Alexander Rusetsky: attitude to Russian language has changed in Georgia

In recent years, Georgians have changed their attitude to the Russian language. This is a result of the Russo-phobia, which, after the events in South Ossetia in 2008, was on stable rise, says Alexander Rusetsky, head of the South-Caucasian Institute of Regional Safety.

Several Georgian MPs categorically refuse to speak Russian. All the films screened at cinemas have been dubbed into Georgian. Restaurants were prohibited to sing in Russian.

"Russian still pays a great role in Georgia; however, it's no longer the main foreign language: it has become an additional one. For a normal social status, people now have to speak English," Mr Rusetsky told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In her turn, Gulnara, a teacher of the Russian language and literature at one of Tbilisi schools, has stressed that Russian was taught at schools in the Soviet time; and it is still taught in the same way and with the same quality.

"The only thing that has changed is the number of hours allocated to lessons of Russian language and literature," she told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to her story, Georgia has many teachers of the Russian language and literature. But in recent years the number of Russian schools in the country has decreased significantly.

According to the Ministry of Education and Sciences of Georgia, the country now operates more than 100 non-Georgian schools, and 12 of them are Russian schools.

Despite the fact that the country's universities have Russian sectors, ethnic Russians prefer to receive higher education abroad.

Despite the small number of ethnic Russians living in Georgia, the Russian language is the mother tongue for a much greater population. Among Russian-speakers are Armenians, Azeris, Jews, Poles, Ukrainians, and a small part of ethnic Georgians.

Periodicals are published; radio stations and two television channels operate in Russian in Georgia.