3rd Conference of the North Caucasus Parliamentary Assembly held in Grozny

The chairman of the Chechen parliament, Dukuvakha Abdurakhmanov, greeted participants of the 3rd Conference of the North Caucasus Parliamentary Assembly on behalf of the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov.

Abdurakhmanov expressed hope for fruitful work at the conference and wished its participants a good day, the press service of the Chechen government head reported.

Then, MPs began to discuss the issues on the agenda. First of all, new appointments to committees of the NCPA were adopted.

The participants of the conference decided to address the government of Russia on launching the study of the fundamentals of world religions in Russian schools.

The initiative was presented by the chairwoman of the Committee on Youth, Sports and Tourism of the Dagestani Public Council, Marina Abramkina. She noted that in August 2009 the president of Russia ordered the launch of a new school subject in all regions of Russia: “The Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics.”

However, Abramkina stated that the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia ordered to study separate patterns on fundamentals of the world religions within the subject.

“Russia is a multinational state, where representatives of many religions live; the North Caucasus is one of the most multinational regions of the country, and representatives of different religions are often educated in one class. That is why studying of the subject by patterns could lead to groundless nationalism, confessional division and minorities’ harassment,” she added.

According to the deputy, it is necessary for children to gain knowledge about all the major religions of the world, which will contribute to tolerance among children and teens.

The participants at the conference supported the initiative by Dagestan.

It is expected that after the end of the session the participants of the conference will meet the Chechnen head Ramzan Kadyrov, visit the Memorial Complex in Grozny and attend a concert organized for them.