Moldova Teachers Translate Textbooks for Ukrainian Students

Teachers are adapting textbooks for Ukrainian pupils in the Republic of Moldova

Pupils in the Ukrainian-language classes lack textbooks in their mother tongue. The Ministry of Education attributes this situation to a shortage of Ukrainian-language textbooks for most subjects in the Moldovan education system and notes that, at present, teachers are translating the materials from Russian themselves. However, the authorities promise to resolve the issue.

Ivan Duminica

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As explained by Ivan Duminica, head of the Directorate for Inter-Ethnic Relations Policy at the Ministry of Education and Research, only the Ukrainian language and literature, as well as the history and traditions of the Ukrainian people, are officially taught in Ukrainian. However, an exception has been made for the ‘Taras Shevchenko’ Secondary School in the capital, so that other subjects may also be taught in Ukrainian. To this end, 16 refugee teachers have been involved, who are manually translating the teaching materials.

“They take our textbooks, which are in Russian, and translate them by hand. That is why, for the time being, we cannot provide textbooks in Ukrainian, as the teachers are translating each lesson individually. They are doing a tremendous job,” Duminica said on Sunday during a podcast on the website of the National Congress of Ukrainians in Moldova.

The Ministry has already begun the process of translating the textbooks, but this depends on securing funding.

“And even then, we are not saying that this will fully resolve the situation, as a new reform is currently underway – the curriculum reform – a new programme for all subjects. Consequently, even the translations we are providing now will no longer be relevant next year, as new textbooks will be introduced. This problem will be resolved; we will tackle it in parallel, bearing in mind that we also have a school where lessons are taught in Ukrainian,” said Ivan Duminica.

It is worth noting that, at present, 2,700 pupils from Ukraine are enrolled in the education system of the Republic of Moldova, whilst a further 800 children attend nursery schools. At the “Taras Shevchenko” Secondary School in Chișinău, pupils have the opportunity to study in their mother tongue; this year, 24 classes have been opened, in which 419 children of Ukrainian refugees are being taught.

This story was translated with the assistance of artificial intelligence.The translation was also reviewed by the Logos Press editorial team.

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