A Shor language textbook has been published with the support of the Kiyzassky Open-Pit Mine

The Shor language can now be studied as part of the main school curriculum

Of the 47 native languages spoken by Russia’s indigenous peoples, the Shor language has become only the fourth that can be studied with a textbook that has been certified at the federal level. The Shor primer opens a line of educational literature dubbed the ‘A New Textbook for Siberia’. One thousand copies of the first edition have been printed and given to the leadership of ‘Shoria’, a public association of the Shor people in Kemerovo Region. By the beginning of the school year, the primer will have been delivered to schools and libraries in Kuzbass.

“This is a serious milestone in the history of indigenous education for Gorny Shoria. The introduction of a federal textbook that has been certified by the Ministry of Education gives teachers the right to include the Shor language in the curriculum,”  said one of the primer’s authors, Elena Tchaikovskaya, the head of the Center for Languages and Culture of the Peoples of Siberia at the Novokuznetsk Branch Institute of Kemerovo State University.

The large-scale educational project was carried out thanks to the coordinated efforts of the Shoria association and the coal mining company. The idea to create a textbook appeared a year and a half ago at the opening of the Year of Indigenous Languages of Russia. The authors of the primer were local linguists, teachers, and native speakers of the Shor language. The Kiyzassky Open-Pit Mine helped with organizational issues, chose the ‘Enlightenment’ publishing house, and took on all expenses associated with producing the textbook, which amounted to 1.2 million rubles.

“I want to thank the company’s management for supporting this project,” said Shoria’s president, Nikita Shulbayev, adding, “just a little more than a year has passed, and now we have a primer ready. This is a significant contribution to the promotion of the Shor language among the indigenous population of Gorny Shoria.”

The Kiyzassky Open-Pit Mine is the only coal mining company that has a program which works with the Shor people and provides them with multilateral support. The company has allocated 11 million rubles for activities in cooperation with the Shoria association and the Gorny Shoria Development Fund during the period from 2015 to 2021.