Korenizatsiia and Professional Training for Kyrgyzstan during the 1920s

Introduction. The formation of professionals as a stratum in ethnic republics and regions became a strategic direction of the korenizatsiia in the first decades of the Soviet era. Goals. The article aims to identify some features of ethnic professional training and the shaping of the vocational education system in Kara-Kirghiz Autonomous Oblast, Kirghiz Autonomous Oblast, and Kirghiz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic throughout the 1920s. Materials and methods. The study primarily deals with documents from the Central State Archive of the Kyrgyz Republic (collection ‘Kirghiz ASSR People’s Commissariat for Education’) and other sources. The conducted analysis rests on the classical research principles of historicism and objectivity, employs the general scientific, statistical, comparative historical, and problem-chronological methods. Results. The severe shortage of native professionals and absence of vocational schools forced the RSFSR People’s Commissariat of Education to send young residents of Kirghizia ― on a centralized basis ― to educational institutions of other regions. The targeted student recruitment program of the 1925–1926 and 1926–1927 academic years involved 728 individuals. The bulk of the latter were ethnic Kyrgyz from poorest social strata (peasants, farm laborers, workers). And most of the allocated funds would be used for sustenance scholarships. The formation of a professional education system in the ethnic autonomy included efforts for the establishment of various educational institutions with different specializations. The educational mobilization of youths during the specified period laid the foundation for the would-be ethnic intelligentsia and provided required conditions for the modernization of Kyrgyzstan throughout the decades to come.

1. Bayaliyev T. Under the Leadership of the Communist Party ― to the Blossoming of Kyrgyz Soviet Literature. Frunze: Kyrgyzstan, 1978. 226 p. (In Russ.)

2. Bolponova A. B. Kasym Tynystanov ― Scholar and Statesman of Kyrgyzstan. Karakol: Tynystanov Issyk-Kul State University named, 2011. 178 p. (In Russ.)

3. Daniyarov S. Cultural Construction in Soviet Kyrgyzstan, 1918–1930. Frunze: Kirghiz SSR Academy of Sciences, 1963. 183 p. (In Russ.)

4. Daniyarov S. S. Communist Party of Kirghizia in the Struggle for Universal Literacy. Frunze: Kyrgyzstan, 1980. 130 p. (In Russ.)

5. Dzhunushaliyev J. The Era of Development and Disaster: 1920s–1930s. Bishkek: Ilim, 2003. 248 p. (In Russ.)

6. Izmailov A. E. From Null to Ultimate Literacy. Frunze: Mektep, 1978. 92 p. (In Russ.)

7. Isakova Ch. B. Development of Kyrgyzstan’s secondary vocational education system: Sociohistorical aspects. Science, New Technologies and Innovations in Kyrgyzstan. 2008. No. 1–2. Pp. 256–260. (In Russ.)

8. Karypkulov A. K. (ed.) History of the Kirghiz SSR. In 5 vols. Vol. 3: Victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution and Socialist Construction in Kirghizia, 1917–1937. Frunze: Kyrgyzstan, 1987. 651 p. (In Russ.)

9. Gaidukov D. A. et al. (eds.) History of the Soviet Constitution, 1917–1957. Collected documents. Moscow: USSR Academy of Scien­ces, 1957. 551 p. (In Russ.)

10. Karyeva A. K. Educators and the creation of an autonomous region of the Kyrgyz. Problems of Modern Science and Education. 2017. No. 12(94). Pp. 43–47. (In Russ.)

11. Kurbanova N. U., Kurumbayeva G. D. More on Ishenaly Arabaev ― Educator, Teacher, and Sociopolitical Activist. Bishkek: Arabaev Kyrgyz State University, 2022. 233 p. (In Russ.)

12. Kurmanov Z. K. National Intelligentsia of the 1920s–1930s: Their Contribution to the Revival of Kyrgyz Statehood and Struggle against the Totalitarian Regime. Bishkek: Ilim, 2005. 378 p. (In Russ.)

13. History of Kyrgyzstan. From Earliest Times to Present Days. Vol. 3. Bishkek: Qut-Ber, 2016. 816 p. (In Kyrg.)

14. Kyrgyzstan ― Milestones of Statehood (Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Kara-Kirghiz Autonomous Oblast, RSFSR). Bishkek, 2024. 520 p. (In Russ.)

15. Maanaev E., Kurmanov Z., Kurumbayeva G. The Kyrgyz Intelligentsia: Its Shaping and Role in Sociopolitical Life, 1920s–1930s. Bishkek: Arabaev Kyrgyz State University, 2001. 159 p. (In Russ.)

16. Malakhov V. S., Letnyakov D. E. Colonial analogy: On the use and abuse of the post-colonial studies language in the post-Soviet context. Polis. Political Studies. 2023. No. 6. P. 113–127. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2023.06.09

17. Mambetaliev U. Z. Zoning of Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast (November 1924): Economic aspects. Ekonomika. 2013. No. 2(16). Pp. 58–63. (In Russ.)

18. Martin T. The Affirmative Action Empire: Nations and Nationalism in the Soviet Union, 1923–1939. O. Shchelokova (transl.). Moscow: ROSSPEN, Yeltsin Presidential Center Foundation, 2011. 662 p. (In Russ.)

19. Oruzbayeva K. B., Daniyarova A. S. Bazarkul Daniyarov ― First Teacher: A Portrait in the Historical Context. Bishkek: Sanzharbek Daniyarov Foundation, 2021. 472 p. (In Russ.)

20. Ploskikh S. V. Intelligentsia and Authorities of Kyrgyzstan: Mutual Relations in the Soviet Era. Bishkek: Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University, 2012. 395 p. (In Russ.)

21. Soktoev I. A. Party Leadership in the Shaping of Soviet Kyrgyzstan’s Intelligentsia. Frunze: Kyrgyzstan, 1969. 128 p. (In Russ.)

22. Soktoev I. A. Born to the Great October: Kyrgyzstan’s Intelligentsia over the Seventy Years of Soviet Power, 1917–1987. Frunze: Kyrgyzstan, 1989. 66 p. (In Russ.)

23. Tlostanova M. The postcolonial condition and the decolonial option: A postsocialist mediation. Novoe Literaturnoe Obozrenie. 2020. No. 1(161). Pp. 66–84. (In Russ.)

24. Turgunbayeva A. M. The Shaping of Public Education System during the Cultural Revolution in Kyrgyzstan, 1920s–1930s). Cand. Sc. (History) thesis. Bishkek, 2008. 194 p. (In Russ.)

25. YdyrysovR. Zh. Beginning of the intellectual class formation of Kyrgyzstan in the 20’s. International Journal of Humanities and Na­tural Sciences. 2017. No. 11. Pp. 25–29. (In Russ.)

26. Esengulova M. Educational Activities and Pedagogical Legacy of Ishenaly Arabaev. Bishkek: MaxPrint, 2005. 152 p. (In Russ.)