The Ministry of Education and Research announces the launch of a continuing education program for teachers who teach the Gagauz language in kindergartens in the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia.
The program is organized by Comrat State University, under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and Culture, and will provide free training for 74 teachers from 56 kindergartens, IPN reports.
The ministry will allocate a budget of 290,000 lei for the implementation of the program.
In March this year, information appeared in the public domain regarding the alleged exclusion of the position of Gagauz language teacher from staffing lists and Gagauz language lessons from the curriculum of kindergartens in the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia. The Ministry of Education and Research rejected this information at the time, describing it as false and intended to mislead the public. The ministry stated that the founder of the institution has the legal right to approve such units, depending on the specific needs of the kindergarten and within the limits of the available budget.
Any decision regarding the inclusion of Gagauz language classes in the educational program of kindergartens in the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia remains at the discretion of the founder.
A few months ago, the General Directorate of Education in Gagauzia reported that over 5,000 children in 56 kindergartens are studying the Gagauz language, with 70 teachers involved.
The importance of preserving the Gagauz language, listed by UNESCO as an endangered language, was also highlighted during a meeting between the President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, and her Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, last November. “Together, we want to preserve the Gagauz language, which UNESCO has included among endangered languages, as well as protect Gagauz culture, an important part of Moldova’s identity,” Maia Sandu wrote on social media at the time.
