American Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Development ISSN Online: 2771-8948 Website: www.ajird.journalspark.org Volume 15, April, 2023 104 | P a g e INITIATION OF MEASURES TO END ILLITERACY AMONG ADULTS IN UZBEKISTAN (1924-1928) Rahmonjon Rasulovich Ahmedov Teacher of Kokand State Pedagogical Institute, Republic of Uzbekistan Abstract: In this article, after the national-territorial demarcation, the implementation of measures to end illiteracy among the elderly population in the Uzbek SSR and its results are analyzed. Statistical data on the activity of schools for ending illiteracy established in the republic, the number of people involved in these schools, and their national composition in the period before the complete collectivization of agriculture are presented. Keywords: national-territorial delimitation, Uzbek SSR, ending illiteracy, schools for ending illiteracy, “Attack” movement, women’s schools, literacy level. INTODUCTION In September-October 1924, the national-territorial demarcation in Central Asia was legally formalized by the higher authorities of the USSR, as well as by the leadership of the Central Asian republics. On November 18, 1924, the Central Executive Committees of the Turkestan ASSR, Bukhara SSR and Khorezm SSR passed a special joint decision and transferred their powers to the Provisional Revolutionary Committee of the Uzbek SSR, which was established on October 31, to serve until the Constituent Congress of the Soviets of the Uzbek SSR [1. p.306-308]. On February 17, 1925, the First Congress of Soviets of the UzSSR, which began work in Bukhara, adopted the “Declaration on the Establishment of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Uzbekistan”. The declaration legalized the formation of the USSR and announced that the USSR voluntarily became part of the USSR [2. p.298]. RESEARCH METHODS As a result of the national-territorial demarcation, 3 million 963 thousand 285 people of Central Asia, consisting of 8 million 131 thousand 62 people, became part of the Uzbekistan SSR [3. p.150]. In 1925, the administrative unit was introduced in the Uzbekistan SSR and was divided into 7 regions (Samarkand, Tashkent, Ferghana, Zarafshan, Surkhandarya, Kashkadarya and Khorezm) [4]. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Until the national territorial demarcation in Central Asia, the work of eradicating illiteracy in the Turkestan ASSR was not so popular, this process was slow. For example, until 1924, only 447 schools for eliminating illiteracy were established in the Republic of Turkestan. In American Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Development ISSN Online: 2771-8948 Website: www.ajird.journalspark.org Volume 15, April, 2023 105 | P a g e the Uzbek SSR, which was formed after the demarcation of the national state in Central Asia, the work to end illiteracy was launched in a new order. That is, in 1925-1926, the Extraordinary Commission for Eradication of Illiteracy under the Council of People's Commissars of the Uzbek SSR focused on eradicating illiteracy among the members of the Trade Unions and the Koshchi Union. For this, the Extraordinary Commission plans to establish 400 new schools, 130 of them in Tashkent region, 100 in Ferghana region, 50 in Zarafshan region, 75 in Samarkand region, 20 in Khorezm, 10 in Kashkadarya, 10 in Surkhandarya, 5 in Konimekh. It is planned to be opened in the district [5. p.15]. All these schools had to be directed to professional-production institutions. At the same time, trade unions had to organize 200 more illiteracy schools across the country at their own expense. It is envisaged that the Waqf Department of the Uzbek SSR will open illiteracy schools at its own expense, including 25 schools in Ferghana region and 32 schools in Tashkent region [5. p.15]. According to the plan of activities for the eradication of illiteracy in October-March of 1924- 1925 academic year of Samarkand Oblast Political Enlightenment Union (Politprosvet), in this academic year, 135 events will be organized at the expense of local budgets, 75 at the expense of the state budget, 35 at the expense of funds from the Koshchi Union, 20 total 266 illiteracy schools will be established at the expense of trade unions. These schools for ending illiteracy should include at least 6,500 illiterates [6. p.83]. From 1926, it was recommended to establish schools for ending illiteracy for women, to expand the network of existing schools, to use red tea rooms, clubs in organizations and institutions, and wide use of red corners. The expediency of organizing clubs for lower literate people in the red teahouse, club, red corners is indicated. In 1926, the republican emergency commission for the elimination of illiteracy created a network of schools for low- literate people, for this purpose, to establish 6 schools for low-literate people in Tashkent and Ferghana regions, 5 in Samarkand, 4 in Zarafshan, 3 in Khorezm, Surkhandarya and Kashkadarya, 1 of the schools opened in the regions recommended that one be organized for women [7. p.17]. After