On February 7-8, members of the Arctic Council's Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG) are discussing the experience of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area's authorities in organizing Nomadic schools at their meeting in Kotzebue, Alaska, the Area's government agencies website reports. The meeting involves representatives of eight Arctic Council member states and six organizations of indigenous Arctic ethnic groups.

Alexander Yevai, a member of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area's civic chamber, will give a presentation on the Nomadic School regional project. Yevai, who represents the interests of indigenous small numbered peoples of Yamal and the Russian Arctic, on instructions from the Russian Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs, will share with the meeting participants the specificities of educating children from the above-mentioned ethnic groups in the autonomous area.

The Yamal Nomadic School regional project aims to provide affordable education for members of small nomadic indigenous Arctic ethnic groups. Under the project, schools should be located as close as possible to nomads' camps. At present, there are 17 kindergartens and five schools in Yamal.  Over 250 children go to Nomadic schools and preschools at such camps. Thirty-two educators travel with reindeer herding teams.

Other Russian regions set up nomad schools only in some areas. Twenty-two schools and preschools are open at nomadic camps in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area, with 139 children studying at preschools and 44 children at primary schools. Summer preschool education involves up to 300 children.

The Arctic Council is an intergovernmental forum for promoting cooperation between Arctic states and coordinating their actions in the interests of sustained regional development, protecting the environment and preserving the culture, traditions and languages of indigenous ethnic groups.