In Pankisi Gorge, schools to teach Chechen language

In Georgia, schools located in the Pankisi Gorge provide pupils of the fifth and sixth forms with the opportunity to study the Chechen language. The classes of the Chechen language have been introduced in the schools at the request of Chechen Kistinians.

Chechen Kistinians moved to the Pankisi Gorge in the 1830s and 1870s. Apart from Kistinians, the Pankisi Gorge accommodates a large group of Chechens who fled Chechnya after the second military campaign. The Chechen language is a native language for Kistinians.

According to Lily Sviauri, the principal of the school located in Duisi, the largest villages of the Pankisi Gorge, pupils of the fifth and sixth forms may choose to study the Chechen language. "This is not a compulsory class. We have introduced it only for the fifth and sixth forms, since we face a problem with textbooks. In the future, if we get books, we'll introduce the class also for senior forms," emphasizes Lily Sviauri as quoted by the edition "Georgia-Online".

According to the edition, "since the past year, residents of the Pankisi Gorge began to actively demand" classes of the Chechen language.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.