’s Office to provide clarification on the “language” issue

The Russians want to abolish the Tatar language in Tatarstan schools. What Putin said: parents from Tatarstan ask the Prosecutor General’s Office to provide clarification on the “language” issue

In Kazan they again started talking about the need for every child to learn the Tatar language in every school. Previously, Vladimir Putin put an end to this issue, but Tatarstan United Russia members are trying to pretend that this is not a full stop, but a semicolon. It is significant that they are supported in this by propaganda media funded from the United States.

Last year, the State Council of Tatarstan decided that the teaching of the Tatar language in schools of the republic would be carried out on a voluntary basis. And now he has accepted an appeal to State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, in which he calls for consolidation in the federal educational standards compulsory study of the languages ​​of the national republics.

A week ago, Speaker of the State Council Farid Mukhametshin spoke on the same topic in an interview with TASS, saying that the voluntary study of the Tatar language has created a split in society and needs to be abolished. “I think that voluntariness needs to be removed from this one, it has split and driven a wedge between Russians and Tatars, there are children sitting in the same class, why create such antagonism?” - he said.

Let us note that there was no information about “antagonism” from other sources.

The director of the House of Friendship of Peoples of Tatarstan, deputy of the State Council of the republic Irek Sharipov, spoke out most clearly so far:

“Slavery was once legal. And the Holocaust was legal from the point of view of the state, which was later recognized as criminal. Repression was legal during Stalin's time. We must not allow something that is not accepted by the people to become legal.”

We have to admit that the issue seems to be resolved with the imposition of the languages ​​of the titular peoples of national republics on all children is still relevant. At least in Tatarstan.

Now the “problem of oppression of the Tatar language” is actively covered by propaganda publications financed by the State Department and foreign agents “Current Time” and “Idel. Realities." Trying not to go beyond the framework of Russian legislation, they in every possible way support “regional identity”, but in fact, they assist the separatists.

Deputy head of the press service of the head of Tatarstan, Liliya Galimova, of course, rejected all suspicions of separatism:

Let us remind you that the logic of the opponents of the “obligation” looks extremely simple. Russian Federation is a multinational state where representatives of more than a hundred nations live. Some regions are national, and if in Tatarstan there is one “titular” nation, then in Dagestan there are a dozen of them. Only polyglot geniuses can learn all languages.

The state language of Russia and the means of interethnic communication is the Russian language - therefore everyone should know it. National languages, to quote Vladimir Putin, “are an integral part of the culture of the peoples of the country, and the Constitution guarantees the right to study these languages ​​voluntarily.”

“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,” these are also the words of the Russian President, which he said at a meeting of the Council on Interethnic Relations in Yoshkar-Ola in July 2017 . It would seem that deputies from “ United Russia“And it is precisely this party that is represented by Sharipov, Mukhametshin, and most of the other signatories of the appeal about the need for “binding”?

However, the voluntary nature of learning the Tatar language does not suit the Tatar United Russia members.

At the same time, the President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov (by the way, the last remaining head of a subject of the Federation in Russia bearing the title of president) in December 2017 came up with quite reasonable initiatives:

“The language must be attractive if the language is used and the learning is interesting. The Tatar language system itself was very complex, and therefore caused some discontent not only among the Russian population, but also among the Tatars. Therefore, we need to work on popularizing the Tatar language. We will, of course, also work on online learning.”

And in February 2018, free courses for studying the Tatar language opened in mosques in Tatarstan - and representatives of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the republic spoke about the high interest of parishioners.

That is, nothing prevents both ethnic Tatars and representatives of other nationalities from studying Tatar. And also - launch programs to increase the attractiveness of your native language, at least at the local, at the federal, at least at the global level.