the national-territorial delimitation, the work to end illiteracy in the Uzbek SSR began to develop rapidly, both quantitatively and qualitatively. This can be seen from the fact that from the 1924-1925 academic year to the 1927-1928 academic year, the network of literacy centers in the Uzbek SSR increased from 1,005 to 1,712, and the number of students in them increased from 33,835 to 51,360 [8. p.234]. Despite this, the literacy level of the population in the republic was still low. According to the results of the 1926 census, the literacy rate of the population aged 15 to 40 in the Uzbek SSR was 13.1%, including 17.7% among men and 8.1% among women [9. p.288]. Literacy rate in rural areas of Uzbekistan was 2.88 percent, of which 4.3 percent among men and 0.87 percent among women [9. p.290]. Even in the first years after the national-territorial demarcation, the organizational aspects of the eradication of illiteracy in the Uzbek SSR were carried out according to the previous methods. In the Turkestan ASSR, the work on the eradication of illiteracy was initially initiated by the members of the Koshchi union and trade unions. In the academic year 1925- American Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Development ISSN Online: 2771-8948 Website: www.ajird.journalspark.org Volume 15, April, 2023 106 | P a g e 1926, 4,638 members of the trade unions studied in the courses to eradicate illiteracy, and in the academic year 1926-1927, their number reached 13,705. In the 1926-1927 school year, 13,190 members of the “Koshchi” union studied in schools for the elimination of illiteracy. In these years, illiteracy eradication work was carried out relatively effectively among men of military service age, that is, 50% of those involved in illiteracy eradication schools were 20-22-year-old men. Literacy among women is low, with 19.4 percent of women in urban areas and only 0.87 percent in rural areas. The level of attracting women to literacy centers is also low, and in the academic year 1926-1927, a total of 4,603 women studied at literacy centers [10. p.18]. According to the information of December 1, 1924, until this period, 36 schools for the completion of illiteracy for Uzbek women were established in 13 cities, uezds and districts of the Uzbek SSR, and 2758 women were educated in them [11. p.44-45]. In addition, a boarding school for Uzbek girls was established in the Old City of Tashkent and in Bukhara, where 240 girls studied. 1,200 women were involved in literacy in 51 schools for the elimination of illiteracy established for women through the networks of political enlightenment. At the end of 1924, it is planned to establish another 30 new schools for the education of women at the expense of the state budget in the cities and villages of the Uzbek SSR and cover 900 women in them [11. p.44-45]. In rural areas of Uzbekistan, there are difficulties in ending illiteracy among women. This situation is connected with the national mentality of the local population in the official documents of that time. That is, women’s lack of rights in practice, social backwardness, and the influence of religion on spiritual life were very high, which is why the level of women's involvement in schools for ending illiteracy was very low. In the school year 1926-1927, only 4,603 of the 36,930 people enrolled in schools for the elimination of illiteracy were women. The very small number of local female teachers was also one of the reasons preventing women from being attracted to schools for the elimination of illiteracy. Therefore, in the coming years, it is planned to establish independent literacy centers for women and attract active women from cities and villages to them. In this way, it is planned to increase the number of teachers from local women [10. p.20]. Although the indigenous people, most of the villagers, were not opposed to the Soviet government's policy of eradicating illiteracy, they were reluctant to send their women to the eradicating illiteracy courses (even though the courses were open only to women). In addition, in the years under review, in some regions of the Uzbek SSR, in particular, in the regions of the Ferghana Valley, Soviet power was not fully established, and in rural areas where the majority of the population lived, the influence of Bolshevik power was still weak. The following table shows the dynamics of illiteracy elimination schools established in the republic from the 1924-1925 academic year to the 1927-1928 academic year: Information on the number of schools for the completion of illiteracy in the Uzbek SSR in 1924-1928 [10. p.23] American Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Development ISSN Online: 2771-8948 Website: www.ajird.journalspark.org Volume 15, April, 2023 107 | P a g e Academic years Number of Illiteracy Termination Schools In the state budget In the local budget Opened to the funds of public organizations and villages Total schools Number of students 1924/25 205 398 402 1005 33835 1925/26 130 730 551 1411 38576 1926/27 28 894 402 1364 36930 1927/28 йўқ 1282 430 1712 