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Abstract:

Tatar literature of the second half of the 19th — early 20th century widely covered the problem of children and youth education. As the only form of education available for Muslims in the Russian Empire, religious primary schools and madrasas had a powerful influence on the formation of students` characters. These students were called shakirds. In the works of G. Iskhaki, F. Amirkhan, Z. Hadi, F. Karimi, G. Tukay K. Tinchurin, A. Eniki there are shakirds who were the main characters; the conditions of their life and typical situations from life in the madrasah enjoyed the prominent place. The boarding system of education, remoteness of children from their families, coexistence of shakirds of different ages were the main difficulties children had faced during their stay in a madrasa. Training sometimes lasted up to twenty years, and after graduating from a madrasa, a shakird who studied only religious subjects and the Arabic language came out unadapted to real life. Except for a place of a mulla or a mudarris in a madrasa on the outskirts of the empire, he had no other option for arranging his life. Therefore, many Tatar writers criticized the dismal state of Muslim educational institutions of that time and demanded reforms both in curricula and in the organization of the educational process. However, innovations in the confessional educational institution came slowly and painfully. Supporters of the madrasa reform — “Jadidists”, faced incredible opposition from the “Kadimists”, who defended the centuries-old traditions of education that had become obsolete at that time. The first group spoke about the importance of studying secular disciplines, native and Russian languages, and introducing a class system; the latter were afraid of russification and the strengthening of moral vices in society.