Therefore, words about “slavery” or “Holocaust” are an ordinary provocation. Let us note, by the way, that Jews used the languages ​​of surrounding peoples for almost 2000 years, and only after the creation of the state of Israel was Hebrew partly revived and partly created from scratch (in terms of modern terminology). The centuries-old lack of studying the native language did not harm the “preservation of the nation” at all. Unlike the Holocaust, which destroyed a significant part of European Jews.

Another shining example The senselessness of the “obligation” is demonstrated to us by the Odessa city council and the mayor of this city, Gennady Trukhanov. Both the city mayor and the majority of Odessa deputies were born and raised in Ukraine. Both in Soviet times, and even more so after independence Ukrainian language was compulsory for study in all schools. However, neither Trukhanov nor the overwhelming majority of deputies have mastered the state language and are unable to speak it even under the threat of repression.

So why waste the time of children living in Tatarstan and other national republics on compulsory study languages ​​that they will never need?

Children whose parents think about preserving the national culture will voluntarily (or under the coercion of relatives, but this is completely different from coercion by the state) learn their native language. And the rest would better spend this time gaining other knowledge that is more relevant to their professional future.

On the issue of voluntary learning of national languages, point was delivered in July 2017. And neither the deputies of the Tatar State Council nor anyone else will be able to turn it into a semicolon.

Putin's words about the inadmissibility of forced learning of non-native languages ​​were received ambiguously in Tatarstan. Yes, the languages ​​of the peoples of Russia, the president noted, are also an integral part of the unique culture of the peoples of the country. But “to study these languages ​​is a right guaranteed by the Constitution, a voluntary right”...

It is precisely in the word “voluntary” that the whole conflict lies, which is being hotly discussed in Tatarstan these days. The website inkazan.ru writes about the details.

Tatars forget their native language

Meanwhile, this the most difficult problem can have very unpredictable consequences. As you know, the Tatars are the second largest people in Russia. According to the 2010 census, 5.31 million Russian citizens considered themselves to be this people, and 4.28 million people spoke the Tatar language (among the Tatars - 3.64 million, that is, 68%)

Experts note that despite the fact that the Tatar language in the republic is on par with the Russian state language, there are fewer Tatars who know their native language. And this is not surprising - both assimilation and mixed marriages play a role. Well, of course, the weakening of the position of language is associated with low quality school teaching and the closure of national schools.

According to the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Tatarstan, in 2016-2017, there were 724 schools (including branches) with the Tatar language of instruction in the republic. There are 173.96 thousand children of Tatar nationality studying in schools (this is 46% of the total). Of these, 60.91 thousand Tatar children study in Tatar schools. Total Tatar children studying in their native language - 75.61 thousand people (43.46%). That is less than half!

The results of a massive study conducted in Tatarstan in 2014 do not add optimism to defenders of the native language. According to him, the majority of Tatars would like their children to speak Russian (96%) rather than Tatar (95%). English came in third place - 83%.

And a study conducted among young people in 2015 showed that most of them want to speak English (83%). In second place is the Russian language (62%), while only 32 to 38% of respondents would like to know Tatar. Thus, a kind of scale of prestige has been built: “Western - Russian - Tatar”, where the latter is perceived as archaic and operates in the ideas of modern youth, experts conclude. The lack of incentive to study the Tatar language is largely due to the fact that, according to respondents, this language does not help them find a prestigious job.

This situation could not help but worry the All-Tatar Public Center (VTOC), which sent deputies and political organizations an appeal to save the Tatar language. The appeal states that, despite the equality of both state languages ​​enshrined in the Constitution of Tatarstan 25 years ago, in fact only Russian can be considered the state language in the republic. Over all these years, the State Council of Tatarstan “has never been able to organize at least one meeting in the Tatar language, and simultaneous translation has been canceled in the Kazan City Duma.” In the republic, 699 Tatar schools have been closed, as well as Tatar faculties in two universities.

“In Tatarstan there must be one state language - Tatar,” conclude members of the VTOC. - Radical? Maybe there are other suggestions on how to preserve the Tatar language?

