Moldovan schools in Transnistria
Encyclopedia
The Moldovan schools in Transnistria became an issue of contention in 2004 in the context of the disputed status of Transnistria
, a breakaway region of since 1990/1992.
. 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.
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 Romanian 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.
In September 1996, the Grigoriopol
administration used Cossacks and police to stop the activity of Moldovan School. 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’. 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 . 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.
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 Bible
s were always written in Cyrillic.. While the Romanian language used the Cyrillic alphabet for centuries, it is no longer used in Romania. Cyrillic script is still used in some parts of Moldova, but only one newspaper (state-owned by Transnistrian authorities) prints a few hundred copies in Cyrillic.
The closed Romanian schools were reopened, after registering as private institutions with the Transnistrian authorities. Pressure from the European Union (a travel ban was introduced to 10 Transnistrian education officials) may have sped up the process., 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. 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 Committee 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 .
send their children in harassment-free Russian language schools.
Transnistrian authorities don't recognize the diplomas issued by Moldovan schools using Latin script, making impossible for graduates of those schools to study on Transnistrian higher educational institutions.
, head of OSCE mission to Moldova, has urged local authorities in the Transnistrian city of Rîbniţa to return a confiscated building to the Moldovan Latin-script school located in the city. The building was built by the Government from Chişinău and was almost finished in 2004, when Transnistrian police took it by force, during the school crisis.
25 January 2007
Disputed status of Transnistria
The political status of Transnistria, an unrecognized state on the internationally recognized territory of the Republic of Moldova, has been disputed since the Transnistrian declaration of independence on September 2, 1990. This declaration established a Soviet Socialist Republic separate from...
, a breakaway region of since 1990/1992.
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 UkraineUkraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. In 1940 the former Moldovan Autonomous Republic was split, 8 districts were included in the Soviet Socialist Republic of Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
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.
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 TransnistriaWar of Transnistria
The War of Transnistria was a limited conflict that broke out in November 1990 at Dubăsari between pro-Transnistria forces, including the Transnistrian Republican Guard, militia and Cossack units, and supported by elements of the Russian 14th army, and pro-Moldovan forces, including Moldovan...
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 Romanian 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
Slobozia, Moldova
Slobozia is a city in the Republic of Moldova which is the seat of the Slobozia sub-district of Transnistria.Slobozia is located at , in the southern part of Transnistria, south of Tiraspol. It had a population of 18,748 at the census in 1989, and ca. 12,300 at the census in 2004...
, 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.
In September 1996, the Grigoriopol
Grigoriopol
Grigoriopol is a city in Transnistria, Moldova. It is the seat of the Grigoriopol sub-district of Transnistria. The city is located on the left bank of the river Dniester at , in central Transnistria....
administration used Cossacks and police to stop the activity of Moldovan School. 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’. 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 . The Moldovan school in Grigoriopol was forced to move in Doroţcaia
Dorotcaia
Doroţcaia is a commune in the Republic of Moldova, situated on the eastern bank of the River Dniester. It is composed of a single village, Doroţcaia.The village was a place of fighting during 1992 War of Transnistria...
, a village controlled by Chişinău, and children commute 10–15 km daily to attend the school.
The 2004 crisis
In the summer of 2004, the Transnistrian authorities closed four of the six schools in the region that taught Moldovan languageMoldovan language
Moldovan is one of the names of the Romanian language as spoken in the Republic of Moldova, where it is official. The spoken language of Moldova is closer to the dialects of Romanian spoken in northeastern Romania, and the two countries share the same literary standard...
using the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
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
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, led at the time by Leonid Kuchma
Leonid Kuchma
Leonid Danylovych Kuchma was the second President of independent Ukraine from 19 July 1994, to 23 January 2005. Kuchma took office after winning the 1994 presidential election against his rival, incumbent Leonid Kravchuk...
. 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
Elena Vasilievna Bomeshko
Elena Vasilievna Bomeshko is the former minister of education of Transnistria. According to her critics, she has supported a policy discriminating against school-children using the Romanian alphabet and supported the promotion of a separate Moldavian language written in the Cyrillic script....
, the Minister of Education for Transnistria. According to her, and official Transnistrian policy, the language is referred to as "Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
" 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 Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
s were always written in Cyrillic.. While the Romanian language used the Cyrillic alphabet for centuries, it is no longer used in Romania. Cyrillic script is still used in some parts of Moldova, but only one newspaper (state-owned by Transnistrian authorities) prints a few hundred copies in Cyrillic.
The closed Romanian schools were reopened, after registering as private institutions with the Transnistrian authorities. Pressure from the European Union (a travel ban was introduced to 10 Transnistrian education officials) may have sped up the process., 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. 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 Committee 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 .
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”. This is the reason why many Moldovans from TransnistriaTransnistria
Transnistria is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine...
send their children in harassment-free Russian language schools.
Transnistrian authorities don't recognize the diplomas issued by Moldovan schools using Latin script, making impossible for graduates of those schools to study on Transnistrian higher educational institutions.
Involvement of European Court of Human Rights
In November 2006 the European Court of Human Rights accepted to examine the claims submitted by three Moldovan schools in Transnistria (from Tighina, Rîbniţa and Grigoriopol) regarding the violation of their right to education and right to work in conditions of non-discrimination. The three schools concerned regard Russia and Moldova as responsible for violation of their rights. In June, 2009, the Court conducted hearings on three similar cases: Caldare and 42 Others v. Moldova and Russia (no. 8252/05), Catan and 27 Others v. Moldova and Russia (no. 43370/04), Cervaschi and 98 Others v. Moldova and Russia (no. 18454/06). In 2010, the Court has decided the case to be partly admissible Hearings on the merits of the case are scheduled for January, 2012.Pressure on Transnistrian authorities
In November 2006, Louis O'NeillLouis O'Neill
Louis F. O’Neill is an American diplomat and attorney. An expert on Russia/Eurasia conflicts and security, he served as Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Ambassador and Head of Mission to Moldova...
, head of OSCE mission to Moldova, has urged local authorities in the Transnistrian city of Rîbniţa to return a confiscated building to the Moldovan Latin-script school located in the city. The building was built by the Government from Chişinău and was almost finished in 2004, when Transnistrian police took it by force, during the school crisis.
External links
En Transnistrie, la grande Russie s'apprend dès l'école, article in LibérationLibération
Libération is a French daily newspaper founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Originally a leftist newspaper, it has undergone a number of shifts during the 1980s and 1990s...
25 January 2007