Chechen teachers treat optional study of mother tongue as unacceptable

The adoption of the bill now being considered by the State Duma poses a threat of extinction to languages of Russia's small nations, including Chechens, the teachers and scientists interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe. Shamsail Saraliev, a State Duma MP, has recalled his signature from the list of authors of the bill.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 19, the State Duma adopted a law on the voluntary study of the state languages of Russia republics. None of the MPs from Chechnya took part in the voting. Users of social networks reproached them for cowardice.

The consequences of the adoption of the law on national languages will be catastrophic for them, Khamzat Umkhaev, Director of the Chechen Education Development Institute, believes. He has noted that the Chechen language is among the disappearing ones.

"When there is no mother tongue (native language), a person loses his/her small homeland. Without a language, there is no culture, and no traditions, "said Abdulgalim Israilov, the People's Teacher of Chechnya.

"When learning their native languages on a voluntary basis, small nations, will lose their identity," Khava Narazova, Professor of the Chechen State Pedagogical University, asserts, believing that the optional study cannot provide the basic knowledge of the language.

The study of the local language should be compulsory also for representatives of other nationalities, for example, Russians, said Savarbek Sautiev, a resident of Chechnya.

It would be useful to learn the Chechen language also for pupils and students of other nationalities, although it may be not mandatory for them, Abdulgalim Israilov, a teacher of the Chechen language, believes.