There is already a law on bilingualism in Tatarstan, it is reflected in the Constitution, and another law is not needed, State Council deputy Hafiz Mirgalimov comments on this statement. Russian and Tatar should remain the official languages.

“In fact, we have two official languages. If someone doesn’t speak Tatar, then you need to address this question to him - why doesn’t he speak?” - says Rafael Khakimov, vice-president of the Academy of Sciences of Tatarstan.

In reality, however, everything is not so simple. For example, the Minister of Education and Science of Tatarstan Engel Fattakhov said that in schools there is an acute shortage of not only teachers who know the Tatar language, and this leads to a deterioration in the quality of national education.

But the schoolchildren themselves, apparently, are not too eager to learn the Tatar language. In 2015, the website of the human rights center “ROD” published an article signed by 11th-grader Diana Suleymanova, who wrote that schoolchildren call Tatar their least favorite subject at school. The girl wrote that children are divided into groups - elementary or advanced - based on their surname, without taking into account whether families with Tatar surnames speak the national language.

They tried to fight for the Tatar language administratively: on July 11, 2017 (even before Putin’s speech), the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan adopted a bill according to which municipalities received the right to fine the management of institutions and other institutions for the lack of information in the Tatar language.

It is not difficult to judge the prospects of such measures in Russia: they have always been and will remain a source of various abuses, but the solution to the problem itself is unlikely to bring any closer.

It is curious that at first Tatarstan stated that the words of the head of state about the language had nothing to do with their region. While in neighboring Bashkiria they hastened to take the lead and the head of the republic Rustem Khamitov promised to cancel compulsory lessons national language in schools, and then the prosecutor’s office of the republic issued a statement banning the non-voluntary study of the Bashkir language in local schools.

Do Putin's words contradict the constitution of Tatarstan?

As for Tatarstan, the struggle for the native language continues. This can be judged at least by how the president’s words are interpreted.

For example, journalist Maxim Shevchenko, who was present at the meeting where the president said his words, hastened to explain Putin’s position:

“This is a signal to everyone that learning Russian will be mandatory, and you organize language learning for those who want it. I believe that it is useful for people to learn languages, especially ones like Tatar. It immediately opens up the world in many countries. If you know Tatar, for example, you feel free in Turkey, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, you can communicate freely with the Kyrgyz... Let's agree with the president that the state language should be mandatory. And with other languages, let’s be able to sell them, as they say in the modern world.”

But according to the Russian leader national movement in Tatarstan Mikhail Shcheglov, the Russian President addressed his words specifically to the authorities of Tatarstan. In his opinion, the region’s leadership should take action and correct the current situation without waiting for personnel decisions from the federal center.

“For 10 years I have almost physically felt the pain of parents who do not know how to get rid of this hated subject “Tatar language”: they pretend that they are studying, but aggression comes from above - from the directors’ corps, the bureaucratic educational corps.”

The public figure called a lie the statement of the regional authorities that a consensus had been reached on the issue of studying the Tatar language in the republic. The national language, Shcheglov is sure, was and is being implanted:

“National languages ​​must be preserved among their natural speakers, and not artificial, surrogate ones. Let the Tatars learn their language, preserve it and be responsible for it to their descendants, but do not enforce it through administrative pressure.”

Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan Engel Fattakhov commented on the statement of Russian President Vladimir Putin as follows:

« We have a Constitution, a law on languages ​​- we have 2 state languages: Russian and Tatar, a law on education. Both official languages ​​are studied to the same extent. We act according to federal standards. We have no violations here. All our actions are coordinated with the Ministry of Education. We are performers. We comply with the law, we have an education program, and based on this, we will act.”

Fattakhov said that in the region this year there were no 11th grade graduates who could not overcome the minimum threshold by passing the Unified State Exam in the Russian language. According to him, on the instructions of the head of the region, Rustam Minnikhanov, about 150 million rubles are allocated annually from the budget to improve the quality of teaching the Russian language. According to preliminary data, in comparison with the regions of the Russian Federation, the results of graduates in Russian are higher than in most regions, he said. This year, 51 graduates passed the Unified State Exam in Russian with 100 points. However, a year earlier there were more such results - 85.

