Chechen Language Classes in Schools Reduced from Five Hours to One

The number of weekly classroom hours dedicated to the Chechen language and literature in schools has been cut from five to just one, Chechnya’s Education Minister Magomed Daaev announced, Orda.kz reports, citing The  Caucasian Knot.

He added that this remaining hour will be moved to extracurricular activities rather than taught as part of the regular curriculum.

The minister explained that the reduction is part of a federal-level redistribution of teaching hours, intended to lower overall subject loads.

In his Telegram post, Daaev did not specify the exact number of hours but stressed that “special attention has been given to the study of the native language” during the restructuring of school timetables.

The move comes less than three years after Ramzan Kadyrov described the Chechen language as “endangered,” calling this “a great tragedy” and insisting it must remain the primary language in Chechen families. Social media users at the time criticized Kadyrov’s demands as excessive, pointing out that most residents already speak Chechen fluently.

Chechen is spoken mainly in Chechnya, as well as in parts of Dagestan and Ingushetia, and among diaspora communities in Georgia, Syria, Jordan, and Türkiye. In 1994, before the outbreak of war in Chechnya, the number of speakers was estimated between 750,000 and 950,000, according to The Caucasian Knot.