The problems of education in the Nalchik district on the pages of the periodical press at the beginning of the XX century

The article analyzes the problems of education in the Nalchik district of the Tersk region, raised on the pages of periodicals at the beginning of the 20th century. The article reviews the state of the educational system, focusing on articles in local newspapers — “Terskiye Vedomosti”, “Pyatigorsk Echo”, “Terek”, and others—that address key issues in educating the Russian, Cossack, and mountain populations, including administrative obstacles hindering children’s access to education. These include the insufficient number of schools at various levels, the lack of local curricula and adapted textbooks for teaching children of mountaineers, qualified teachers who know the language of Kabardians and Balkarians, etc.

The issue of poor knowledge of Russian by schoolchildren from Kabardian and Balkarian families or even complete ignorance of the Russian language was widely discussed in the press, which made it difficult to master the curricula. And the excessive emphasis in mountaineer families on learning the Arabic written language, which was necessary for reading the Koran. 

The options for overcoming the existing difficulties in the education system in the Nalchik district depended on the interaction of various forces of society. The cooperation of the district administration, elected officials of the Sloboda municipality, informal mountain leaders, and religious ministers contributed to the improvement of educational conditions and was key to the development of education in the region. 

The study highlights the importance of considering the local context in educational policy. The experience of the Nalchik region demonstrates that successful modernization of education is possible only with a flexible combination of government initiatives with the cultural characteristics of the region. The periodicals not only highlighted the successes of education but also recorded the challenges faced by the local community. This helped to find compromise solutions and reinforced the importance of education as a means of uniting a multi-national society. 

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