The head of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Tatarstan recalled that teaching the Tatar language is approached differently in the region.

“In our republic, we have adopted the concept of teaching the Tatar language specifically for Russian-speaking children, for Tatar children who do not speak it perfectly, and purely Tatar children. Our position is this: we have 2 official languages. And any parent does not mind if his child is fluent in Russian, Tatar and more English language. We think that everything depends on us and we will continue to work."

The Prosecutor General's Office took up the case

Adding fuel to the fire of the discussion was the message that Putin ordered the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, together with Rosobrnadzor, to conduct an audit of how citizens' rights to voluntarily study their native language and the state languages ​​of the republics are respected in the regions.

The regional leadership has been instructed to organize Russian language training at the level approved by the Ministry education in Russia, improve the quality of teaching. Heads of regions must ensure that in general education schools, children study the national and state languages ​​of the republic exclusively on a voluntary basis at the choice of parents.

Not everyone was happy with this news. For example, political scientist Abbas Gallyamov believes that inspections by Rosobrnadzor and the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation in the republic may cancel mandatory Tatar language lessons. “Of course, Tatarstan will have to give in. And this will be another blow to the positions of the republic’s leadership. Moscow will once again demonstrate that it does not intend to take his opinion into account.”

The results of a sociological study do not look too optimistic, according to which 23-27% of Tatars in Kazan admit that their children might not study their native language as part of school curriculum. Putin’s statement about the voluntary study of non-native languages ​​was supported by 68% of Tatars and 80% of Russians.

And already on September 7, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan made 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 Russian Federation, the republics that are part of Russia can independently establish national languages ​​for their region. It is recalled that the national languages ​​in Tatarstan are Russian and Tatar, which is why their study in schools is mandatory.

The ministry noted that in this moment The department is engaged in improving the methods of teaching technologies for the Tatar language and language policy in Tatarstan. It is also reported that from January 1, 2018, the volume of studying the Russian language will be increased to the volume recommended by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.

As is usual in such cases, the difference in the interpretation of the words of the head of state led to various incidents. For example, a resident of Naberezhnye Chelny announced on social networks that her son was exempt from Tatar language lessons at school. However, then the woman was informed that she had misunderstood the situation: “The director told me that “I misunderstood them,” referred to the explanation of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Tatarstan and said that Tatar is compulsory. The director verbally denied me the right, given to me by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation and the President of the Russian Federation, to choose whether or not to teach my child a non-native language. However, she did not want to issue a refusal in writing. Referring to the fact that she has a period of 30 days. Having received a refusal even verbally, I had the opportunity to write complaints to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, which I will do today.”

As Inkazan found out, Russian-speaking parents are uniting on social networks to achieve the abolition of studying the Tatar language for their children. In each of them, community administrators emphasize that they are not against the Tatar language as such. They point to its voluntary study and demand that the Tatar language not be imposed on the Russian-speaking population.

The debate did not reveal a winner

It would not be an exaggeration to say that every day the situation around the Tatar language in Tatarstan is heating up. So, on September 14, an open debate was held in Kazan on the topic “Tatar language in the Russian education system,” in which parents of schoolchildren and representatives of public organizations took part. According to the moderator of the conversation, Albert Muratov, the reason for the meeting was the growing scandal on social networks, which resulted in mutual attacks by the Russian and Tatar-speaking population of the republic on the issue of studying the national language as part of the school curriculum.

Member of the All-Tatar Public Center (VTOC) Marat Lutfullin said that he did not understand the meaning of the debate. According to him, educational institutions in the region independently develop educational programs, taking into account federal and regional characteristics and legislation. He proposed generally increasing the number of hours in both Russian and Tatar languages, as well as introducing mandatory final certification based on the results of studying the national language. His statements caused a negative reaction from those gathered, who began to shout and interrupt the speaker.

