THE ROLE OF EDUCATION IN THE CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES OF THE BELARUSIAN NATIONAL MINORITY IN LATVIA (1918–1940)

UDC 394(476)

  • Charniauski Aliaksandr Hienadzjevich – PhD student, Yanka Kupala Grodno State University (22, Azheshka str., 230023, Hrodna, Belarus); history teacher at Skidziel School no. 3. E-mail: charniauski.alaksandr1999@gmail.com

DOI: https://doi.org/10.52065/2520-6885-2023-269-1-12

Keywords: Latvia, Daugavpils, Riga, Belarusian minority, gymnasium, education, interwar period, Society «Bats’kaushchyna».

For citation: Charniauski A. The role of education in the cultural and educational activities of the Belarusian national minority in Latvia (1918–1940). Proceedings of BSTU, issue 6, History, philosophy. 2023, no. 1 (269), pp. 66–72 (In Belarusian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.52065/2520-6885-2023-269-1-12.

Abstract

This article, based on the works of Belarusian and foreign researchers, archival and published sources in Belarusian, Latvian and other languages, characterizes the main directions and trends of educational activities of the Belarusian minority in Latvia in the interwar period (1918–1940). The author defines the legislative base of Belarusian schooling, the main periods of Belarusian schooling development, the main organizations and institutions that coordinated the activities of the education system in the Belarusian language in this country, defines the main types of educational institutions, their dynamics. The author also outlines the influence of the «Belarusian Process» of 1925 or the K. Ulmanis coup of 1934 on the shape of the Belarusian education system in Latvia.

In the conclusion, the author concludes that Belarusians in Latvia in 1918–1940. managed to create a multi-component system of Belarusian educational institutions. The goals of these educational institutions were to strengthen Belarusian national consciousness, to train workers for cultural and political initiatives of the Belarusian minority in Latvia.

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28.02.2023