Following the Reindeer

01/02/2008

Man's heart away from nature becomes hard.
Standing Bear

In the extreme northern conditions of Siberia, Russian Federation, certain schools follow the reindeers’ migration routes, making education accessible for the herders’ children. Called nomadic schools, these experimental primary schools date from the 1920s and 1930s. Thanks to the revitalization of indigenous culture, they are currently undergoing modernization, with UNESCO support.

Commenting on the UNESCO web site, Sargylana Zhirkova of the Nomadic Schools Development Centre in Yakutia, observes...

“Nomadic schools educate children in their community and natural surroundings, far from population centres. This allows their herder parents to follow the reindeer undisturbed. In many cases, those who run the schools are members of the herder community themselves.

“The nomadic school is a vital institution for indigenous people who lead a nomadic way of life. It provides education while adapting traditional culture to the 21st century.”

However, to increase the quality of education in nomadic schools more trained teachers are needed. The requirements of the job are: a university degree, a good knowledge of teaching methods; familiarity with culture and language of specific nomadic people — and psychological readiness to endure severe weather conditions."

There is more information on the UNESCO web site about the nomadic schools.

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