The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM), Knut Vollebaek, urged the countries of Central Asia on April 3 to expand the use of bilingual and multilingual education.

Vollebaek''s call came as he was attending a review conference examining the region''s progress of regional co-operation in minority education.

"I see the spread of multilingual education in Central Asia as a profoundly encouraging sign. It proves that linguistic management in education is not a zero-sum game. By introducing multilingual education in Central Asia, you are proving that majority and minority languages can thrive side by side and need not develop at the expense of each other," Vollebaek said.

The countries taking part in the conference - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - committed to devote particular attention to the training of minority-language teachers for national minority schools.

"I warmly welcome this renewed commitment," Vollebaek said. "It comes at the right time. The teaching corps in minority-language schools is aging. Unless action is taken, within 10 to 15 years, minority-language instruction may simply cease to exist because of a teacher shortage."

The conference reviewed progress under the Inter-State Dialogue on Social Integration and National Minority Education in Central Asia, launched with the support of the OSCE HCNM in November 2006 in Tashkent.

The process seeks to foster co-operation and exchange of experience on curricula and textbooks, language learning, teacher and in-service training as well as distance learning and information technology, thereby helping the participants fulfill their OSCE commitments.