On Useful and Useless Subjects
Debate Over Teacher Training Courses in Semipalatinsk
Kazakh teacher with students. 19th century. I.S. Polyakov, S.M. Dudin/Wikimedia Commons
As the nineteenth century gave way to the twentieth, a great wave of awakening surged through Kazakh intellectuals, sparking a passionate quest for knowledge. This outpouring of intellectual zeal led to an explosion of new magazines and newspapers being published in Kazakh, heralding the dawn of a new era in sharing culture.
However, what these intellectuals wrote went beyond only spreading knowledge. Soon, a variety of publications emerged, covering topics like business, society, politics, art, and humor. Qalam invites you to explore snippets from Kazakh publishing culture and history compiled by historian Abai Myrzagali, offering a glimpse into the important issues of the past.
In 1917, two-year teacher training courses were organized in the city of Alash-Qala (formerly Semipalatinsk), the capital of the Alash Autonomy. Interestingly, the most important and controversial topic in these courses was the curriculum itself, with many fervently defending or criticizing the set of subjects offered. In an article in the Qazaq newspaper titled ‘On the Teacher Training Courses’, an anonymous author weighed in, presenting readers with his rather radical views on which school subjects were necessary and unnecessary:
Why do I consider Arabic unnecessary? For about fifteen years, people in the villages have been studying it as a religious language, yet no one has truly mastered it. If learning languages is so important, then we should first and foremost learn Russian.
Kazakh newspaper/From open sources
The author's harsh criticism targeted not only Arabic but also the history of Islam, and eventually even native history, continuing to say:
The history of Islam and native history are merely segments of World History. Studying them without first understanding World History is futile and lacks context. However, once World History is studied, one can delve into not only the history of Islam and native history but also the histories of France and China.
Qazaq was a socio-political and literary newspaper in the Kazakh language, founded in 1913 by Akhmet Baitursynov, Alikhan Bukeikhanov, and Mirjaqyp Dulatov. In total, 266 issues were published, with the circulation reaching 8,000 copies.
