School Education for the Indigenous Small-Numbered Peoples of the North: Between Cultural Preservation and Educational Quality

Abstract

Today, many ethnic minorities belong to the so-called “culture of poverty”, and education can be a major vehicle of upward social mobility for such groups. This article explores the characteristics of school education in the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North living in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) of Russia, the educational trajectories pursued by indigenous youths, and how their preferences are influenced by national education policy and the ethnic component of education. Data from a sociological survey of youth in areas of compact settlement of the indigenous peoples of the North and Unified State Exam (USE) scores served as the empirical basis of this study. Analysis of indigenous education policy documents allows making an inference that, even though the problems of teaching indigenous languages and setting up nomadic schools have been widely discussed, approaches to solving them are rather formalistic. At the same time, little attention is paid to problems experienced by stationary schools located in areas of compact settlement of the indigenous peoples of the North, which has negative effects on children’s starting opportunities and the development of their educational strategies. Interest in higher education has been noticeably decreasing among young people aged under 19, and educational inequality in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) has been exacerbated by the COVID‑19 pandemic. For the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, social mobility opportunities hinge upon Internet access, so low levels of education digitalization in localities inhabited by indigenous peoples (compared to regional and national levels) predict a negative scenario for social wellbeing of this category of population.