Dear Readers:
First Bell rings in Donetsk
The beginning of the school year is not all that far away. In the Russian world, school opens every year on September 1, but the planning begins much earlier.
In the two political autonomies which have developed in Eastern Ukraine (Donetsk Peoples Republic and Luhansk Peoples Republic), educators are putting together a liberal school curricula which is better suited to the needs of this politically and ethnically mixed population, than the tendentious, totalitarian pro-fascist curriculum and forced Ukrainization taking place in the Western part of the country.
This piece from Politnavigator is entitled:
The first syllabus out of LPR include textbooks on the Ukrainian language and the Orthodox religion
Natalia Tikhkonskaya, Deputy Director of the Council of Ministers of LPR, unveiled the new textbooks at a press conference in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, where she attended a Russia-Donetsk Conference devoted to issues of integrating DPR and LPR back into the Russian world. This reintegration of the Cinderella autonomies is, and will be, a complex process, given the havoc and sheer destruction of civil society. This follows 25 disastrous years of Ukrainian “independence”, leading to oligarchic pilfering of the national wealth; followed by a fascist coup, social chaos, brutal violence, and a civil war.
Natalia: “We have put together these textbooks on Ukrainian language and Literature, they are meant for pupils of Classes 1-7, they also include electronic materials. We also have a new guide called Foundations of Orthodox Culture and other materials destined for the course on The Surrounding World. Our pupils will be using these materials in the 2017-2018 school year.”
Natalia Vladimirovna Tikhonskaya
Tikhonskaya went on to narrate how the educational system of the Donbass region has been partially destroyed by the civil war, and already starting from a low level of infrastructure even before the war. Not just the war, but the daily grind of Ukrainian life has damaged education in this region: “The last time we had any computer technology in the schools, and that was very modest, was over 10 years ago. Due to this, many pupils in the rural areas had to learn Informatics purely from books.” It’s not just about computers, either: The Donbass schools lack everything: chemicals (for chemistry class), lab equipment for science classes, etc.
Ukrainian artillery shelled civilian infrastructure of Luhansk
This year, thanks to a grant, all the LPR schools in the rural areas, will receive computers. A total of 311 computers have been obtained. In addition, 306 pre-school kindergartens serving 33,000 children, will be allocated multimedia labs and equipment.
Since the 2014 coup, the Ukrainian army has been systematically shelling and intentionally damaging the civilian infrastructure of the two “Separatist” areas. Trying to force them to give up and submit to the ruling political parties in Kiev. In the accompanying video, Tikhonskaya describes how Ukrainian artillery has damaged basic services such as electricity and internet. In the course of this barbarous shelling, 249 schools in Luhansk were damaged. Of these, 156 have been repaired. Despite this shelling, Luhansk schools always open for business at the “first bell” on September 1.
This year some children will have to be bussed to school, and hence the bus routes have been expanded. Many busses are also in need of repair. One way or the other, however, by hook or by crook, all the children in Luhansk will receive an education. Which, ironically, includes brand new textbooks covering Ukrainian language and literature.
[to be continued]
Awful Avalanche 