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Over thousand pupils in Transdniestria still without school, OSCE Mission Head says
CHISINAU 10 September 2004
CHISINAU, 10 September 2004 - "Ten days after the start of the new school year, the issue of the Moldovan Latin script schools in Transdniestria is still not solved," Ambassador William Hill, Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, said today in Chisinau.
Several Moldovan schools teaching the state language in Latin script in the breakaway region of Transdniestria were closed by the authorities in July 2004.
"Out of the six schools concerned, two are still closed and all others lack proper registration and face various difficulties," Hill added.
The Lucian Blaga lyceum in Tiraspol, which was seized by Transdniestrian milita on 15 July, has not been given a new building. The students at Evrica lyceum in Ribnita, which Transdniestrian militia stormed on 29 July, still have no access to the new building constructed this year through finances from Chisinau. Both schools remain closed as a result.
Local authorities in both cities so far have refused to discuss the issue of opening the schools. A joint appeal signed by the mediators from the Russian Federation, Ukraine and the OSCE, as well as the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in Moldova, to discuss this issue has remained without response.
The OSCE Mission Head was also concerned about the other four Moldovan schools which were able to start the school year in time. The lyceum Alexandru cel Bun in Benderi is still cut off from the electricity network and remains without heating. Registration of the school is still disputed, as Transdniestrian authorities refuse to implement the terms of the agreement mediated between both sides in 2003 by the OSCE.
The boarding school for orphans in Benderi is functioning and has managed to connect water and electricity supplies without assistance from the local authorities. The question concerning the status of this school, however, remains unresolved.
The middle school in Corjevo was temporarily registered on 1 September by Transdniestrian authorities, but the regional education authorities have not accepted the statutes of the school, although they had been worked out in strict accordance with the 2003 agreement.
"I urge Transdniestrian leader Igor Smirnov to implement his promise that the Moldovan Latin script schools in Transdniestria will be permitted to register with local authorities, open, and operate normally without any further delay," Ambassador William Hill concluded.
Several Moldovan schools teaching the state language in Latin script in the breakaway region of Transdniestria were closed by the authorities in July 2004.
"Out of the six schools concerned, two are still closed and all others lack proper registration and face various difficulties," Hill added.
The Lucian Blaga lyceum in Tiraspol, which was seized by Transdniestrian milita on 15 July, has not been given a new building. The students at Evrica lyceum in Ribnita, which Transdniestrian militia stormed on 29 July, still have no access to the new building constructed this year through finances from Chisinau. Both schools remain closed as a result.
Local authorities in both cities so far have refused to discuss the issue of opening the schools. A joint appeal signed by the mediators from the Russian Federation, Ukraine and the OSCE, as well as the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in Moldova, to discuss this issue has remained without response.
The OSCE Mission Head was also concerned about the other four Moldovan schools which were able to start the school year in time. The lyceum Alexandru cel Bun in Benderi is still cut off from the electricity network and remains without heating. Registration of the school is still disputed, as Transdniestrian authorities refuse to implement the terms of the agreement mediated between both sides in 2003 by the OSCE.
The boarding school for orphans in Benderi is functioning and has managed to connect water and electricity supplies without assistance from the local authorities. The question concerning the status of this school, however, remains unresolved.
The middle school in Corjevo was temporarily registered on 1 September by Transdniestrian authorities, but the regional education authorities have not accepted the statutes of the school, although they had been worked out in strict accordance with the 2003 agreement.
"I urge Transdniestrian leader Igor Smirnov to implement his promise that the Moldovan Latin script schools in Transdniestria will be permitted to register with local authorities, open, and operate normally without any further delay," Ambassador William Hill concluded.