A program by which the Romanian language is taught to the diaspora children over 2,200 kilometers from Romania, nominated for a prestigious prize
An educational program in Jersey that teaches the language, culture and history of Romania, is nominated for the BBC Radio awards, awarded annually to those who have a significant impact on their community.
Every Saturday morning at the Flat Duet School in the largest of the islands of the sleeve, Jersey, there are courses in Romanian that make the Romanians who are “to feel at home,” according to the BBC.
The courses offered by the Institute of Romanian Linguistics in Bucharest, through a program funded by the Romanian government, started last year and are free for young people between 3 and 18 years old.
The impact of this program was observed by BBC Radio Jersey, which nominated for the Make A Difference awards for the support given to the Romanian community on the governed auto territory dependent on the Crown of Great Britain.
Jersey is the largest of the islands of the sleeve channel, located off the coast of Normandy. The territory is not part of the United Kingdom and has its own government and legal system. But the defense and international relations are managed by the United Kingdom.
How many Romanians take citizenship in the UK
Children and parents praised Jersey's educational program.
Romanians in the United Kingdom are in the third place in the ranking of countries where our compatriots take citizenship, after Italy and Germany, with 11,200 Romanians who asked for citizenship between 2022 and 2023, according to an analysis of the sociologist Dumitru Sandu leaving Eurostat data.
The number of Romanians who have official residence in the UK was 554,000 in 2021, according to the UK migration observer, a statistical tool of Oxford University. Only those with residence are considered, the number of those who work being much higher.
Only residents from Poland go beyond those in Romania in the UK, referring to countries of origin in the EU: Poland (21 %), (14 %), Republic of Ireland (10 %), Germany (7 %) and Italy (7 %).
“I can talk to my loved ones in Romania”
Ștefan, eight years old, participates in courses from their beginning. He said he learned more about the country's heritage.
“I do not think I have ever been missing from a course. I think it is important to learn Romanian.
I can talk to my loved ones in Romania, because, when I started, I didn't know much of the language. Now I'm talking very well, “he said.
Miruna, 13 years old, is from Romania, but she grew up in Jersey and said that these courses helped her integrate on the island.
She said: “I feel more at home … I think it is good to communicate with friends and keep the traditions. I do this from the beginning and I feel that I progress very well in understanding the Romanian language.”
Georgian Lombada's son and daughter frequents the courses, and she said she was impressed by the way they helped them.
She said that it is “important for them to continue to speak our language” and that “coming here and learning to read, writing and grammatical rules make a huge difference.”
“We are very proud and very happy for this program and we are very grateful to all those who have worked hard to achieve it,” she added.
The hours “unite our community”
Ana Maria Ivanov is one of the teachers of the course and said she was excited by the support received by the team.
She said that the hours “are truly special, because they unite our community” and “it is a pleasure to teach here and we come with open hearts.”
“However, it is not only for the Romanian community, because we are open to any child who wants to join us,” added Maria Ivanov.
The teacher confessed that she was surprised to find out that the courses were nominated for the BBC Radio Jersey Make a Difference Awards.
“It is absolutely amazing and it is the first time we are nominated for something, because we only started a year ago, so we find out that we make a difference for parents makes us very proud,” she said.
