Learning the Tatar Language in Omsk Region in the 1990s – 2000s

Abstract

The article analyzes the processes associated with learning the Tatar (literary) language in Omsk Region (in the regional capital and rural areas) in the 1990s - 2000s. The sources are the local media of the Omsk Irtysh region published in the 1990s -2000s, documents of the Tatar ethnic and cultural associations and interviews with their leaders, as well as statistical data. The situation with studying the Tatar language in that period is described separately for the regional capital and districts of Omsk Region. The article provides the data on the number of schools where the Tatar language was taught, number of students who studied it, and process of organizing education and training of teachers.Some current problems of studying the Tatar language in the Omsk Irtysh region are described, including a small number of students who attended the Tatar language elective courses in Omsk, lack of experienced teaching staff, shortage of teachers, and insufficient funding. It had been established that the main form of studying the native language for the Omsk Tatars were elective courses, while in the districts of Omsk Region, the Tatar language was included in the school curriculum as a school subject. The Tatar ethnic and cultural associations played an important role in organization of teaching the native language in the schools of Omsk and Omsk Region. Tatar activists closely monitored the situation, quickly responded to requests from Tatars to teach the Tatar language in schools, kept statistical data, and elaborated the “Program for Tatar Language Preservation for the Period from 1999 to 2003 in Omsk Region.”