The chairman of the committee of Russian-speaking citizens of the Republic of Tatarstan, Eduard Nosov, spoke at the meeting and read out an explanation from the Tatarstan prosecutor’s office on the issue of studying national languages. According to him, the department stated that the republic has realized the right to study one’s native language as the state language. However, the prosecutor's office noted that there is a "legal conflict regarding the field of study of the subject area" native language ". There is no distinction in federal legislation between the state language and the native language.”

A member of the anti-corruption committee at the Ministry of Education of Tatarstan, Ekaterina Matveeva, reported that during the day of work hotline The ministry received more than 40 complaints about the forced study of Tatar in schools, some of which came from groups of students’ parents. In addition, Matveeva reported cases of pressure on parents working in budgetary sphere. For speaking out against children learning the national language, they were threatened with dismissal, she said.

And the chairman of the VTOC Farit Zakiev said, in turn, that in Russia over the past few years the number of Tatars speaking their native language has decreased by more than 1 million people. “The Russians are absolutely not to blame for this, the policy that is being pursued is to blame. We must ensure that Russian parents demand that their children be taught Tatar.”

Zakiev proposed introducing a salary increase of 25% for those who speak the Tatar language, as well as conducting bilingual interviews when applying for jobs in government agencies. Zakiev’s statements caused a negative reaction from the audience - many rose from their seats and began to interrupt the speaker.

“Why are there any protests, complaints to Moscow? This would not be desirable, because Tatarstan is a separate state and, naturally, the Tatar language is taught to citizens,” Zakiev said, asking those present to “base their statements on the Constitution of the Russian Federation.”

“This is where we come from! We can’t go back, they kick us out, they say that “we have our own,” they shouted from the hall.

It is not difficult to guess how this collision will end: the Tatar language in Tatarstan is doomed to be an optional study. But this is unlikely to contribute to civil peace in the republic.

The State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan unanimously adopted a draft resolution on teaching the Tatar language in schools of the republic. As the Chairman of the State Council noted at a meeting of the Parliament of the Republic of Tajikistan Farid Mukhametshin, the government of the republic, together with the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, did a lot of work - “a common understanding was found with colleagues from the federal ministry.”


“The main result of the consultations was that the Tatar language as the state language of the Republic of Tatarstan within curricula will be studied in schools. On November 28, in response to an appeal from the President of the Republic, Minnikhanov Rustam Nurgalievich, a letter was received from the Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Olga Yuryevna Vasilyeva, who sent us sample curricula providing for the study of the state languages ​​of the republics of the Russian Federation, where the state language of the republics of the Russian Federation is legally established.

The Ministry of Education and Science has a lot of work ahead of it to adopt school curricula that include the state Tatar language in them for two hours. It is necessary to implement a set of measures, including making changes to work programs in the Tatar language, updating educational literature, methodological documents, advanced training and retraining of personnel.

Further delay and postponement of this issue, as well as discussions in society, create tension in relationships, as I have already said, both in the teaching environment, and in the parental environment, in the family, even among children.

Therefore, dear colleagues, at the suggestion of the members of the Presidium of the State Council, I make a proposal: do not open the debate, move on to considering a draft resolution on this issue, and according to protocol, the State Council Committee on Education, Culture, Science and National Affairs, Deputy Valeev, will need to take control of all this work , and it is possible that from time to time we will return to consider the progress of this work at committee meetings.

Let me voice the draft resolution, just two points: “Having heard the information from the Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan Mukhametshin, the prosecutor of the Republic of Tatarstan Nafikov on the teaching and learning of the state languages ​​of the Republic of Tatarstan, the native languages ​​of the peoples living in the Republic of Tatarstan, the State Council decides: to take into account the information of Mukhametshin and Nafikov and propose to the Ministry of Education and science of the Republic of Tatarstan, Engel Navapovich Fattakhov to take measures to organize educational process in state and municipal educational institutions RT in accordance with the model curricula presented by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation on November 28, 2017.” This short decision [was made] after we postponed this issue for two sessions,” Mukhametshin said.

