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Theo Merz visits the Russian states where a clampdown
on teaching native languages is putting teachers at risk
I
n a classroom in the Russian republic of Tatarstan,
children are rehearsing for their school play. Through
a quest involving monsters, gangsters and traditional
local food – and a script that shifts between Russian, Tatar
and English – the 12-year-old heroes come to understand
the importance of keeping native languages alive.
It is a message that is being lost in Russia, which has
more than 100 minority languages, many in rapid
decline. As the Kremlin seeks to enforce central control
over the Russian Federation's 22 republics, the status of
these languages in the education system has been
downgraded. Changes to the law two years ago
reduced teaching hours and made the study of native
languages, even in regions where they are widely
spoken, voluntary rather than compulsory.
Teachers have been laid off or pressured by authorities
to resign; one language-school owner told me he was
forced to flee the country because of his work. Last year,
an activist self-immolated in protest against Moscow's
treatment of the nation's indigenous languages.
The Shkola Solntse ('Sun School'), where the students
are preparing their performance, is making a rare stand
against the state's new language policies. The two-storey
building, with a recent extension and 150 pupils, is
located in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan. This republic is
situated on the river Volga some 500 miles east of
Moscow, and around half of its four million citizens are
ethnic Tatar. The school is continuing to offer Tatar
lessons to all pupils in spite of the 2018 legislation, which
also ruled that children can only take such classes if their
parents report they have a minority language as their
mother tongue.
"The law is asking parents to define whether their
child is Russian or whether they're Tatar," explains Pavel
Shmakov, an energetic 62-year-old who has been head
of Solntse since 2013. "That is very harsh. What if the
Dangerous lessons
WRITING ON
THE WALL
Teacher Leysan
Garaeva writes in
Tatar on her
classroom blackboard
