Instruction in Native Language: Russia vs. Ukraine

The online edition of Ukrainian The Day daily has published an interview with Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Education and Science concerning a recent comparative study by the OSCE on the educational rights of Russians in Ukraine and ethnic Ukrainians in Russia. The report apparently reveals that Ukraine respects minority rights much better than Russia does. OSCE High Commissar on National Minorities Knut Volleb is expected to comment the findings soon.

In parallel, Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Science has published an unofficial report on the number of Russian and Ukrainian-language kindergartens, schools, vocational schools, and HEIs in two respective countries. The data for Ukrainian language institutions contains numerous zeros in contrast to hundreds of Russian educational establishments in Ukraine.

This, however, has not stopped Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from accusing Ukraine of discriminatory actions in regards to its Russian-speaking population.

According to Pavlo Poliansky, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Education and Science, the issue is basically political and will determine the government’s attitude toward the national minorities residing in the country and may, or may not, prompt the government to foster enforcement of their rights. Europe, the US, and even Cuba have Ukrainian-language educational establishments where some local children also study.

Below excerpts from the Days’s interview with Mr. Poliansky:

Mr. Poliansky, what is the purpose of the survey carried out by OSCE jointly with the Ministry of Education of Ukraine?

Actually, it is the very prerogative and duty of OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) to study how the national minorities’ right is fulfilled in European countries and recommend the governments to take this or that measure in this sphere. Knut Volleb made the decision to conduct bilateral monitoring and see to what extent the right of the ethnic Ukrainians to receive education in their native language is ensured on the territory of the Russian Federation and what efforts Ukraine makes to ensure the constitutional rights of the Ukrainian citizens representing the national minorities to receive education in their native language.

The Ministry provided exhaustive information to the OSCE High Commissar on the way the educational rights of Ukraine’s Russian minority are ensured and drew his attention, for example, to the fact that in some regions Ukrainians, rather than minorities, are now facing difficulties in offering education to their children in the state language. For example, last school year, out of 562 functioning schools in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea 15 offered instruction in the Crimean-Tatar language and seven—in Ukrainian. In the rest of the schools the language of teaching was Russian. The proportion of the autonomy’s pupils who studied in Ukrainian made 7.3 percent, while those who studied in Russian made 89.4 percent. …

As far as I understand the mission has not succeed in visiting any Ukrainian-language school in Russia, because there is simply none.…

What are the main results of the survey?

These are only preliminary results and they are laid out in the HCNM’s recommendations to each particular country. During the meeting in the Ministry of Education and Science Volleb k was assured that the Ukrainian state will continue to pursue its generally acknowledged tolerant policy concerning the education rights of its citizens of all nations and nationalities. And I am speaking not only about the pre-school and secondary education, but higher education as well, specifically in Russian.

So, at the moment, in educational establishments that have the 1st or 2nd accreditation levels, over 59,000 students receive education in Russian, while there are 395,000 such students in universities. I want to emphasize that the information concerning Ukraine is absolutely accurate…

I will give you some figures for comparison: the Russian-language kindergartens in Ukraine number 983 (with over 164,000 children), whereas there are no similar Ukrainian-language establishments in Russia. Russian-language secondary schools in Ukraine number 1,199, whereas the RF has none of such in Ukrainian language. Besides, 35 vocational schools in Ukraine teach in Russian, while Russia has none that teaches in Ukrainian. There are only zeros, with 4.4 million Ukrainians living in the Russian Federation, which makes three percent of the whole Russian population…

Ukraine has long ago topped these standards. So, last school year 20,045 comprehensive schools, enrolling 4,438,383 pupils, functioned in our country last year. They included 16,909 Ukrainian-language establishments (3,271,703 pupils), 1,199 establishments where the teaching is in Russian (403,719 pupils), 89—in Romanian (18,239 pupils), 66—in Hungarian (11,644 pupils), 15—in Crimean-Tatar (2,919), six—in Moldavian (1,903 pupils), and five—in Polish (1,180 pupils).

Besides, in 1,725 comprehensive schools the subjects were taught in two or more languages. In 2008–09, in Ukraine the total of 3,608,725 pupils received education in Ukrainian, 779,423—in Russian, 21,671—in Romanian, etc.

