OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities facilitates regional co-operation on multilingual education in Central Asia
The office of the High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) organized two events in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on 4 and 5 December 2014, as part of the HCNM’s Central Asia Education Programme. They build on previous HCNM initiatives to stimulate regional dialogue and co‑operation on the education of national minorities and the integration of society in the Central Asian States.
On 4 December, education officials and practitioners from Central Asian countries met to discuss minority education and the possibilities for regional co‑operation. Representatives of the Education Ministries of Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan described their plans and activities related to the education of national minorities, with particular focus on multilingual education as a tool for integration.
They also discussed the action plan of the HCNM’s Central Asia Education Programme, in which a number of activities are planned to build capacity in multilingual education and promote regional co‑operation on minority education in 2015.
Deputy Education Minister of Tajikistan Todjiniso Mahmadova and the Head of the OSCE Mission to Tajikistan Marcus Mueller participated in the event.
On 5 December, the Academy of Education of Tajikistan hosted a roundtable discussion on multilingual and multicultural education, and the prospects for their development in Tajikistan. Representatives from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan shared information about the legal and policy frameworks in their countries regarding education of national minorities and multilingual education. School directors from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan shared their practical experiences of providing instruction in minorities’ mother tongues and in the State and other languages. They said providing teacher training, developing appropriate textbooks and teaching materials, and raising parents’ awareness of the benefits of multilingual education were important factors for the success of such programmes.
The representatives from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan also had the opportunity to visit several schools in Dushanbe to familiarize themselves with the situation of education of national minorities in Tajikistan.