The draft resolution was adopted unanimously - 71 deputies voted in favor.

“Thank you very much, I think this resolution was adopted and supported by you with great understanding. The same understanding of both the importance and complexity of this issue should now be put into action in the preparation of new documents, which will be jointly prepared by the Ministry of Education and the government of the republic,” added the Chairman of the State Council.

Video: press service of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan

Will prosecutorial checks force the abolition of the Tatar language in schools?

The RBC publication reported on inspections by the Prosecutor's Office in educational institutions Kazan. The reason is the ongoing debate about the need and legality of studying the Tatar language on a compulsory basis.

Parents of Kazan schoolchildren, demanding the abolition of compulsory study of the Tatar language, seem to be happy. The matter moved from a dead point. Despite the tough position of the republican Ministry of Education, they say, we will not change anything in the system, the prosecutor’s office began to conduct inspections in educational institutions on instructions received from the Kremlin. And the first results are already there, writes RBC. Even in conditions of total silence from all structures - from schools to the prosecutor's office - official documents were leaked onto the Internet, thanks to parents.

Thus, according to the requirement of the prosecutor’s office, school directors in the Vakhitovsky district were required to report on the curriculum, current schedules, and also provide written consent from parents to teach the Tatar language. A number of schools underwent prosecutorial inspections that revealed violations. Parents vying with each other to tell stories from their schools. Thus, the mother of a second-grader, Raisa Demidova, wrote an application for her daughter to study according to the version of the curriculum for schools with Russian language of instruction and for the child to be excluded from the program educational subjects“Tatar language” and “Tatar literature”.

Right to choose

“The compulsory study of the Tatar language and literature leads to a catastrophic overload of the child. In addition to the fact that children have to make up for the missing hours of Russian language and literature every day at home through independent studies, they additionally have to learn an unfamiliar language from scratch. As a result, preparation time homework increases to 2-3 hours daily. And this is in 2nd grade. At the same time, schools hand out statements of consent for the inclusion of a child in a group for additional study of the Russian (in some schools - Tatar) language. A second-grader already has a maximum workload of 26 hours – due to compulsory lessons. Additional classes come at the expense of the student’s personal time and lead to even greater overload. Parents are faced with a choice: agree to additional classes, but at the same time overload the child even more, or abandon them, despite the catastrophic shortage of Russian language lessons,” says Demidova.

The Chairman of the Committee of Russian-Speaking Parents of Tatarstan, Edward Nosov, hopes that the situation in educational institutions will change. “I am the parent of a schoolchild myself. I encountered this problem eight years ago. In 2011, when the eldest child was studying at primary school, I collected signatures for choosing a program with “Russian language of instruction.” In the evening I went home. Only three people from the class did not sign. But then the school director refused. I submitted to statement of claim V district court, but he didn’t take my side either. The Supreme Court of Tatarstan also refused to allow my child to fully study the Russian language. In 26 years of teaching the Tatar language, Russians have not spoken it,” Nosov shares his opinion. According to the activist, every day they receive new data on inspections in schools not only in Kazan, but throughout the region. “We hope that the activities of the prosecutor’s office will yield results. We want schools to use multiple curricula simultaneously. And everyone will choose for themselves: to study the Russian language fully or to learn Russian and their native languages,” says Nosov.

Silence in schools

But the schools themselves refuse to comment. The prosecutor's office does not make any official statements about the inspections. We only managed to find out that such silence could last until the end of the month, and there is no point in expecting any clarifications earlier. Supporters of the abolition of the total study of the Tatar language have a number of their own compelling arguments. The chairman of the National Parents Committee, Irina Volynets, tried to summarize them.

