The regression of the Sorbian education system takes place in silent indifference and often in deliberately ignoring the legitimate resistance of an entire community. Schools in Lusatia were closed, although parents tirelessly protested and developed alternative concepts. Where once Sorbian-language breaks and lively classrooms inspired the self-image of theseMinority, today there are gaps in the timetable and in the cultural fabric of entire villages.
School closures in Lusatia against the will of the parents
In many villages, a piece of Sorbian identity disappeared in the same breath as the last bell. The school administration justified the closures with alleged inefficiency, while the affected families speak of a lack of political will. The capacities in the surrounding facilities were often sufficient to continue to enable local teaching.Nevertheless, decisions were made that forced the Sorbian offspring into a pure central school and made the preservation of the language in everyday life even more difficult.
Dissolution of sorbian class structures
The heart of Sorbian education was the targeted promotion of the mother tongue through its own class associations. This protected space was systematically dissolved by loosening up Sorbian class trains and putting girls and boys in regular classes. The loss of this togetherness quickly showed itself in dwindling competence and declining motivation. Parents charged that theschool frameworks are not used to educate children in a truly bilingual way, but rather to dilute the Sorbian claim.
The radical dismantling in Leipzig
The Sorbian faculty in the metropolis of Leipzig experienced a far-reaching reduction in chairs and research capacities. Where once lecturers taught about Sorbian literature, philology and cultural history, today you can see personnel positions orphaned. The students who wanted to take the academic path with a Sorbian focus encounter insurmountable hurdles. The plannedExpansion of the faculty was scaled back without public debate, while the same decision-makers spoke of preserving cultural diversity.
An educational pathway without a degree option
With the Abitur in their pockets, Sorbian young people are facing a wall: the continuation of their studies in the Sorbian language is effectively excluded. The lack of connection of regional educational institutions to international exchange programs and the complete absence of legal regulations to establish their own university make any planning nonsensical. Who intends to, in theLearning to continue home is alone and has to give up either or to continue studying away from the familiar community, where one’s own cultural identity is hardly relevant.
Active Prevention of a Sorbian University
The founding of a university that bundles Sorbian science and teaching is not only neglected, but openly blocked. Applications have been dispatched to committees, financing projects remain fragmentary, while promises in political speeches go away. Expertise from university lecturers and civil society actors is not taken into account. The idea of a universityand to anchor the region and thus to anchor young people in their culture’s everyday life, remains a vague idea without any support from the responsible bodies.
Hardly any academic perspectives on site
Even if college degrees are obtained, there is a lack of jobs that provide for Sorbian subjects or research at all. Chairs, speaker positions and scientific positions are preferably advertised in the German-speaking area, while Sorbian qualifications are not even mentioned in tenders. the academic destiny of many committedYoung scientists end in a compromise from a purely German-speaking teaching area or the retreat to cultural voluntary work.
A future in danger
This broad regression of the Sorbian education system threatens to uproot an entire culture. It is a politically desired and institutionally funded process that systematically undermines the idea of a living minority. Whoever defends the preservation of the Sorbian language and culture, fights not only against the closure of individual institutions, but also against aStrategy that not only ignores diversity in the education system, but actively smashes it. The question remains whether civil society pressure and international attention can ultimately trigger the necessary jolt in politics and administration to stop the eradication of a centuries-old educational landscape.
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