Managing Multiethnic Communities: 'Best practice' case studies

1. Case-study No. & Title:
157. Providing possibilities for development of Polish language and culture in the Republic of Belarus with special focus on the Grodno region.

Keywords:

2. Author information
2.1 Author’s Name:
Arkady Mourashev

2.2 Institutional Affiliation and Contact Details:
Moscow State Constructive University
Yaroslavskoye Shosse, 26
Moscow 129337
Russia

Tel. (095) 183-2129

2.3 Date recorded:
30 November 2000

3. Good Practice Information Sheet
3.1 Local Level Good Practice:
A series of measures supporting the development of Belorussian Poles culture have been enacted in the Republic of Belarus since 1995. The Grodno region where there are concentrated settlements of Poles has seen the opening of a Polish school providing general education and a Polish gymnasium. A Polish-language mass-media capability also exists.

3.2 Location:
Grodno region, Republic of Belarus.

3.3 Minority/Target Groups:
Poles, settled in Grodno region.

3.4 Major Actors Involved:

3.5 Budget allocated by local government authorities and/or by other actors:
The money for the construction of a Polish school in Grodno and gymnasium in Volkovissk were provided by Polish NGOs. Polish cultural and educational initiatives are also financed by the Polish government.

Belarus authorities provide building facilities and pay the salaries of teachers working in Polish educational institutions.

3.6 Timeframe:
The series of initiatives described started in 1995 and are ongoing at the time of writing.

3.7 Local level good practice relation to national level ethnic policy:
These initiatives are specific to the Grodno region.

4 . Good Practice Description:
The Polish minority in the Republic of Belarus numbers 417,000 persons, with 30,000 of them residing in the Grodno region. The major organisation representing their interests is the Polish Union of Belarus, that was founded in 1990 and currently has 30,000 members. The union has 150 branches including 6 special sections in regional centres. The union president, Tadeus Gwin is a member of the Co-ordinating Council for National minorities attached to the Committee for Religions and Nationalities of Belarus Republic.

The activities aimed at furthering the development of Belorussian Poles’ culture are the following:

With the support of Polish and Belarus authorities the Polish language newspapers ‘Głos z nad Niemna’, ‘Ziemia Lidska’ and ‘Cudowna podróż’ are published.

Polish language education for adults is provided through a network of special courses in towns and villages throughout the region. Language courses have also been implemented at the Polish Houses functioning in the Grodno region: in Porozovo (Svisloch district), Kemelishki (Ostrovets district), in the district centres of Lida, Oshmiani, Shchuchin.

Grodno State University, as well as the pedagogical institutes of Grodno and Vilkovisk, train teachers in Polish language and literature. Polish is taught as the second foreign language in the Belorussian State University, within the department of Slavic philology and in the historical faculty of the Belarus University of Linguistics.

Polish schooling. In Grodno there is a Polish school providing general education. This institution receives financial support for the provision of special technical equipment (including computers) from local regional authorities. In 1999 a Polish gymnasium was established in Vilkovissk. In 1999 15,000 pupils were taught in Polish.

According to the agreement on co-operation between the Ministry of Education and Science of Belarus and the Ministry of National Education of Poland, teachers from Poland periodically work in Polish schools functioning in Belarus.