“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. I am Tatar on my mother’s side and have been accustomed to hearing Tatar speech since childhood. But despite the fact that I myself studied the Tatar language at school and at university, I still cannot speak it fluently. Although I always got an A in the subject. It is no secret that for more than twenty years the children of Tatarstan, as well as many other regions of Russia, have received less basic knowledge In Russian. What is the result? They do not have equal opportunities when entering, for example, Moscow universities with schoolchildren from Moscow and St. Petersburg. 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. It's interesting that in paid schools national republics there is no compulsory study of local languages.

Where does our republican Ministry of Education look in such cases? The quality of the Tatar teaching methodology, which undoubtedly leaves much to be desired, 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,” Volynets shares his thoughts. She recalled that the prosecutor's office of Bashkortostan, in turn, has already reported that it will monitor the voluntary nature of learning the native Bashkir language, but the supervisory agency of Tatarstan is still silent. The media make their requests, but the authorities seem to have fallen into a coma.

Equal rights

However, not all authorities in Tatarstan are silent. On the site public organization The “World Congress of Tatars” published an open letter from parents of Tatarstan schoolchildren to Vladimir Putin.

“Teaching Tatar and Russian languages ​​in equal amounts in schools of the Republic of Tatarstan is the basis of peace and friendship between the peoples of the republic. Leaving one of these languages ​​as compulsory and making the other an elective will inevitably lead to interethnic disagreements and conflicts, and this process is beginning before our eyes. It is very important to prevent this from happening. We ask and even demand to preserve the study of the Tatar language as the state language. This is our constitutional right, as Tatars and Russians, as residents of the Republic of Tatarstan and as citizens of the Russian Federation. Respect for this right provides the basis for the preservation and development of the Tatar language and culture, as well as peace and an atmosphere of mutual respect in Tatarstan.

Violation of this right will lead, in addition to conflicts, to assimilation, loss of identity, traditional values, respect for elders, ancestors and laws,” the appeal says. Let us note that discussions around the study of the national language are taking place not only in Tatarstan. All national republics have faced similar problems in one way or another. They are different everywhere, but they are being resolved. In the meantime, everyone interested in a speedy resolution of disputes can only wait for the decision of the prosecutor’s office and official comments from the departments.

The only opportunity to learn a language for preschoolers is to join a Tatar group or a Tatar kindergarten

The language revolution, having done away with Tatar in schools, reached kindergartens. Manuals of 2013 regulating compulsory study state language Tatarstan preschoolers are not subject to application - the letter was signed by the new Minister of Education Rafis Burganov on the last working day of last year. While supporters of the voluntary Tatar “shout: hurray! And they throw caps into the air,” the new minister’s letter pulled the rug out from under the feet of Tatar parents: there is virtually no opportunity left to learn their native language in kindergartens, they say. Details in the material of Realnoe Vremya.

Kindergartens were reminded of the Federal State Educational Standard, in which there is no place for Tatar

On New Year's Eve, the language revolution, which ended the compulsory study of the Tatar language in schools, reached kindergartens. On December 29, the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan Rafis Burganov sent a letter to the heads of district education departments “On planning educational activities in preschool educational institutions."

In short, kindergartens were reminded that they must create a class schedule and the amount of educational workload in accordance with the Federal State Educational Standard and SanPin, additionally informing that the manual of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan dated November 8, 2013 cannot be applied. This manual just reinforced the compulsory study of the Tatar language in kindergartens.

As the Minister of Education and Science of Tatarstan Rafis Burganov told Realnoe Vremya, there is no talk of abolishing Tatar in kindergartens; they simply followed the schools in kindergartens and brought the program into compliance with the requirements of the prosecutor’s office.

At one time, we had representations from the prosecutor’s office regarding secondary schools, and we received corresponding letters, the same as in secondary schools with programs, with our methodological proposals, we were sent to those institutions that also regulate the teaching of state and native languages,” Burganov commented.

