Marat Akhmetov: “The experience of Kazan is a good example for other districts and towns of the republic”

The preservation of interethnic and interfaith harmony in Kazan, as well as the results of the Year of Native Languages and National Unity were summed up at the XI session of the Kazan City Duma today. Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, noted that the capital of Tatarstan is a unique example of peaceful coexistence of representatives of different nationalities and religions.

According to Guzel Sagitova, deputy head of the Executive Committee, representatives of more than 115 nationalities live in Kazan. There are 37 national cultural associations, 195 faith organizations, 132 places of worship in the city.

“The Executive Committee of Kazan constantly provides assistance to faith and public organizations in the implementation of cultural, educational and charitable programs that promote interfaith harmony. This, in particular, is the celebration of Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Christmas, Easter, Epiphany, and other events”, - she said.

“What are the trees singing about?”, the train of languages, the Itil fest and other projects in 2021

According to the speaker, the city allocated 36 million rubles for the events dedicated to the Year of Native Languages and National Unity. One of the memorable projects that aroused great public interest was the open-air performance “What are the trees singing about?” based on the plot of four fairy tales – Chuvash, Mari, Udmurt and Mordovian. Among other successful projects were the photo exhibition “To be...” on Bauman Street and the “Voices of Kazan” performance.

Hundreds of citizens were involved in sports and creative classes in the Tatar language under the “Harakatt – barakat” project, as well as the festivals “Kazan Friendship of Peoples”, “Itil” and “Yana Sabantuy”. The Year of Native Languages and National Unity ended up with a literary and musical concert “Soyly Torgan Materia”.

“The short story contest “Saumy, Kazan” became an important project of the Year of Native Languages and National Unity”, – G.Sagitova added. In addition, the contest “Uz Telem” was held this year, dedicated to the study of the Tatar language and the development of Tatar culture.

The most extraordinary project of the year was the “Train of Native languages”.

The work of Tatar kindergartens and schools was monitored in Kazan

According to the deputy head of the Executive Committee, in Kazan, there are all conditions for studying native languages, including Russian, Tatar and other languages of the peoples of Russia.

“This year, with the participation of independent experts from the Academy of Sciences and Kazan Federal University, we monitored the work of Tatar kindergartens and schools. We realized that it is necessary to develop a strategy to maintain and develop the image of Tatar schools”, - the speaker believes.

The first work is already underway on the results of monitoring. This year, a series of workshops for teachers of the Tatar language was launched. Next year, similar workshops will be held for teachers of Tatar kindergartens.

“Young people should be involved in the discussion of the preservation of languages”

Zukhra Nigmatullina, chair of the Kazan City Duma Standing Committee on Education, Culture and National Issues, noted that the deputies visited several places of worship in the city and concluded that Kazan's experience in maintaining interethnic and interfaith harmony is unique, and it needs to be preserved.

Deputy Chair of the State Council of Tatarstan Marat Akhmetov emphasized that young people should be involved in the development and preservation of languages in order to pass on all cultural values to the next generation. “It should be noted that a lot of young people move to Kazan. I am very pleased that the issue of preserving native languages in the city has been thoroughly approached. The capital of the republic pays attention to this issue, which affects the fate of languages. The program was launched this year, projects were successfully implemented, thanks to which the importance of native languages will increase. The experience of Kazan is a good example for other districts and towns of the republic”, - he said.

I.Metshin noted that many initiatives really resonate with young people. In his opinion, now the work started in the Year of Native Languages and National Unity should be continued in the Year of Digitalization. “Let's digitize everything that our young and older teams have found. There are so many old national, ethnic songs. While we have the opportunity - we need to write it down in order to pass it on to the next generation”, - the Mayor concluded.