Memorial-Pedagogical Museum of Ы. Altynsarin

In 1860, Ybyrai Altynsarin arrived in Turgay, which at that time was called the Orenburg fortress, upon the decision of the Orenburg regional government with the aim of opening a school. He was only 19 years old. A highly educated, enlightened educator, Ybyrai Altynsarin came to the land of Turgay in 1860 with a firm intention and a grand dream. This dream was to establish the first centers of education that would eventually merge into a broad stream of knowledge for the entire Kazakh people.

Opening a school in a dark land, where justice had not triumphed and the rich and poor were in constant confrontation, was not easy. There were neither suitable premises nor funds for construction, nor educational materials.

The local authorities approached this important matter for the future of the nation without much enthusiasm. However, Ybyrai Altynsarin did not lose heart in the face of temporary difficulties.

He walked around the villages, actively conducting explanatory and agitation work among the population, tirelessly explaining to people how important it was to be able to read and write, to gain knowledge and to follow the path of education. The great enlightener’s goal found support among the people. They realized that science and education, which should rise above the dark sky of the Kazakh people like the sun, were destined to become as essential a need as air.

His maternal relatives - members of the Shegen clan - assisted in the construction of the school in Turgay. Gathering funds from the local population, Ybyrai Altynsarin began to erect the school building in the village. Following the model of Russian folk schools, he developed a project for the first school in the Kazakh steppe. The school building was spacious, solid, with a roof, wide classrooms, and a long corridor convenient for educating children. The school’s foundation was laid with stone, and the walls were made of thick brickwork.

The late graduate of the Ybyrai Altynsarin school, educator Gaziz Qaji Amirxanuly, recalled the construction of the school: "At that time, it was not easy to build in Turgay. Everything required funds. Money was collected from the people in the form of livestock, which was then exchanged for money, and only after that was the school construction completed. We saw this school ourselves and studied in it. The thickness of its walls was astonishing."

According to historical documents, the first school was graduated by 14 students.

In 1987, the graduates and teachers of Ybyrai Altynsarin’s school initiated the preservation of the main part of the old building and its transformation into a museum of national heritage. During the three summer months, the residents of Turgay - from schoolchildren to elderly people - produced adobe bricks and erected the walls. In 1989, to mark the 125th anniversary of the first Kazakh school opened by Ybyrai Altynsarin, the school building was restored with public funds, and the Memorial-Pedagogical Museum of Ybyrai Altynsarin opened.

Everyone who steps onto the land of Turgay inevitably strives to see this sanctuary - the ancestral hearth of the Kazakh school, founded by Ybyrai Altynsarin, as if it were a living witness of ancient history. The last authentic remnants of that ancient school, preserved in the museum, are burnt bricks, adobe bricks, and school bells.

The main part of the museum's materials consists of photographic documents and copies of archival sources. In the region where the great educator Ybyrai Altynsarin lived and worked, a rich collection of valuable exhibits for the museum was gathered.

Here are stored the essays and letters of the enlightener, as well as the bells he used. In each hall of the museum, visitors witness more than two centuries of invaluable activities of a galaxy of educators, initiated by Ybyrai and continued by his followers. It is thanks to the light of knowledge that he ignited that this land has risen to a high level of education, culture, and art.

Each hall of the museum has its own name:

1. Stars of the East. Steppe Education and Muslim Literacy
2. Ybyrai's Lineage. Childhood and Years of Learning
3. Ybyrai - Educator, Publisher, and His Associates
4. The History of Schools Opened by Ybyrai, His Followers and Students
5. Reverence and Respect to Ybyrai

The main value of the museum lies in the fact that it is built on the site of the first school opened by Ybyrai Altynsarin in Turgay. This is particularly appealing to visitors. Despite the fact that most of the exhibits are copies, for the discerning person, they represent a priceless heritage.

Among the exhibits are an original Tatar textbook used in the past, a blueprint of the first school building, the school uniform of a teacher of that time, essays of Ybyrai Altynsarin, a copy of the manuscript version of the first Kazakh newspaper, a photograph of the Turgay Craft College, as well as a diagram of the three-tiered education system developed for Kazakh children.

Visitors are particularly interested in the fact that the museum was restored strictly according to the blueprint of the first school. Thus, everyone who enters the museum feels as though they have stepped into the threshold of the school opened by Ybyrai Altynsarin himself. The staff of the museum are fully devoted to the preservation of this priceless heritage.

In the visitors' guestbook, a special place is occupied by the signature and high evaluation left in 1989 by President N. Nazarbayev during his visit to Turgay, as well as his significant address to the people of the country. This attests to the museum complex's dedication to its duty to society and future generations.