Yevgeny Bobrov, Consul General of the Russian Federation in Almaty, blamed the ministry for the decline of Russian classes in Kazakhstan. He said this in an interview with the TASS agency, "Adyrna" national portal reported.
According to the consul, Russian-language schools and classes have been reduced in recent years. The reason for this is that the removal of the subject "Russian language" from the program for first graders taught in the Kazakh language has caused some concern in the society.
He also said that not only the decrease in the share of Russians in Kazakhstan to 15.2%, but also "the Ministry of Education's special attention to changing the state curriculum based on the Kazakh language" contributes to this.
"Language policy, cooperation between Russia and Kazakhstan in the field of education and support of cultural initiatives will help preserve the wealth of Russian-speaking culture in Kazakhstan and strengthen national unity," said Bobrov.
However, the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev has an initiative to declare 2023 as the year of the Russian language in the CIS countries. Even according to the latest data, Kazakhstan is the leader in Central Asia in terms of the number of Russian schools (even excluding mixed schools). There is not a single Kazakh school in Russia.
