CIVIC MONITORING COMMISSION FOR AN EXPERTISE OF
TEXT-BOOKS AND MANUALS, WHICH GO TO THE CRIMEAN SCHOOLS, ON THEIR
CORRESPONDENCE TO TOLERANCE PRINCIPLES

 

Initiators and partners of the project: Integration and Development Center for Information and Research, Ministry of Education and Science of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the Crimean Branch of the Institute of the Innovative Technologies and Content of Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Crimean Branch of the Institute of the Oriental Studies named after A. Krymsky of the Ukrainian National Academy of Science

Financial support: International Renaissance Foundation, partner organizations contributions.

Timeframe of the project: started in 2003, now is active.

Project coordinator: Elizaveta Bykova.

Project goal: reduction of the inter-ethnic and inter-confessional tension in the Crimea and strengthening the role of the civic control through the establishment of the Civic monitoring commission for an expertise of text-books and manuals, which go to the Crimean schools, on their correspondence to tolerance principles.

Target group: students of the Crimean educational institutions, teachers and administrators.

Project description: Establishment of the Civic monitoring commission - a standing consultative and analytical body at the IDC with the following tasks

• Monitoring of text-books and manuals, which go to the educational institutions, on their correspondence to the intercultural education requirements in conditions of poly-ethnic environment of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, preparation of analytical materials, conclusions as for their correspondence to tolerance principles, sending them to the Ministry of education and science of Crimea;

• preparation of analytical materials on the issues of program and methodological provision of the intercultural education in the Crimea

• establishment of the working groups for the development of didactical and methodological materials

• organizational and methodological support for authors of regional educational materials

• analysis of the prepared materials quality, preparation for their reviewing at the Ministry of Education and Science Board and for their publication.

Activities: The regulating documents of the Civic Monitoring Commission has been elaborated and approved, Special regulations for the development of regional didactical and methodological materials also were approved. According to the regulations a Special Commission consisting of 11 members was created for the next three years. The Commission initiated the development of the questionnaire for the monitoring of school teachers and administrators opinion on the level of tolerance among the Crimean school students. In November 2004 - January 2005 members of the Commission interviewed more than 200 persons; defined the list of seven conflict-provoking manuals and expert groups for their review, initiated the elaboration of the questionnaire for an expertise of text-books and manuals on their correspondence to tolerance principles. In February 2005 in cooperation with the Crimean Branch of the Institute of the Oriental Studies named after A. Krymsky of the Ukrainian National Academy of Science, And the Ministry of Education and Science of the Crimea conducted ethno-social research in school environment (You can also downoad the questionnaire here).

More than 20 syllabuses, text-books and manuals has been evaluated up to now.

The article of E. Bykova about the Commission activities you can open here.