In June 2020, the first discussion on the Romani language development and standardisation in Ukraine took place. The meeting was organised by the Project “Protecting national minorities, including Roma, and minority languages in Ukraine” and the Institute of Pedagogy of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine. The discussion was held online due to COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions. The event was participated by Council of Europe experts, representatives of various dialect groups and the Institute of Pedagogy of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine.
Romani is an important element of Roma uniqueness and self-identity. The development and preservation of Romani is an important element of the social and political inclusion of the Roma community in Ukraine. Romani is not sufficiently codified. It is not a standardised literary language in Ukraine. Roma dialects were significantly influenced by dominant languages. Therefore it is a complicated task to define a single Romani language.
“Subsequent development of Romani depends on the state support and, what is especially important, on the desire of Roma community representatives to continue using their language and pass it on to their children.
In this context, it is particularly important to establish relations between educational establishments and Roma families, engage them in the process of educating Roma children.
Another challenge in the field of teaching Romani is the lack of a sufficient number of specialists dealing with the issues of Romani, teachers who speak Romani dialects,” says Olena Fidkevych, representative of the Institute of Pedagogy of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine.
During the meeting, the main results of the Roma community survey on the needs of Romani language standardisation in Ukraine were presented. The survey was conducted online in April and May 2020 and spanned 15 regions of Ukraine. 205 representatives of the Roma community participated in the survey. Respondents were offered to answer 9 questions related to the needs, possibilities, support and standardisation of the language that is native to representatives of the Roma community in Ukraine.
Survey results showed that most respondents speak their native language in the family (84.4%). Respondents’ native languages included such dialects as Servitka, Lovara, Kalderaš, Chișinău, Vlax, and others.
Only 15,6% speak other languages (Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, Hungarian, Crimean Tatar and others) in the family. 58% stated that they did not have the possibility to study Romani at their place of residence. The language is passed on only inside the family from the parents and is only used in everyday life. It stands to mention that most respondents (99%) expressed the need to study Romani at school.
As the survey showed, the majority of respondents, namely 90%, are of the opinion that there is insufficient support to the study of the Romani language and culture at the educational institutions where their child studies.
It was possible to identify a stable positive attitude towards standardisation of Romani in Ukraine – 89.5% of the respondents. This demonstrates the interest of the Roma community in need to standardise Romani, in its development.
During the meeting, researchers also presented a socio-linguistic analysis of Romani in Ukraine, information on international standards and main stages of language standardisation. During the first meeting, the decision was made to create a working group within the Institute of Pedagogy of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine for further activities on the development and standardisation of Romani.
To recap, the Institute of Pedagogy of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine is one of the leading scientific research institutions that fulfil the social order of the society by ensuring a scientific and methodologic foundation for the development of modern pedagogical science, conducts large-scale research on the implementation of the latest educational technologies. The Council of Europe supports the recognition of Romani at the European level, as well as its promotion in educational systems, its use in oral speech and writing, in the public and private life. More information on the Council of Europe activities in the field of the Romani language can be found at https://www.coe.int/en/web/language-policy/romani
The Council of Europe (CoE) keeps supporting Member-States in the implementation of European human rights standards at the national level by revising the legislation, building capacity and sharing best practices. The Council of Europe contributes to this process by implementing the Project “Protecting National Minorities, including Roma, and Minority Languages in Ukraine”. The Project started in March 2018 and is part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2018–2021.
