Today we are going to interview grandmother Kamezhan! Good afternoon, grandmother Kamezhan! Good afternoon, my dear!

Our interview's theme is the Soviet Union's education system. In general, at that time were there any difficulties or advantages in the education system? We studied after the war, so there were many difficulties. There was only one school in the village, so we studied in 2 or 3 turns. 1st grade's first and second terms I studied at the Russion school in the region, then I moved to Kazakh school in my village. It was a primary school, so after primary school I had to study far from my home. From 5 th to 10th forms I studied at boarding school which was situated in 18 kilometres from my village. I studied well at school. Also, I was very active and participated in school's events. After graduating 10 th form I went to Kustanai's Pedagogical Institute to continue my education, but unfortunately I failed. Then I worked as a pioneer leader at my school. One yeart later I tried to enter to Almaty's Institute, but again I failed. Finally, I entered to the college and studied at the faculty of finance. In 1961 I graduated the college. In your story you have mentioned about boarding school. Can you tell more about your life at the boarding school? When I studied at the boarding school there were some problems with canteen. Because it was situated in 600 metres from boarding school. We went on foot to the canteen. Sometimes we came early and slept near the tables. There wasn't a variety of food at that time. We brought some bread and other food from our homes and ate together. We went to the canteen 3 times in a day.Despite of these difficulties the motivation of pupils was very strong. Everybody studied well. From 8 th to 10th forms came new qualified teachers who graduated from institutes. They taught us very well. Especially, our Maths teacher's ways of teaching were very well. As a result I went to Kustanai to study maths and phycics as I mentioned before. Because he gave me advice to choose maths as a future profession. Did the teachers at that time give you a qualitative education? Yes, they did. May be the curriculum was different or our teachers were very literate or we were very interested in learning, I don't know. But we had a qualitative education. I have one more question for you, you said that you failed twice when you wanted to continue your education, what were the reasons? At that time the requirements were high and all exams were in Russian language, as since I graduated Kazakh school it was difficult for me. Were the demands of teachers high at your time? Yes, they were. Thank you for your answers. You are welcome, my dear!