CATAN AND OTHERS v. MOLDOVA AND RUSSIA JUDGMENT 51 materials available to “Moldavian” schools in modern-day Transdniestria dated back to Soviet times. There were no “Moldavian” language colleges or universities, so children from such schools who wished to pursue higher education had to learn a new alphabet or language. 142. While it is difficult for the Court to establish in detail the facts relating to the applicants’ experiences following the reopening of the schools, it nonetheless notes the following. First, Article 6 of the “MRT” Law on Languages” was in force and the use of the Latin alphabet constituted an offence in the “MRT” (see paragraph 43 above). Secondly, it is clear that the schools had to move to new buildings, with the Alexandru cel Bun School divided between three sites and pupils at the Ştefan cel Mare School having to travel 40 kilometres each day. Thirdly, according to figures provided by the Moldovan Government, the number of pupils enrolled in the two schools still in “MRT” controlled territory approximately halved between 2007 and 2011 and there has also been a significant reduction in children studying in Moldovan/Romanian throughout Transdniestria. Although it appears that Transdniestria has an ageing population and that Moldovans in particular are emigrating (see paragraphs 8 and 42 above), the Court considers that the 50% attendance drop at Evrica and Alexandru cel Bun Schools is too high to be explained by demographic factors alone. For the Court, these uncontested facts serve to corroborate the general thrust of the allegations contained in the 81 affidavits submitted by the applicant parents and pupils, describing the constant harassment they suffered. 143. The schools were at all times registered with the Moldovan Ministry of Education, using a curriculum set by that Ministry and providing teaching in the first official language of Moldova. The Court therefore considers that the forced closure of the schools, based on the ““MRT” Law on languages” (see paragraphs 43-44 above), and the subsequent measures of harassment constituted interferences with the applicant pupils’ rights of access to educational institutions existing at a given time and to be educated in their national language (see paragraph 137 above). In addition, the Court considers that these measures amounted to an interference with the applicant parents’ rights to ensure their children’s education and teaching in accordance with their philosophical convictions. As stated above, Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 must be read in the light of Article 8 of the Convention, which safeguards the right to respect for private and family life, inter alia. The applicant parents in this case wanted their children to be educated in the official language of their country, which was also their own mother tongue. Instead, they were placed in the invidious position of having to choose, on the one hand, between sending their children to schools where they would face the disadvantage of pursuing their entire secondary education in a combination of language and alphabet which they consider artificial and which is unrecognised anywhere else in