Lazzat Zhumakanova: School’s activity is in the spotlight of the Assembly of people of Kazakhstan

Well-being of people and progressive development of the state directly depend on the level of education of its population. The basis of the general educational system is the school. The foundation of intellectual and professional growth of each person is laid at school.

School-complex of National Revival No. 17 in Petropavlovsk was founded in 1991 at the request of the Assembly of people of Kazakhstan. It is the only institution in the republic where the native language is taught systematically, national history and culture are introduced, but also the search, development and testing of innovative-information and educational models are carried out.

In the interview to the editorial board of assembly.kz, school headmaster Lazzat Zhumakanova told about history of the school, representatives of ethnoses studying at the school and her personal achievements.

—Lazzat Zhumagulovna, you are the headmaster of the School-complex of National Revival No. 17 in Petropavlovsk. Could you tell us please about the history of this unique school?

—The secondary school-complex of national revival No. 17 was put into operation in 1991 by the decision of akim of North-Kazakhstan region at the request of the Assembly of people of Kazakhstan of North-Kazakhstan region and is the same age of independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The creation of such a complex became possible due to the fact that representatives of 22 nationalities study at school. 

The uniqueness of our school lies in the fact that representatives of different ethnicities have the opportunity to study their native language, customs, culture and history of their historical homeland.

     The model of educational activity of school of national revival is defined by the concept in which the basic values and the maintenance of ethno-cultural education are designated and it is directed on realisation of two interconnected problems: education of the multicultural, polylingual person and formation of Kazakhstan patriotism.

—Which ethnoses study the mother tongue at your school and how is the educational process organised?

—The school has 9 national branches: Kazakh, German, Polish, Tatar, Chechen-Ingush, Azerbaijani, Korean, Ukrainian and Armenian. More than 200 students study their native language. Classes are held throughout the working week at a time convenient for the child, including Sunday. The mode of work is determined individually at each department in groups, taking into account sanitary and hygienic standards. Being the head of School of National Revival, I would like to note that the main goal of the activity of all the teachers of the nine national branches is to make graduates fluent in native language and to form personality, citizenship and international culture on this basis.

—The staff potential of the teachers is the key to the successful activity of the school. How do you solve the problem with the staff, i.e. provision of teachers of different nationalities, who know their native language?

—Of course, the main figure in the school is the teacher. The collective of teachers and pupils of the school is a collective of like-minded people striving to find a solution to the main problems facing them. The pedagogical staff of the national branches consists of 25 teachers. Of these, 70 per cent have higher pedagogical and professional education, and 40 per cent have higher and first categories. Teachers of the national branches have the opportunity to improve their qualifications in the countries of near and far abroad: Poland, Germany, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Tatarstan.

—I'm sure your school's educational plan is different from other general education institutions. What are the features of the educational programs that your teachers use in mother tongue teaching?

— The school works according to the individual curriculum, which is based on the basic curriculum agreed with Secretariat of the Assembly of people of Kazakhstan of North Kazakhstan Region.

The curricula of the national branches include 4 educational fields: philology, social studies, art and technology. A significant number of hours are devoted to studying language disciplines (from 9 to 7 hours): Kazakh, native languages, literature, speech development, literacy training.

Integrated courses are conducted as well: country studies (history and geography), art and culture are integrated through fine arts, music and choreography. Labour training hours are provided for the creation of handicrafts, sewing of costume details and development of the national industry at the second stage of training.

The maximum weekly training load does not exceed 12 hours.Training in the national branches is designed for 2 stages of 4 stages. 1st stage (1st and 2nd stage) - first and second years of training at the national branch. Stage 2 (stages 3 and 4) - third and fourth years of study. The groups are of different ages and each group works three times a week for 4 hours, including the weekend.

—What community organizations does your school work with?

—The activity of the School of National Revival is in the centre of attention and special care of the Assembly of people of Kazakhstan of the North-Kazakhstan region. We actively cooperate with ethno-cultural associations and department of Assembly of people of Kazakhstan of Manash Kozybayev North Kazakhstan State University.

