OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities supports conference on education in multilingual and multicultural contexts in Central Asia

The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities co-organized a conference in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on 28 to 29 March 2016 on education challenges in multilingual and multicultural contexts in Central Asia.

The conference, organized with the French Institute for Central Asian Studies (IEFAC), UNICEF Kyrgyzstan, UN Women, and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, with support from the Institut Français, gathered more than 60 participants from Central Asia and beyond.

Former President of the Kyrgyz Republic Roza Otunbayeva opened the conference with a presentation on education and cultural diversity from her country’s perspective, and noted the benefits that mastering more than one language offer people in their everyday life.

Professor Joseph Yacoub, founder of the UNESCO Chair in Memory, Cultures and Interculturality, spoke about cultural diversity and social cohesion, emphasizing the importance of tolerance: “Diversity is not an alternative to unity,” he said.

Participants shared their experience, knowledge and possible solutions for better social, cultural and economic integration of Central Asia’s ethnic minorities through education.  

On 30 to 31 March, a regional workshop on piloting multilingual education in Central Asia was held as part of the HCNM’s Central Asia Education Programme. The workshop brought together a wide range of stakeholders, including representatives of the ministries of education, national and international experts, and representatives of universities and schools that are piloting different models of multilingual education in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

HCNM has supported the promotion of multilingual and multicultural education in Central Asia since 2003. The latest initiative in this field is the Central Asia Education Programme which was launched in 2012.