Today marks the 150th anniversary of the opening of the first Kazakh school.
150 years ago, on January 8, 1864, the first school for the Kazakh children was opened in Thurgay (Orenburg Fortress).
Ybyray Altynsarin expressed his pleasure about this
event in the letter to a friend N.I Ilminskiy, reports baq.kz
In the history of Kazakh pedagogy, Ybyray Altynsarin
is known not only as a poet and writer, but also as the first teacher who
opened the first school in the Kazakh steppe In the letter to Ilminskiy he
wrote: “You were right, that the Kazakh people are wise, intelligent, capable,
but uneducated. Moreover, the government officials do not try to give education
to the people. Instead of erecting the schools in fortresses, it seems better
for them to paint the roof or whitewash a white wall".
In 1860 the regional board instructed him to open a
primary school for the Kazakh children in Orenburg government (Turgay) and
appointed him as a teacher of Russian language. It was no easy to open a school
in an outlandish town: there was no money and no support from the local
authorities. However, the difficulties have not stopped Altynsarin.
Inspired by the educational ideas, he traveled to the villages
and explained the importance of secular public education. He gathered the means
from the Kazakh people and then he began to build the school, which was built
on January 8m 1964. The boarding school was established as a part of the school.
Y. Altynsarin considered the sacred duty of an
educated man to give the knowledge to children. “I think that the highest ideal
is to educate the Kazakh youth in classical gymnasiums, agricultural academies,
to serve your people and the ability to present innovations in a real life” –
he wrote.
The education and training of children were the most important concepts
in the teaching activities of Altynsarin. He used the experience of world
famous teachers Y.A Komenskiy, K.D Ushinsky and L.N Tolstoy.