The Russian Language is Our Bread-winner. Bishkek Hosted a Conference to Promote Russian Educational Programs

On November 17, 2011, an exhibition and presentation event to promote Russian educational programs was held in Bishkek (Kirghizia). The event was organized on the basis of the Russian Center of Science and Culture within the framework of the RF Target Program "The Russian Language”. The Russian New University (RosNOU) acted as the coordinator of the conference.

Leading professors of RosNOU, of Sholokhov State Humanitarian University, of Moscow State Pedagogical University and teachers of the Russian language from Kirghiz schools took part in the methodological seminars and round-table discussions. We would like to make a special mention of Olga Lipeeva, a Pushkin Prize-winner, who descended from a dynasty of teachers. Here comes her story about the school where she works:

- “The history of our school dates back to 1911. At that time, only 11 children of bai and Russian settlers’ families studied in the Naryn Russian-native class. The basic language there was Russian.

According to the archive recordings, at first there were few Russian-native schools that contributed greatly to the promotion of the Russian culture in Kirghizia. Students received only elementary knowledge of arithmetic, geography and natural sciences. Bayaly Isakeev, the chairman to be of the Soviet Council of People's Commissars of Kirghiz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, studied in one of these schools from 1913 until 1916. The school was named after Chkalov later on.

In 1932 Chkalov school №2 was opened on the basis of these Naryn Russian-native classes. Nowadays our school is well known far beyond the borders of the Kirghiz Republic. Among its graduates there are outstanding politicians, 6 members of the Kirghiz State Council, about 60 state senior officials, 17 Doctors of Sciences and 56 Candidates of Sciences. Bobrischev-Pushkin, Hero of the Soviet Union, Askar Akaev and Rosa Otunbaeva, former presidents of the Kirghiz Republic, studied there.

Our school has raised a number of generations of competent, talented and healthy people. It contributed greatly to the establishment of civil society in Kirghizia, to the enrichment of cultural traditions and culture and to the preservation of interethnic and international friendship. Our students study the German and English languages which remains a long-lasting tradition of our school which contributes to the successful integration of a young person into the world.

Despite some difficulties and political changes in the country, the teaching staff of our school has always been performing their duty of educators, fulfilling their honorable mission and influencing the students’ world view. They contributed a lot to making up of the Kirghiz state and society.

Our first form students do not know a single word in Russian. But when they complete their elementary school education they can already read Russian textbooks and study using Russian educational programs, they can learn English and German and participate in different projects. The Chkalov school is a UNESCO associate education institution. It is successfully implementing the German PASCH Educational program and it collaborates with the Moscow Lomonosov School. There are Kirgiz, Russian, German, and English language centers as well as Ecological and Computer information centers in our school. The Russian Embassy in Kirghizia supplemented a lot of books to our school library including educational and methodological literature, fiction as well as different visual and multimedia guides to the Russian language and literature.

The participants of the conference to promote Russian educational programs said that the attitude towards the Russian language in the Kirghiz Republic was mixed. They lack textbooks, but the Ministry on Education and Science does not pay due attention to the problems of Kirghiz schools. Unfortunately that is true. However, knowing the problems one can sit and wait for somebody from outside to render help, expecting some positive changes in the future. But we find other ways to meet current demands while taking upon ourselves the responsibility for our graduates.

We carry out questionnaire surveys among senior high school students to define their motivation to learning the Russian language. We got the following answers:

- There is a demand for specialists with fluent Russian in the spheres of trade, economy, banking, etc.

- One can get access (including through the Internet) to about 80% of all information in the world thanks to good knowledge of the Russian and the English languages;

- The Russian language is very important being an official UN language;

- The Russian Language is our bread-winner (most of the senior high school students responded that way during the poll)

Many parents and students appreciate the advantages of bilingualism, though sometimes it takes certain time to apprehend it. Even the people, who once wanted to force the Russian language out of Kirghizia, come to the conclusion. That is why we, in our school, annually take five first form groups with 40 children in each of them. Our primary school pupils seek to pass the competitive selection and get into the Secondary School (starting from the fifth form).

Having been a Russian-language school for about a century, the teaching staff of our school apprehends that the dialog of cultures – equal and different -- is of current concern. Chingiz Aytmatov, our famous fellow-countryman, once noted quite fairy that "national cultures development is possible only when they are closely connected with the great Russian culture and language”. The activities of our school give an example of continuous dialogue of the Russian and Kirghiz cultures, their interactive learning and enrichment.