The cooperation of the school with Language Development Department contributes to the actualization of the issues of expansion of the communicative function of the state language. Carrying out of festival "Menіn elіm-Kazakhstan" following the results of academic year, publishing house in the press of experience of work of teachers, school, it is one of the forms of their creative interaction.

—We know that your students are participants of all cultural events of our city and region. How do you evaluate the active life position of the students of your school?

—Realizing the program of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev "Rukhani zhangyru”, pupils under the direction of teachers of national branches within the limits of the special project "Tugan zher" have taken part in opening of museum movement in schools of Petropavlovsk, have issued an exposition in directions of the program "Rukhani zhangyru" in a school ethnomuseum, have visited sacral places in area of M. Zhumabayev. The school opened a Business Office for schoolchildren as part of this program. On the initiative of the Assembly, in the course of participation in the project "100 new faces of Kazakhstan" a meeting of school students with the winners among the candidates to enter the 100 new faces was organized.

After switching to the Latin alphabet, teachers and students of the school took part in the national dictation in the Latin alphabet, attended the regional training seminar "Switching to the Latin alphabet".

The school is proud of its achievements.  Our students are winners of regional, national and international contests, for example, Adam Mickiewicz International Competition on Polish Language Skills and the international competition "Children Draw the World of Kazakhstan" under the auspices of UNESCO. A pupil of the Azerbaijani branch became the winner of the republican educational project "Myn Bala".

The school is actively developing language trinity, conducting local history work and imparting cultural values based on the diversity of cultures of Kazakhstan people. 

— What has changed over the years of the school's existence?

—During the period of development of the school there were quantitative and qualitative changes in its activity. For example: the number of national branches increased from 4 to 9; creative workshops.

Educational and methodical potential of the school was replenished by printed editions of the school teachers. M. Tiabus, L. Pytieva, G. Gandaliyeva, S. Aslanian, G. Jafarov, N. Kavun were published in republican and regional press houses.

  Today, the school occupies its niche in the system of continuous education of the region, carrying out the continuity of education of the younger generation through the general cultural values of the ethnicities.

Annually pupils of our school become students of higher educational institutions of the countries of near and far abroad.18 graduates of the school have entered universities of Poland, Germany, Korea, Russia, Tatarstan, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Thus, a pupil of the Polish branch of the school, Sergey Klimushin, being a student of the University of Krakow, organized a teleconference between the teachers of the school and the university. During the teleconference Polish colleagues thanked the pedagogical staff of the school for the quality training of students.

—I'm sure it's not easy to be a head of the school like this. It is necessary to be a leader, a teacher, a politician and a practitioner. How do you manage to combine all these qualities in one person and lead your multinational team? What are your personal achievements?

—I think that many years of experience in life have helped me in my work. In 1985, I graduated from Petropavlovsk Pedagogical Institute, majoring in mathematics. I have been working in the education system for over 30 years. During this time, I have passed the way from a mathematics teacher to the headmaster, from the headmaster to a member of Petropavlovsk Maslikhat. From 1993 to 1998, I headed the pedagogical staff of Petrovskaya 8-year-old school. Since 1999, I worked as Deputy Director for Educational Work at School No. 8, and since 2005, I have been in charge of the teaching staff at school No. 10. At each stage of my career I managed to achieve high results of work. My students occupied and occupy prize-winning places in city, regional olympiads on mathematics. Since 2012, I held an elected position of secretary of maslikhat. I actively cooperate with various public organizations of the city and region: regional branch of the party “Nur Otan", "Orleu", regional branch of the Assembly of people of Kazakhstan, department Assembly of people of Kazakhstan of Kozybayev SKSU, Association of Business Women of North Kazakhstan region, public council at the prosecutor's office of North Kazakhstan region. In 2007, I was awarded the I. Altynsarin badge.  Since 2016, I have been heading the staff of Secondary School Complex of National Revival 17 KSU, which purposefully carries out its activities, responding to the needs of parents and the public, approving the policy of peace and consent.

Dana TUGAMBEKOVA

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