Larisa Y. Nikolaeva, Native schools in Central Asia

Native schools in Central Asia

Abstract. The article examines the process of creation and functioning of native schools on the outskirts of the Russian Empire — the Turkestan Governorate-General of Khujand district in the nineteenth century (the modern territory of the city with the regional significance Khujand, the republic of Tajikistan. In the Soviet times it was named as Leninabad, Lenininabad region, Tajik Soviet Socialistic Republic), the promotion of Russian education, the use of pedagogical techniques for teaching the local population the Russian language and secular disciplines. The first teachers in Khujand faced serious problems: distrust of the local population towards Russians, active anti-Russian propaganda by Islamic clerics, local prejudices, insufficient funding of schools by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Empire, lack of adapted textbooks for Tajiks. Pioneer activities of Russian teachers were described. In the modern realities the Russian Federation should rethink the educational activities carried out by the Russian Empire in Central Asia. In connection with the resumption of discussions in the Central Asian States on the problem of the colonization of Central Asia by tsarist Russia, and then by Soviet Russia, this problem becomes urgent and requires its comprehensive study. The formation of the secular education on the territory of Bukhara Emirate is also considered in the article. The purpose of this article is to provide objective coverage of the creation of the education system for the population of Central Asia on the example of the Khujand district of the Turkestan Region, evaluate activities of Russian teachers on the territory of Khujand.