It's early Sunday morning in Kyrgyzstan's southern city of Osh. It's quiet everywhere except for the yard at the Centre for Multilingual and Multicultural Education, which is full of hustle, bustle and the sound of young voices speaking different languages. At the Centre - supported by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) - school children from across the country's south await the announcement of the winners of 'The Colours of Friendship' drawing competition.

"This event is just a tiny dimension of our mission," says Dildora Khamidova, the energetic education expert in charge of the centre, which launched the competition in April this year. "We bring children and teachers of various ethnic groups together, and help them to understand and appreciate each other's languages and cultures."

Since the centre's establishment in late 2005, Khamidova and her colleagues have been at the forefront of promoting new methods and approaches to language teaching and extra-curricular activities in Kyrgyzstan. Their work is based on the premise that education can and should contribute to better relations between the many ethnic communities in southern Kyrgyzstan.

Language learning is fun

One challenge that the centre takes seriously is language teaching in schools. Kyrgyzstan inherited its education system from the Soviet Union, where children of different ethnic backgrounds were effectively segregated in separate schools. They had little opportunity to meet and learn the language of their neighbours across the street.

"Learning languages was not a priority under the old education system," says Tatiana Stoianova, the HCNM's education expert in Kyrgyzstan who assists the country's Education Ministry in promoting social integration through education. "It was dull, word-cramming and grammar-obsessed - an onerous burden from the children's point of view. Here, we make language teaching and learning fun."

The centre has trained a group of trainers, who have traveled to the mountainous country's most remote schools, providing advice and in-service training to school teachers. They emphasize innovative methods of teaching Kyrgyz to non-Kyrgyz students, because proficiency in the state language opens up opportunities for young Russians, Uzbeks, Tajiks and other minorities. Games, audio-visual and other interactive techniques are the Centre's prescription for success in teaching languages.

"Please do not get me wrong - grammar is still important, but the emphasis is on communicating a message," Stoianova says. "Teachers use almost any activity that gets their young learners communicating, such as conversation, discussion, dialogue and role-playing. Active participation increases confidence in using the language."

After-school time matters

Khamidova believes that what children do after school hours is also important. Well-structured and entertaining extra-curricular activities can promote a sense of civil responsibility in young people, including tolerance and respect for other cultures and languages.

The centre supports a number of such activities ranging from dancing and singing contests to student exchanges and food festivals.

"The drawing competition is one example," says Khamidova. "The art of painting knows no cultural differences, no language barriers. Children can express their feelings about friendship and each other on paper. We help them to get to know each other and share the joy of artisanship."

The crowd erupts into a roar of approval when Khamidova announces the competition's winners. One of them, eight-year old Grigoriy Belitsky from Osh, says that many of his Uzbek and Kyrgyz friends like it when he speaks to them in their languages.

"Though I am not good at these languages, they understand me. And my mother says that if I learn many languages, I will have many friends."

The trophy stays on home turf this time, but no one feels defeated - new friends and impressions mean a lot more.