As far as I know, in the Czech Republic, Austria, Georgia, and even Cuba the state supports the Ukrainian community, and Ukrainian educational establishments are functioning there.

Many Ukrainians live abroad, and there is the widespread practice that not all of these schools are under Ukrainian jurisdiction. These are schools established by Ukrainian communities with more or less support of the foreign governments. For example, there is a Ukrainian gymnasium in Riga, which is funded by the Latvian state, while we provide it with textbooks and carry out teacher exchanges.

A similar gymnasium named after Mykhailo Hrushevsky exists in Tbilisi: this is a Georgian educational establishment, where children study many subjects in Ukrainian. One should not think that exclusively ethnic Ukrainians study there: nearly half of them are local children…

What can you tell us about the assimilation tendencies among Ukrainians, specifically those residing in Russia?

This may be viewed from the viewpoint of globalism. One can use the word ‘assimilation’ or ‘integration.’ If Ukrainians (and not only Ukrainians) live in America, Europe, or Canada for many years, preserving their language, traditions, and religion, while remaining at the same time good citizens of their states, we are speaking about integration. But if Ukrainians are afraid of positioning themselves as Ukrainians, communicating among themselves in their native language, and do not dare demand Ukrainian-language schools for their children, these are, I think, the results of assimilation.

Environment tends to influence people, and I guess that the Ukrainian environment also influences people of other nationalities who reside here. Where is the boundary between assimilation and integration? If a state provides the national minority an opportunity to have its own educational establishments, publish books, and work in mass media, the representatives of each peculiar nation have all the possibilities not to yield to assimilation…

To read the interview in full, please click here.

Exodus: University Students Abandon Iran

When I received an email from an Iranian student enquiring about education opportunities in Armenia, I thought it was an exceptional request due to an error by a confused reader. After all, this blog has never tried to advise students on their educational choices and it has never claimed that it wants to play such a role.

Then when the 2nd and the 3rd requests came in, I realized something strange was going on. My contacts in some Armenian universities, in Dubai, and elsewhere showed the same situation. There was an unusually strong demand from Iran; students were leaving Iran in mass.

This basically started after the disputed presidential election of last June followed by the violent crack-down of the protest movement. The protest movement was, and still is, mainly composed of disgruntled youth including a good number of university students.

Iranian students learn and remember pretty well. In the past 4 years, under Ahmadinejad administration, the Iranian universities have been subject to unprecedented political repression and ideological pressure. In several occasions Ahmadinejad has showed that he is particularly harsh with student activists and with the university community in general.

The Winners

The main beneficiaries of the Iranian exodus will most probably be the HEIs based in destination countries - Dubai, Malaysia and western countries. To most of these HEIs, the Iranians could be the surprise gift at a time they are facing uncertain enrollment situation due to the ongoing economic and financial crisis.

But the benefits will also be qualitative as the Iranian students who are leaving this year, and most probably will continue to leave next year, are the good students – not only those who usually leave after failing the university entrance exams.

The Canadian Press reports that even Canada will be a big beneficiary. Apparently, when the University of Alberta totaled up its applications from international graduate students for September 2009, it noticed something it hadn't seen before: Typically, the largest group of students comes from China, followed by the United States and France. But this year, Iran led the way with 618 Master's and PhD applicants, a jump of 60 percent over 2008.

"This year there is a very dramatic increase, and in all likelihood the political reason may play a role," said Britta Baron, provost and vice-president international at the University of Alberta. "They are well-trained by Iranian universities, the language barrier is not very serious and they seem to integrate very well."

According to the Canadian Press, this is a trend that has been noticed at other schools across Canada and was happening even before this summer's events.

Lissa Matyas, recruitment director at McGill, said the jump is, in part, a result of a targeted marketing campaign. "The admission in engineering has skyrocketed due to this proactive approach," said Matyas, who added the difficulty Iranians have applying for visas to study in the United States has also been a boon for Canadian universities.

E-word of mouth

K. Nikooyeh, a 26-year-old chemical engineering student, said Iranian students are using blogs and emails to share their stories with their peers back home. "There are five or six schools in Iran where the students are coming from, so the word of mouth has a significant impact in this recruitment," he said.

