Future of Schools in Russian Federation: Non-Russian Languages Out, Russian Culture In

Paul Goble

            Staunton, November 6 – Vladimir Putin yesterday argued that “Russian is the basis of the spiritual-historical community of the unique cultures and peoples of Russia” and that those who study only non-Russian languages are “limiting themselves” (nazaccent.ru/content/31415-putin-russkij-yazyk-obespechivaet-edinstvo-i.html and nazaccent.ru/content/31393-putin-obuchenie-tolko-na-nacionalnyh-yazykah.html).

            At the same time, Enlightenment Minister Olga Vasilyeva came out in support of Patriarch Kirill’s call for the introduction of a course on Russian culture in all Russian schools and even universities to provide Russian residents with “a spiritual code” (tass.ru/obschestvo/7084516 and ahilla.ru/patriarh-kirill-prizval-vvesti-v-shkolah-kulturologicheskij-kurs-dlya-uvelicheniya-lyubvi-k-rodine/).

            Put in simplest terms, this suggests that in the coming years, if Putin and his policies remain in place, non-Russian languages increasingly will be pushed out of the country’s educational system and the Kremlin’s understanding of Russian culture will be pushed in, an arrangement that has already sparked complaints by non-Russians,

            Ruslan Aysin, a Tatarpolitical scientist, says that Putin is only doubling down on the policies he articulated in Ioshkar-Ola in 2017 but that his latest statement means that the non-Russians must get ready for “a still more horrible attack on the system of national education and languages” and even on the very existence of the non-Russian republics (kavkazr.com/a/dvojnye-standarty-putina/30258012.html).

            A Daghestani official speaking anonymously agreed and pointed to another problem with Putin’s words: He is displaying “double standards.” What Moscow complains about in Ukraine and Latvia, it is doing at home.  “The most complete Russification is going on! We are losing the history, culture and literature of these ethnic groups.”

            “Literally after several decades, all this will disappear without a trace,” he concludes.

            The next battleground in this war is likely to be discussions about a proposed new law one education and languages, discussions that will serve as a barometer of just how much additional pressure the Kremlin is prepared to put on the non-Russian peoples in the coming months (nazaccent.ru/content/31399-v-ran-predlozhili-razrabotat-novyj-zakon.html).