Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education Professional Development Programme

ORAL HISTORY PROJECT Education in the past with Turzhan Moldabekov

Interviewed by Gulnur Myrzabekova

Astana 2013

Hello, today our guest is Turzhan ata! Good evening, Sir! Thank you so much for sparing your time. From your conversation I hope that we - the new generation will be able to hear and learn more about education service and standard of education of the last century. So, lets start the interview My first questions are going to be about your school-days. When did you study at school? What school did you attend? Tell me about your school in general. I went to the first class in 1945 when the Second World War ended. That year people had very bad condition of living. That time it may seem like a fairy tale for you, b ut we did not have clean clothes, our clothes were patched up. There were no shoes. Shoes were made from camels dung or sheeps leather. At school we did not have a notebook and there was no ink. To make an ink we had to find a flower called Macrotomia ugamensis then boil it. As for a notebook: for every child only three sheets of paper were delivered. What can I say, at that time we did not have highly qualified teachers. Teachers had only secondary education; some of them had finished 10th grade and some 8th. However these teachers were very responsible. For us, teachers were very trustworthy. Anytime we saw teachers we stood still and greeted them, and never blocked their way. The school where we studied had only seven grades and only four classes, and these four classes studied in two shifts. This was the school situation of that time. Desks were not the same as what we see nowadays. It was difficult to stand up and sit down, because it is closed when you sat down and you had to lift it up to stand. Normally, they had backs, but most of them were broken as the result of students play. You could easily fall down if you leaned back. Of course we had difficult times after the war, everything was done for the sake of war and victory. Thats why the standard of education and medical care had deteriorated.

Sir, what kind of student were you at school? I was a naughty child but I studied very well. My teachers used to praise me every time. I remember that after parents meeting at school my dad usually put me on his neck as an award for the progress in my studies and we walked like that till the house.

What subjects did you like when you were at school? Maybe because of my striving to study well I liked all subjects. However, the subject I liked the most was History. Usually I focused on history. For me it was interesting to know what was in the past. And now Sir could you please tell me a story that you remember from your school years? I think it was in the first grade. Once the pupils outside were walking along our classroom making noise. We were having a lesson. Our teacher opened the door and asked questions like if they had a lesson and where they were all going. I dont know what they answered. As I saw that others were leaving, I gathered my books and all my stuff and imperceptibly walked out the classroom. The teacher didnt notice how I entered the crowd. It is what I remember from the first grade. In my senior year there was a film called Unforgettable 1919. Triple Entente wanted to destroy the Soviet Union. According to plan, Triple Entente attacked on land and at sea. At that time Churchill was the Minister of Defense of Great Britain. We watched the film and during the break we locked the door and would not let anybody out, in order to act out several episodes of that film. One of us played the role of Churchill and so on. Usually girls wanted to go out at break, but we didnt permit them to do so. So it is a story from my school years. What was the standard of education when you studied at school? As I have mentioned above, teachers who taught us were not highly qualified. All of them were graduates of secondary school and college. However, the methods they used during the lessons were different, they liked what they did. We could not know that they did not have a higher education and listened to them attentively. I still cannot forget how they explained so clearly. The way they felt the responsibility and respected their profession was absolutely different. They used to prepare for every lesson and we could see it. All students were so concentrated that we even could hear flies flying in the classroom. The teacher taught so well that nobody made any noise. Even though they did not have a higher education, teachers were respected and had a different level than now. However, in new century our values have changed, now we have different views for things happening around us. Are you satisfied with the standard of education we have nowadays? What advantages you think we have now? Or what should be done to improve the situation? In our time there was only a book, a notebook, a map, I mean, atlas, and no more school supplies. Now schools have their own advantages and disadvantages. The advantage, as I have mentioned above, is that there is a new technology like the internet, computers, and the disadvantage is the lack of discipline. Students are not disciplined now. In our time, as I said teachers were like saints for us, no one dared to cross a teacher, no one talked rubbish during the lesson and interrupted a teacher, but what is happening now? Students are just walking as they wish. I have to mention about the problem that our society is facing nowadays. Teachers are afraid of students. How can this be? On the contrary, students should be afraid of teachers. Where does this lead to? How will teachers

educate their students if they are afraid of them? How will teachers impact and govern their students? It is impossible to influence students while teachers have fear. So, this is the grave disadvantage. We say that we have everything now. We have entered the free trade, have established friendly relations with many countries and anyone can easily go abroad, and learn the latest news from all over the world. In addition, we are able to use all the latest novelties in science and education. These are advantages. However, we lack discipline. Certainly, there must be discipline. The Ministry of Education has to solve this problem in conferences with teachers, scientists, and members of society in order to improve the situation at our schools. Only then, possibly, the problem will be solved.

Imagine that you have a chance to study once more? What would you choose: to study now or in the past? And could you please continue with your thoughts and feelings about the institute of higher education? Well, I want to take something from both times. First, I want to take discipline from the schools of the past. Second, I want to study using all the advantages of modern life. So, this is my opinion: discipline from the past and schools provided with high tech from now. And about higher education, my grandchildren study at the university. They say it is not easy to study. Of course, difficulties in study force students to learn more and gain knowledge. However, I want to add something about higher education, we shouldnt need to use a testing system to enter the university. Children study at school then they prepare for standardized questions and just fill in the blanks. One more interesting thing is that there are only two variants, right? Ok, three answers. As there are only three answers it is not difficult to find the right one. We have to cancel this system. Students wont become educated. Students need to have an oral examination. For this examination they must prepare rigorously. I have graduated from two institutes of higher education. If there are three questions in every card you have to prepare for approximately ninety questions. To find the answers for all these questions you have to review all you had in this course. In standardized tests students do not review, they just learn the answers by heart. And if they have logical thinking they can easily find the right answer. Is this knowledge? And if we have an examination, students would speak. To speak they have to think. So, they will improve their oratorical skills. In addition, they learn to speak in front of people. From this aspect an examination is much more useful than a test. Examinations make students

prepare and know exact things from a definite sphere. So we have to abolish tests, otherwise young generation will become uneducated. They dont get anything from filling the blanks. They have to think and speak. Thank you very much for your interview. What do you advise for the young generation? Every persons aim is to love his country and to be a patriot. To love his country and to be a patriot you have to know your mother tongue. People who do not know their mother tongue will never become a patriot. Now it is the twenty third year of Independence of Kazakhstan. It is the time when a person could finish 4 or 5 universities. However, some of citizens do not know the Kazakh language. What can you say about this? Is this a national honor? Is this patriotism? It means that those people do not love their country, their mother tongue, and it is a big shame and spinelessness. I cannot even find words to describe it. What a shame not to learn the Kazakh language in twenty years, considering that a lot of money was allocated and hundreds of schools were built. Everyone must know his mother tongue, Kazakh people may learn it even in two or three months. We cant learn it in twenty two years. I am feeling desperate and want to tell to youth to know their mother tongue and to be the patriot of our country. For the sake of the motherland we have to be ready to do anything. My only dream is to see how you, the new generation, can become well educated and can contribute to a bright future. Sir, I am grateful that you could spare the time. Now I can say that you have a big experience from life. I hope that what you say will surely be a guide to new generations. We have learnt a lot of things. Thank you very much! Good bye!

01.10.2013

18:30-20:30