51360 As can be seen from the data, during the years 1924-1928, the number of schools for ending illiteracy in the republic increased from 1005 to 1712, and the number of students in schools increased from 33835 to 51360. It is noteworthy that over the past years, the number of schools for the completion of illiteracy financed from the state budget has been decreasing. That is, in the academic year 1924-1925 there were 205 such schools, while in the academic year 1927-1928 not a single school was established at the expense of the state budget. The number of rural schools in Uzbekistan also grew rapidly. In the 1928-1929 academic year, 1,880 primary, 83 partial secondary, and 1 secondary schools operated in the villages of Uzbekistan, and 83,839 rural youth were educated in these schools. From 1925 to 1928, the number of rural schools in Uzbekistan increased by 2.9 times, and the number of students studying in schools reached 167,000 people [12. p.12]. According to the results of the 1926 census, the literacy rate of the population aged 9 and over in the USSR was 51.1 percent (76.3 percent in cities, 45.2 percent in villages). This figure was 10.6 percent (36.0 percent in cities, 3.2 percent in villages) in the SSR of Uzbekistan. If we analyze the level of literacy of the population of the republic in the section of individual regions, the highest indicator in this regard is 32.0 percent for Tashkent region, the literacy rate of the population in the cities of the region was 51.8 percent, and 10.7 percent in the villages. The general indicator of Ferghana region is 7.8%, and in 1926, the literacy rate of the elderly population in the cities of Ferghana region was 23.2% (including men 31.7%, women 13.8%), and in rural areas it was 3.3% (including men 5.4 percent, women 0.8 percent). Ferghana Oblast had the lowest literacy rate of urban adults in the country, and it was second only to Tashkent Oblast in terms of rural population [13. p.41-42; 43-47]. The relatively low percentage of literacy in the cities of Ferghana region is explained by the fact that the indicators are given as a percentage, there are relatively many cities in the region, and the population in them is much larger than in other regions. Accordingly, the number of adult literates in the cities of Fergana region is much higher than in other regions (except Tashkent city), but the percentage of the total population of the cities is low. On the other hand, until 1926, when the population census was taken, the Soviet power was not fully established in some regions of Fergana region, and because of the ongoing armed resistance movement against the Soviets in this region, the Soviet government's policy of ending illiteracy among adults was not widely spread in all regions of the valley. The high American Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Development ISSN Online: 2771-8948 Website: www.ajird.journalspark.org Volume 15, April, 2023 108 | P a g e level of literacy in rural areas compared to other regions was related to the already high level of literacy among the rural population of Ferghana Valley. Because it is known that the system of national schools (Otinoyi schools for girls) and madrasahs developed widely in the regions of the Ferghana Valley both during the Khanate period and during the colonial period of the Russian Empire. In general, the results of the population census in 1926 clearly showed the social condition of the population of the Uzbek SSR, in particular, their level of literacy, that the results in this regard were lower than the average indicators of the All- Union. , encouraged to introduce new methods. In 1926-1927, the rate of eradication of illiteracy increased and despite the expansion of activities in this regard, the general situation was still unsatisfactory. Because even during this period relatively organized layers of the population - trade unions, members of “Koshchi” union, party and Komsomol members were not fully involved in measures to end illiteracy. The reason for this is, first of all, the low material base for the eradication of illiteracy, and on the other hand, it is explained by the slowness of the activities of the organizations and institutions responsible for this comprehensive event, as well as the party- soviet bodies. The participation of public organizations in illiteracy eradication has decreased significantly since 1925. In the academic year 1925-1926, public organizations financially supported 551 illiteracy eradication centers, and in the 1927-1928 academic year, this amount was 430. Considering that only 30 percent of the members of the Komsomol of Uzbekistan were illiterate in this year, this shows that the participation of the organization in the work of ending illiteracy was quite low [14. p.176-177]. In general, in order to intensify the measures to end illiteracy in Uzbekistan, first of all, it was necessary to strengthen the activity of public organizations such as party-soviet bodies, Komsomol, and trade unions. The attention of local executive committees and departments of public