NAREK MKRTCHYAN
Nazarbayev signed a decree to change Kazakhstan’ s official script for the Kazakh language from Cyrillic to Latin script 22.
Despite the fact that the restructuring of Kazakhstan’ s educational system was in favor of Kazakh language, there are still many problematic issues regarding the low level of Kazakh skills in educational institutions. Kazakh and Russian medium schools were simultaneously established in Kazakhstan, in which both Russian and Kazakh languages are elective. However, as Fierman mentioned most mixed schools have both KMCs( Kazakh-medium classes) and RMCs( Russian-medium classes) and the growth of mixed urban schools from 242 in 1998 to 723 in 2004 is a sign both of the difficulties and success in expanding Kazakh-medium education in urban areas 23. The opening of Kazakh speaking educational institutions would be transformed into counter-hegemonic spaces if there would be Kazakh textbooks and both students and teachers would have a perfect command of the state language.
One of the most efficient methods of dissemination of national ideas is what Anderson called“ print capitalism” 24. The lack of Kazakh-language published literature weakens the strengthening of vernacular language. Most of the textbooks are not introduced in Kazakh, and there are some school textbooks with both Russian and Kazakh titles. For example one of the textbooks of Kazakhstan published in 1997 entitled Uchimsya I Uchim Govorit Po Kazakhskii( Learn and teach to speak in Kazakh) 25. Also, many textbooks in technical subjects in Kazakhstan are in Russian. In fact, the Russian language still has a dominant role in many educational institutions of Kazakhstan. Nevertheless, the creation of Kazakh language textbooks and curriculums would change the situation in favor of Kazakh language.
22
Official Site of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, http:// www. akorda. kz / en / events / akorda _ news / meetings _ and _ receptions / meeting-with-adilbek-dzhaksybekov-head-of-the-presidential-administration-and-marattazhin-first-deputy-head-of-the-presidential-administrat? q = Latin % 20script
23
Fierman W.,“ Language and Education in Post-Soviet Kazakhstan: Kazakh- Medium Instruction in Urban Schools”, The Russian Review 65, 2006, p. 102. 24 Anderson B., op. cit., p. 44. 25 Landau J. M. and Kellner-Heinkele B., op. cit., p. 200.
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