This brings us back to the question of the inquiries I received regarding education opportunities in Armenia. I would argue that the Armenian HEIs will get a much smaller part of this exceptional waive mainly due to their clumsy and ineffective management of foreign students in the past. As far as the word of mouth is concerned, Armenian institutions have been able to create only bad publicity for themselves. There is absolutely no “emotional capital” – like what seems to be the case with Canadian HEIs - to leverage on.

Nevertheless some will certainly come to Armenia. What will certainly play in favor of the Armenian HEIs this year will be the cheaper dram. (Armenian Dram was devaluated by 30 percent last March).

ISET Georgia Celebrates Second Graduation

On 12 July of this year, the International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University (ISET) celebrated the 2nd year of graduation of its Master’s program. This year, 26 graduates put on their black gowns and mortar-boards.

According to Georgia Business Week, the event was opened by Mr. Eric Linvy, ISET’s Executive Director. He said; “These masters’ of Economics, I am convinced, are the future leaders in academia, business and government in the South Caucasus. They are the ones to take this region forward, not only in the sense of economic prosperity but also in terms of cross-border collaboration, understanding and regional security.”

Employment statistics of this newly established HEI gives credence to this pledge. The first 33 ISET graduates who received their diplomas in 2008 are all currently employed. Ten have gone into analytical positions in government agencies across the Caucasus.

“Most of them work in the private sector, international organizations and some stay on as research associate at ISET. There are more job offers then the number of graduates we can supply,” Linvy said.

According to ISET officials, the 8 recent graduates will continue studies for PhD degrees in Europe and the U.S., all with full scholarship.

On his part, Georgia’s Economic Development Minister who was among the guests invited the 2009 graduates to work at his Ministry on a probationary basis this summer. He promised to employ successful graduates in the future.

“There are many profiles at the ministry - transportation, construction, investments, export fostering, economic analysis and policy, foreign economy and trade relations and we are in need of qualified staff,” he said.

Apart from Georgia, ISET hosts students from Armenia and Azerbaijan. The institution is supported by the government of Georgia, British Petroleum (the dominant oil company in Azerbaijan), the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, The Open Society Institute, Swedish International Cooperation Agency, the World Bank, the State Oil Fund of The Republic of Azerbaijan, and the Central Bank of Armenia.

Since May 2008, ISET has been operating an advisory business council to help liaise with the private sector.

“I believe we all made the right decision in choosing ISET to study,” Salome Basladze, one of the top graduates, told Georgian Business Week. “ISET is becoming a highly qualified center for academic research in the field of Economics and Business Administration. With updated and practical knowledge we gained from this course, we promise to do our best to complete well in our jobs, contribute to the development of the country and enhance the prestige and brand name of ISET.”

Russia Redefines the Secular State

Russian education may be entering into a new era in terms of its relations with religion. President Medvedev has approved “experiments” with courses on Russia’s “traditional” confessions - Russian Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism, as well as “secular ethics.” The experiment will take place in 18 regions of the Russian Federation.

According to Joera Mulders in Russia: Other Points of View, the main push for confessional courses originally came from the Russian-Orthodox community and was advocated by the Moscow Patriarchate. This started in 2006, much before the regional administrations in Tatarstan and Chuvasia ordered the authoring of textbooks about “Muslim culture”.

In 2006, 7 regions actively promoted Russian Orthodoxy. In such cases, 50 to 90 percent of the schools teach such courses. In 8 other regions the infrastructure was being created to prepare teachers for such courses.

According to Joera Mulders, today, 3 years later, it seems that as regards to the Russian-Orthodox courses “the experiment” is in fact the legalization of a practice that has already been in place.

The inability to find a compromise on the federal level between the Russian-Orthodox community, its Patriarchate, and several predominantly Russian-Orthodox regions on the one hand, and the supporters of a multi-confessional course and a secular state in the sense of an a-religious state on the other, created a deadlock that lasted for years. In the meantime, “the experiments” gathered pace.

According to Joera Mulders, in 2006, it was hard to imagine that a Russian president would take sides. The prevailing trend at the time was one of nationalism, forging a single national identity, and keeping multinational Russia together.

Not being able to decide what Russia was – a secular state or a predominantly Russian-Orthodox state with Islamic and Buddhist enclaves – the Ministry of Education has been practically paralyzed. And President Putin used to keep silent.

