Moldovan schools in Transnistria

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The Moldovan schools in Transnistria became an issue of contention in 2004 in the context of the disputed status of Transnistria, a region claimed equally by Moldova and by Transnistria itself which declared independence on September 2, 1990.

1 History
2 Post 1992 situation
3 The 2004 crisis
4 Current situation
5 Moldovan villages in Transnistria where education in Moldovan (Romanian) language is not available
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
- 8.1 Transnistrian side
- 8.2 Moldovan side

[edit] History

Moldovan schools were first established in Transnistria after the 1924 formation of the Moldovan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which was part of the Soviet Republic of Ukraine. In 1940 the former Moldovan Autonomous Republic was split, 8 districts were included in the Soviet Socialist Republic of Ukraine and 6 districts were joined with part of Basarabia in the Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldavia. In the Ukrainian part of the former Moldavian autonomy Moldovan schools were transformed into Russian-language schools, but in the 6 districts that remained part of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova a Moldovan-language network of schools was kept.

[edit] Post 1992 situation

The Moldovan 1989 language law, that introduced the Latin script as the official script of the Republic of Moldova, was boycotted by the Transnistrian authorities, and all Moldovan schools in Transnistria were ordered to keep the Cyrillic script. After the War of Transnistria ended in mid-1992, the local schools became regulated by the government of Transnistria. The schools that chose to use the Latin script back in 1989 came under pressure of the authorities and most were forced to return to the Cyrillic script. Only six Moldovan language schools in Transnistria were allowed to keep the Latin script.

Attempts to expand the number of schools which are using latin script are met with heavy-handed repression. In 1996, the director of the only Moldovan school in Slobozia, who supported the wish of the parents to conduct education in latin alphabet was fired and forced to leave the region. In 1999 a lecturer of Moldovan language of the Bender Pedagogical College has been dismissed for promoting the Latin script in the institution. The dismissal has been preceded by threats on the phone and an aggression in the building where she lived.^[1]

In September 1996, the Grigoriopol administration used Cossacks and police to stop the activity of Moldovan School.^[2] On 2 October 1996 three teachers were arrested and taken to Tiraspol. On 7 October 1996, as a result of a demarche by the President of the Republic of Moldova and the OSCE Mission, the teachers were released.

Another attempt to teach Romanian clandestinely in Grigoriopol, in a ‘PMR state-funded school’, failed in 2002. Teaching staff and parents were blatantly vilified in the local press as ‘enemies of the State’^[3]. One by one they were invited to ‘reconsider’, threatened with loss of employment and the corresponding entitlement to housing. Children (and teachers) were forced to write explanations as to why they used the Latin script and local officials routinely visited classes to check whether tuition was being ‘properly’ conducted. The parent-teacher association was abolished and its head, Mihai Speian, was arrested ^[4]. The Moldovan school in Grigoriopol was forced to move in Doroţcaia, a village controlled by Chişinău, and children commute 10-15 km daily to attend the school.

[edit] The 2004 crisis

In the summer of 2004, the Transnistrian authorities closed four of the six schools in the region that taught Moldovan language using the Latin script, known as Romanian. Some of the 3,400 enrolled children were affected by this measure and the teachers and parents who opposed the closures were temporarily arrested for up to six hours. During the crisis, the Moldovan government decided to create a blockade that would isolate the disputed region from the rest of the world. The blockade was ineffective because of a lack of cooperation from Ukraine, led at the time by Leonid Kuchma. Transnistria retaliated with a series of actions meant to destabilize the economic situation in Moldova, in particular, by cutting the power supply from the power plants that were built in Transnistria in Soviet times. As a result, this crisis generated power outages in parts of Moldova.

A leading figure in the conflict was Elena Vasilievna Bomeshko, the Minister of Education for Transnistria. According to her, and official Transnistrian policy, the language is referred to as "Romanian" when it is taught in Latin script and referred to as "Moldovan" when Cyrillic script is used. Transnistria rejects accusations of anti-Romanian bias and defends its preference of Cyrillic for Moldovan as a way to maintain the original language, pointing to the fact as far back as the middle ages, Moldovan Bibles were always written in Cyrillic.^[5]. While the Romanian language used the Cyrillic alphabet for centuries, it is no longer used in either Romania or Moldova. Only one newspaper printed in a few hundreds of copies (state-owned by Transnistrian authorities) and very few school textbooks were printed in the last years with Cyrillic script. Basically, today there is no cultural life in Cyrillic Moldovan.^{[citation needed]}

The closed Romanian schools were reopened, but they still have the status of "private schools" and consequently do not receive funding from the Transnistrian government. As publicized by the government in 2006, there are now 6,700 students at ten secondary or high schools^{[citation needed]}. In the state financed system, there are 33 schools in Moldovan (Cyrillic script) of the total of 186 schools.

Many teachers and parents of students studying at Moldovan schools with cyrillic script had contacted the Moldovan Helsinki Comitee for Human Rights asking support to turn education in Romanian (latin script), as the studies based on the Cyrillic script and Soviet curricula don't have any perspective and the children are unable to pursue higher studies anywhere ^[6].

Transnistrian authorities are claiming that they respect the right of Moldovans for schools in their own language, however, there are no schools teaching in Moldovan (Romanian) language in many Moldovan villages of Transnistria, not even with Cyrillic script [1].

[edit] Current situation

An OSCE report from June 2005 states: “If they [Moldovan parents in Transnistria] enroll their children in one of this schools that offer a Moldovan curriculum using a Latin script, they risk being threatened by the regional security service, and seeing their jobs put in jeopardy. Sending their children in one of the 33 Transdniestrian schools they teach in their native language in Cyrillic is, however, hardly an appealing alternative, as the schools follow an out-dated curriculum and use textbooks from the Soviet period”^[7]. This is the reason why many Moldovans from Transnistria send their children in harasment-free Russian language schools.

[edit] Moldovan villages in Transnistria where education in Moldovan (Romanian) language is not available

3 villages with 100% Moldovan population with only Russian-language schools: Cuzmin (Camenca district), Broşteni, Lenino (Rîbniţa district).

5 villages with Moldovan majority with only Russian-language schools: Vadul Turcului, Sovetskoe, Mocra (Rîbniţa district), Comisarovca Nouă (Dubăsari district), Gîrtop (Grigoriopol district).

4 villages with around 50% Moldovans with only Russian-language schools: Zozuliani (Rîbniţa district), Crasnoie, Glinoia (Slobozia district), Protiagailovca (near Tighina).

21 villages with 100% Moldovan population, without any schools: Frunzovca, Podoimiţa (Camenca district), Vasilievca, Saraţei, Vladimirovca, Zaporojeţ, Besarabca, Jurca (Rîbniţa district), Goianul Nou, Vasilievca, Afanasievca, Alexandrovca Nouä, Bosca (Dubăsari district), Pobeda, Kotovca, Bruslachi, Mocriachi, Marian, Crasnoe, India, Tocmazeia (Grigoriopol district).

2 villages with Moldovan majority without any schools: Butuciani (Rîbniţa district), Priozornoie (Slobozia district).

12 villages with important Moldovan minority and only Russian-language schools: Gidirim, Voroncäu, Popenchi (Rîbniţa district), Doibani 2, Jerjinscoe (Dubăsari district), Hlinaia, Şipca (Grigoriopol district), Vladimirovca, Frunze, Pervomaisc, Cremenciug, Dnestrovsc (Slobozia district).^[8] ^[9]