Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Russian universities to establish separate faculties of Russian language and literature, distinct from philological faculties. The President made the proposal during a meeting of the Council for the Implementation of State Policy in Support of the Russian Language and the Languages of the Peoples of Russia.
Putin emphasized that in many universities, Russian language and literature are included within philological faculties alongside other disciplines, including foreign philology. According to the President, this approach “does not fully reflect the importance of the Russian language for the country.”
The Russian President also supports the study of the “constitutional status of the Russian language.” During the meeting, he presented the government’s plans to develop an educational module for universities under which students will study the “constitutional status of the Russian language” and the country’s language policy.
Last year, Putin approved the foundations of language policy, according to which the Russian language is regarded as “the foundation of Russian statehood,” emphasizing its connection with “traditional spiritual and moral values.” The document calls on Russians to refrain from using foreign words if equivalent terms exist in the Russian language.
