The National Association of European Trainers of Moldova (ANTEM) has launched the program “Simultaneous learning of the Romanian and Gagauz languages” that will be implemented during 24 months with the support of the Office of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities based in The Hague in cooperation with the Bashkan of Gagauzia, the Interethnic Relations Bureau, and the Ministry of Education, IPN reports.
“The autonomous unit’s administration and its inhabitants have now an increased interest in studying the official language. We want to take part in all the public processes in Moldova and I must say that initiatives in this regard come from people every day,” the Governor of Gagauzia Irina Vlah said in the opening of the launch conference.
ANTEM director Lucia Cucu said the goal of the program is to create conditions for the simultaneous studying of the Romanian and Gagauz languages by at least 150 beneficiaries – parents and children aged between three and six from ten nursery schools of Comrat, Ceadar-Lunga and Vulcanesti. This way, the linguistic, social and professional integration and cohesion will be favored and the ethnic identity and cultural patrimony will be kept.
A number of teaching aids will be worked out to successfully implement the program, including a methodological guidebook for trainers, a simultaneous training curriculum and a textbook for students and teachers. There will also be printed collections of stories and songs in Romanian and Gagauz and illustrated cards with words from the two languages.
At the initial stage, the ANTEM experts with national and international qualifications will prepare local trainers from among nursery school managers and teachers so that these later train the final beneficiaries. The training courses for children and parents will be held during six months. Nine intercultural workshops will be staged for the final beneficiaries of the program.
There are about 50 nursery schools in the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia. The program to simultaneously study the Romanian and Gagauz languages will be later extended to cover other preschool education institutions of Gagauzia and other national minorities, including the Bulgarian and Ukrainian ones.