Joera Mulders believes that Mr. Medvedev’s sudden decisiveness is extremely interesting for several reasons:

1.
He has redefined the secular state as a multi-confessional state in which “secular ethics” is also seen as a confession.

2.
He has chosen a policy of free choice. This free choice will take place at the school or even regional administration level and will have little regard for families who adhere to a different faith than the 4 “traditional” confessions.

3.
This policy of free choice will result in a deepening of cultural fault lines. In some regions, the majority of the schools will teach courses in Russian-Orthodox education. In others, a similar percentage will teach courses about Islam or Buddhism.

4.
Point 3 means that the President must believe that Russia has other unifying factors for its citizens than common traditions.

Slavonic University Opens ‘Leadership School’

The Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University is probably the most dynamic bi-national public university in Armenia in terms of its corporate relations as well as its ability to introduce new programs. In terms of academic program content and structure, teaching and learning methods, and faculty development, however, the University is surely the most conservative one. Its most recent corporate partnership was established with the South Caucasus Railroad – a Russian-controlled company – but the University has been able to establish successful collaborative ties with western companies too.

According to a press release by South Caucasus Railroad, via Arka news agency, General Director of South Caucasus Railroad Mr. Shevket Shaydulin and Rector of the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University Mr. Armen Darbinian signed a memorandum about opening a new corporate management school baptized “School of Leadership.”

The aim of the school is to train and retrain specialist cadres, including top managers, of the Railroad company. According to the agreement, some 20 top managers plus 20 middle managers are expected to attend training courses in 2009-2010 academic year.

The curriculum will be administered by the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University faculty. It will include subjects such as Managerial Economics, Financial Management, Strategic Management, Risk Management, Corporate Tax Management, Human Resources Management, Investment Planning, and Managerial Accounting. The main theme of studies this year will be how to improve the operational efficiency within current financial and economic crisis context.

The Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University hopes that the School of Leadership will attract other major companies to the project in which case the new School will have a sustainable growth in the future.

Georgian Students to Start Own Businesses

Georgia Business Week reports on an interesting and exemplary initiative in favor of promoting and favoring entrepreneurship by a Georgian management school. This is certainly an exception; schools of business and economics in South Caucasus are characterized by maintaining Soviet era teaching traditions and sterile and desolate institutional cultures.

On 20 May of this year, Caucasus School of Business (CSB Caucasus University) and the French Business Council – Georgia (FBC) awarded five projects in their Junior Enterprise Project. According to the sponsors, the program will help CSB graduates implement their project in the export of goods and exchange of services, help each project achieve its expectations, and create a link between the upcoming and more experienced business people.

“The initiative of the Junior Enterprise Project is the greatest opportunity for the young students, majoring in the field of Business Administration, to launch their own business from the very beginning of their career,” said a joint statement from the Caucasus University and French Business Council.

Among the winning projects were:
‘Georgian Felt’, a project by Tamta Gamezardashvili, George Orkoshneli, Nikoloz Lomidze, and George Kalandadze
‘Ecological Firewood from Sawdust’ by junior students Gocha Nikolaishvili, Irakli Antidze, George Dvalishvili, and Shalva Gelenidze
‘Georgian Sheep Casing’ by Nathalie Dzidziguri, Nino Kublashvili, Nino Kapanadze, and Ketevan Tevdoradze
‘Coal Briquettes Georgia’ by George Dolidze, Nikoloz Kortava, and Irakli Tughushi
‘Exclusive Enamel Jewelry’ by Eugenia Pantskhava, Anna Giorgadze, Natia Modebadze, and Anna Ramazashvili

The top 3 projects received prizes. The 1st Place received 10,000 USD for the launching of their business. The 2nd Place received a business loan from Bank Republic/Societe Generale. The Third Place was offered technical expertise to aid launch their project.

The jury was comprised of academics and business people from the 2 sponsors.

Caucasus School of Business was founded in 1998 in partnership with Georgia State University (Atlanta, USA). Its main purpose is to offer undergraduate and graduate programs that meet international standards as well as excellence in teaching and research.

French Business Council – Georgia was launched on 14 February 2008 to enhance the open market system in Georgia and stimulate French-Georgian business ties. At present, it unites around 50 French and Georgian companies.