247. Satisfying the national, cultural and educational requirements of the Moldavian minority in the Ukraine (Odessa region, 1991-2000 and beyond)
Authors: Savoskul, Maria savoskul@aport2000.ru
Abstract: Providing the Moldavians of the Ukraine with the possibility of receiving Moldavian (Rumanian) language education in pre-school institutions and schools; publishing information on the problems of the Moldavian minority of the Ukraine.
Region/Country: Odessa/Ukraine
Minorities: Moldavian
Problems: Preservation of culture, Preservation of identity, Use of mother tongue
Keywords: Education, Managing interethnic relations
Practices: education for minorities and on minorities, consolidating national-cultural societies
Actors: Local government, local NGOs, ministry, Media, educational institution, minority organisations
Target Groups: local minority, local social organizations
local social organizations
Summary:
LOCAL LEVEL GOOD PRACTICE:
Providing the Moldavians of the Ukraine with the possibility of receiving Moldavian (Rumanian) language education in pre-school institutions and schools; publishing information on the problems of the Moldavian minority of the Ukraine in the regional and central media. Broadcasting TV and Radio programs in Moldavian (Rumanian) language.
MINORITY TARGET GROUP:
Minority: Moldavians. Target Group: national-cultural association of Moldavians
BUDGET ALLOCATED BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES AND/OR OTHER ACTORS:
This information is not available.
TIMEFRAME
The development of programs supporting educational activities for the Moldavian minority in Ukraine started in 1991 and currently ongoing.
LOCAL LEVEL GOOD PRACTICE RELATION TO NATIONAL LEVEL ETHNIC POLICY
The activities to develop both Moldavian language education, and Moldavian culture in general, are in accordance with Ukrainian laws and implement the basic principles of the Ukrainian minority policy. Some problems exist with the question of self-identification of the minority representatives as Moldavian or Rumanian.
National and cultural interests of the Moldavian minority were taken into consideration in a number of treaties between the Ukraine and Moldavia, in the Ukrainian laws "On Education", "On national minorities in the Ukraine", "On language".
GOOD PRACTICE DESCRIPTION:
General information on the Moldavian minority in the Ukraine: according to the 1989 census there are 324,500 Moldavians living in Ukraine: 144,500 live in the Odessa region (this represents about 5.5% of the total population of the region and about half of all the Moldavians of the Ukraine); 84,500 Moldavians live in the Chernowitz region (9% of its total population).
As of September 1998 in the Odessa region there were 18 Moldavian-language general education schools, attended by 4,500 children of Moldavian origins. Over and above this, about 1,400 children studied Moldavian language as one of the subjects of their curricula in nine other schools, while in all other schools about 500 children studied Moldavian language as an optional subject. Teachers for the Moldavian (Rumanian) language schools are trained in Izmail Teacher Training college and Belgorod-Dnestrovsky Teacher Training School.
Before the 1991-1992 school year all text-books and books available in Moldavian/Rumanian language were published using the Cyrillic alphabet. Since the 1991-1992 school year, schools have started to use books published using the Latin alphabet, following the same process occurring in the schools of Moldavia. The textbooks and teaching aid books were renamed from "Moldavian Language" into "Rumanian language". According to article 3 of the 1991 agreement of cooperation between the Ministries of Education of the Ukraine and Moldavia, Moldavia started to provide Ukrainian educational institutions with text-books, teaching aids and novels in the Moldavian/Rumanian language.
In 1993 the first textbooks for Moldavian language schools based on the Latin alphabet were published in the Ukraine. The Ukrainian Ministry of Education published, as it was recommended for the Moldavian schools, textbooks and teacher aid books for 45 titles over 4 years, especially for the Moldavian/Rumanian language schools. By the 1998-1999 school year 89.4% of all necessary textbooks used in Moldavian schools were published in Ukraine.
In the Odessa region there are 23 Moldavian authors' theatres-studios, some choruses, dance and musical groups. The Regional TV-Radio Company of Odessa (RTVRCO) each week broadcasts a one-hour TV and radio program in Moldavian/Rumanian language.
The Izmail district's paper "Danube news" once a month publishes a special page in Moldavian/Rumanian language. Moldavian national-cultural associations can publish their materials in such local editions as "Black Sea news", "Odessa news", "Regional Herald", "Evening Odessa".
It is necessary to say, however, that Moldavians do not have their own newspaper . It is currently under consideration whether it would be possible to publish in Odessa a supplement in Moldavian/Rumanian language to the "Voice of the Ukraine", the official newspaper of the Ukrainian Parliament (Supreme Rada). This possible measure is in response to a request voiced by the Moldavian pan-Ukrainian association "Luchaferul" and supported by the Inter-departmental Council on Problems of Interethnic Relations and Ethno-national Rebirth.
It must be stressed that the situation of the Moldavian minority in the Ukraine depends to a large degree on the ethno-political processes taking place in Moldavia. Particularly critical is the issue of self-identification of the Moldavians as a separate nation or, instead, as Rumanian. Such expressions as "Moldavians" and "Moldavian language" are written in the Constitution of Moldavia. The absolute majority of the Moldavians in the Ukraine consider themselves to be Moldavians.
On the other hand, public opinion in Rumania, but also some political groups in Moldavia, consider Moldavians as a sub-ethnos of the Rumanians and the Moldavian language as a local variation of Rumanian language.
Naturally the official position of Moldavia on this issue also has an influence on the situation of the Moldavian minority in the Ukraine. Some parents, pupils, and teachers among the Moldavians favour the "Rumanization" of the Moldavian schools. Others defend the Moldavian differentiation in the local media and in the schools.
In this situation the official position of Ukraine is neutral and considers the issue of self-identification to be an individual choice, as stated by article 11 of its constitution. However, in view of the mixed positions within the Moldavian/Rumanian community, the regional department of education of Odessa regions decided to change the name of the language of education in the Moldavian schools from simply "Moldavian" into "Moldavian/Rumanian".