Tatarstan deputies discuss the education of Tatars in regions and resettlement of compatriots
The State Council of Tatarstan proposed to combine Tatar language lessons for students of parallel classes in other regions of Russia as well as to closely engage in the resettlement of compatriots to our republic. Both topics were discussed at a meeting of the Coordination Council for Compatriots under the Rais of the Republic of Tatarstan. So far, they mainly come from the former Soviet Union countries, since living in the republic is expensive for Europeans.
“We are starting to move around Russia”
The first part of the meeting was devoted to Tatar diasporas and communities. Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan Farid Mukhametshin recalled that during foreign trips, Rustam Minnikhanov always makes time to communicate with the Tatar activists “in a warm informal atmosphere.” Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan Vasil Shaykhraziyev noted that last year, in connection with the elections of the President of Russia, the Organising Committee of the World Congress of Tatars traveled to eight federal districts: “from Kaliningrad to Kamchatka, from Yakutsk to Grozny.”
“On 12 January 2025, we begin moving across Russia,” said the chairman of the National Council of the WCT. Now in connection with the elections on 14 September, when the elections of the heads of 18 regions of the Federation will take place.
Shaykhraziyev also spoke about the opening of monuments to Tatar figures: a monument to Gali Mazitov was erected in Yalta. It is planned that his name will be given to a local school. There is a similar project in Bishkek — they want to turn a local school into a cultural and sports centre. A monument to Musa Jalil was also opened in the capital of Kyrgyzstan. In addition, his memory was immortalised in Kurgan, Shadrinsk, in the village of Ust-Bagaryak in Chelyabinsk region. A memorial plaque dedicated to the Tatars who died during the defence and liberation of the city appeared in Brest. Vasil Shaykhraziyev also remembered the youth, noting the work of the new chairman of the World Tatar Youth Forum Raynur Khasanov. Addressing Minister of Youth of the Republic of Tatarstan Rinat Sadykov, he asked him to connect the forum to the events of the Ministry of Youth. Of course, he did not forget about Sabantuy, saying that in 2025, the Central Asian Pilaw Festival will be held in Tashkent for the first time. In total, 294 Sabantuys were organised in 2024, 60 of which were in 22 countries.
In addition, Shaykhraziyev said that after a seven-year break, a forum of Tatar youth will be held in Kazan on April 23-27. He expressed hope that Rais of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov would attend the plenary session. This event will continue with a meeting of the National Council of the World Congress of Tatars.
“Regardless of the conditions, children have the right to study their native language”
The optimism of the meeting was dampened by Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan Ilsur Khadiullin who said that the Tatar language and literature are currently studied as part of the curriculum in 24 regions of the country, optionally in 15, and in clubs in 19. At the same time, only 50 people from 15 regions and 10 teachers from five foreign countries have completed advanced training courses for managers and teachers of the Tatar language and literature. In addition, another 35 people have been retrained as teachers of the Tatar language and literature. At the same time, people continue to come to Kazan to study this profession.
“The only thing that worries us,” noted Khadiullin, “after training they remain in the republic and do not return to their regions.”
Other figures look more optimistic: every month, 150 teachers from 28 regions of the Russian Federation attend webinars of the Institute for Education Development of the Republic of Tatarstan. The federal list includes 86 textbooks of the Tatar language and literature, they are legitimate in all educational institutions of Russia, the minister emphasised. At the same time, in 2024, 17,740 Tatar textbooks were transferred to these institutions.
“Since 2018, of course, we have had a problem with the choice of the native Tatar language by parents,” Khadiullin touched on the biggest problem. “This is a very serious area, we are working not only with Tatar public organisations, not only with national-cultural autonomies and other public organizations. Together with the executive committee of the Congress of Tatars, we meet with the heads of the ministries of education of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and explain to them that Articles 11 and 14 (Editor’s note: of the law on education) apply not only to Tatarstan, but to all of Russia, to all constituent entities. Regardless of the conditions, children have the right to study their native language.
Sometimes, Khadiullin noted, there are not enough children within a class. “We propose to gather children from different classes in one parallel and create conditions for the native Tatar language. Our specialists are engaged in this, we have a complete understanding, we are grateful that they listen to the opinion of Tatarstan,” the Minister of Education said.
Why don't they go?
In the middle of the meeting, Farid Mukhametshin interrupted the speech of Deputy Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Protection of the Republic of Tatarstan Natalia Butayeva on the implementation of state programmes providing assistance to the voluntary resettlement to the Russian Federation of compatriots living abroad for 2019-2025. The chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan explained that he needed to discuss the issue of local governments with the Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin.
“I addressed him, we are of the opinion not to support this federal initiative. Sorry, colleagues. I'll step away for five minutes. The settlement level — are we leaving the rural resident with his problems? We are ending the village councils, we are ending the village councils, and he must go either to the city or to the district centre. Small questions, but this is wrong. Next year we have our own municipal elections. Through whom should we conduct policy in rural areas? The village council, His Majesty. I will try to convince. The programme that Butayeva spoke about, as the head of the Migration Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Tatarstan Marat Galeyev later pointed out, is designed for people who speak Russian and are ready to adapt to Russian society. At the same time, a significant number of people wishing to move to Russia are residents of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. The number of Tatars has halved over the years of the programme.”
“It is necessary to understand that each of them does not arrive alone, but with their numerous relatives,” Galeyev pointed out.
In addition, some of our compatriots applied for citizenship as repatriates. Of the 109 people, 23 entered: Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, the USA, Latvia and Kyrgyzstan.
“It must be acknowledged that a number of foreign citizens use the programme only as a tool for obtaining Russian citizenship. Having acquired citizenship, they leave for the country of origin or other entities,” noted Galeyev. “One of the reasons is the high standard of living in our republic, sometimes unaffordable at the initial stage for a newly arrived foreign citizen. Practice shows that, even having sold their housing in the country of origin, a foreign citizen cannot afford to buy equivalent housing here.”
As a result — 9th place in the Volga Federal District according to the results of the programme. “The average age is 36 years, 77% have children, 38% — our budget work,” noted the high-quality average image of the migrant Shaykhraziyev and suggested discussing the issue again.
“Many of our former compatriots dream of returning, but the programme does not correspond to compatriots of the European level, and now other programmes are being adopted in the regions. In the Kaluga Region, for example. 1,000 people came to Gorny Altai in six months,” noted Minister of Industry and Trade of the Republic of Tatarstan Oleg Korobchenko suggesting to use the experience of other regions.
Still, 9th place is somehow not typical of Tatarstan, noted the deputies.