As Rafis Burganov said, there is no talk of abolishing Tatar in kindergartens; they simply followed the schools in kindergartens and brought the program into compliance with the requirements of the prosecutor’s office. Photo by Maxim Platonov

To the clarifying question of the Realnoe Vremya correspondent: “That is, in kindergartens, just like in schools, parents will be able to choose whether or not to attend Tatar lessons?” - Rafis Burganov answered: “Yes.”

Repay the debt: watches in Tatar borrowed from drawing and mathematics

What was criminal in the 2013 manual that kindergartens were prohibited from using it? According to her, Tatar language children in younger group studied during games, and starting from middle school - three times a week for 20 minutes. In order not to go overboard with the teaching load, which, for example, preparatory group should be no more than 14 lessons per week, time for two Tatar lessons was borrowed from other subjects, and the third hour was added in violation of SanPiN.

So, in middle group took away hours from sculpting/appliqué, drawing and broadening my horizons. IN senior group- in the subjects “Cognition” and drawing, and in the preparatory group - in the “formation of elementary mathematical representations"and drawing.

To say that these lessons were canceled completely is wrong. They were transferred to “regime moments”, that is, they were engaged in between times - during the time allotted for games, or were included in the schedule additionally, or additionally, but as a paid services. This is what angered some parents. In addition, parents are sure that drawing and modeling are more useful than the Tatar language, as they develop fine motor skills, and bilingualism at an early age is harmful, especially for children with speech therapy problems.

In the preparatory group, children have maximum load, provided for by SanPiN. This means that there should be no more clubs or activities. Otherwise, there will be overwork, the child will not have time to recover, and will get sick. It’s just that children still have to prepare for school outside of kindergarten, take extra classes, and decide on a hellish overload from the age of 6 just so that the child can continue to study normally. Or make a choice between preparing a child for school and his health, says Raya Demidova, head of the Parent Community of Tatarstan.

Children in the younger group studied the Tatar language during games, and starting from the middle group - 3 times a week for 20 minutes. Photo by Gulandam Zaripova

There is Tatar, but there is no opportunity to learn it

Burganov's letter canceling the 2013 teaching manual in kindergartens was called New Year's gift. Back in November 2017, they began collecting complaints about the forced Tatar language in kindergartens. Now they have created a form for refusing Tatar, which they ask all parents to fill out, where they categorically demand “not to teach our child the Tatar language in any forms and in any way.” educational programs" and "exclude the work of the teacher in teaching the Tatar language with our child in his free time from educational activities, without creating a Tatar language environment in communication with him."

While some parents are rejoicing over the victory over Tatar in kindergartens, others are worried. According to Chulpan Khamidova, an activist of the Tatar Ata-Analary community, the teacher of the kindergarten her children attend was upset on the first day after the holidays that they would no longer have Tatar language lessons.

What we feared most happened: optimistic statements “Tatar is there, whoever wants it, teaches it,” but in fact technical feasibility there is no way to teach him. Tatar was three times a week for 20 minutes, now it has been replaced by modeling and drawing, and there is no time left in the schedule for Tatar,” says Khamidova.

According to Chulpan Khamidova, the only opportunity to learn Tatar is to get into a Tatar kindergarten or Tatar group, but there are not enough of them.

There are, of course, more Tatar kindergartens than schools, but given that we, for example, could not get there, there is a problem. We also couldn’t get into the Tatar group: first we were told that there was no group our age, then there were no teachers. Previously, Tatar lessons somehow compensated us for this,” says Chulpan Khamidova.

The only opportunity for kids to learn Tatar is to go to a Tatar kindergarten or Tatar group, but there are not enough of them. Photo info-islam.ru

Now, according to Realnoe Vremya’s interlocutor, the only hope for Tatar parents is that, in connection with the new order, Tatar groups will become more in demand and they will be opened in kindergartens.

Daria Turtseva