education to end illiteracy was also not up to the required level. In most places, there were no concrete plans for the establishment and implementation of the Illiteracy Eradication Schools. There were not enough instructors and methodologists in the management apparatus of the Emergency Commission for the Eradication of Illiteracy. Due to the lack of permanent leaders on the eradication of illiteracy in the executive committees, it is not possible to monitor the implementation of directives [14. p.177]. Allocation of funds for the purpose of eliminating illiteracy in the Uzbek SSR increased year by year: 228,145 rubles were allocated in the academic year 1925-1926, and 438,156 rubles were allocated in the academic year 1927-1928. However, the increase in funds allocated for this purpose was not enough, and they did not allow to increase the number of schools for the completion of illiteracy to the level of need. One of the problems was the fact that the cost of education in the Uzbek SSR was low compared to other republics. The cost of making one illiterate person literate in the republic was set at 16 rubles 50 tinyas, and in other republics this amount was 30 rubles and even more [15. p.77-78]. Under the existing system, those who graduated from illiteracy courses quickly lost the knowledge they had acquired in the course and became illiterate again. For this reason, it was necessary to develop and implement methods that strengthen the initial knowledge American Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Development ISSN Online: 2771-8948 Website: www.ajird.journalspark.org Volume 15, April, 2023 109 | P a g e obtained in the courses to end illiteracy. Among such activities, it is recommended to organize a school for low (under-literate) people, publication of popular newspapers and brochures for low-literate people, self-literacy activities among low-literate people. Until this period, schools for the lower literate were not widely developed, in 1928 there were only 50 such schools. In the conditions of Uzbekistan, it was necessary to expand the network of such schools, and to extend the educational period in schools for the elimination of illiteracy [10. p.20]. At the moment, measures such as the organization of additional illiteracy courses for workers and women in the summer season, the publication of necessary textbooks and training manuals for the education of the illiterate [10. p.20]. In 1927, 43 percent of all adult men and about 70 percent of women in the Soviet country were illiterate. The 15th Congress of the CPSU (December 2-19, 1927) paid special attention to cultural construction throughout the country, including the eradication of illiteracy, a number of decisions and resolutions on this issue were adopted [16. p.182]. The literacy level of the population in Uzbekistan was lower than the average level in the Soviet Union. However, the increasingly developing industrial construction in the republic, the rapid cooperation of agriculture required first of all not only literate workers, but also people with special knowledge. In Uzbekistan in 1927, the “Attack” movement, which was hastily escalated by the Bolsheviks, caused a number of tragedies. However, this action also had a positive effect on raising women’s literacy. In particular, in the middle of 1927, more than 100,000 women in the republic threw off the burqa, and 120 schools for the completion of illiteracy were established for them. These schools united more than 5 thousand active women [17]. In the years under review, when talking about the level of literacy among a small number of nationalities in Uzbekistan, their literacy was lower than that of the indigenous population. Because there were few teachers in the republic who taught in these languages to teach the literacy of other nationalities than Uzbeks. For this reason, it is necessary to take similar measures for a small number of nationalities as well as for the indigenous nation in the coming years to end illiteracy. For this, it was necessary to increase the training of teachers who teach in the languages of a small number of nations, to publish textbooks and study guides, and to expand the network of schools where classes are held in these languages [18. p.222]. The following table provides information on the literacy level of adults of different nationalities (from 14 to 40 years old) living in the Uzbek SSR. The level of literacy among the population of the USSR between the ages of 14 and 40 (according to the 1926 census) [19. p.88, 94, 122] Nationality Sex Total population Literate people Literacy percentage Uzbeks male female 770522 704427 73385 9944 9,5 1,4 Tajiks male female 80844 72859 8092 843 10 1,1 Kyrgyzs male 21084 1255 5,9 American Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Development ISSN Online: 2771-8948 Website: www.ajird.journalspark.org Volume 15, April, 2023 110 | P a g e female 18450 59 0,3 Kazakhs male female 25417 23755 2230 141 8,7 0,6 Russians male female 71671 66640 67009 49961 93,4 75 Other indigenous peoples male female 60296 52676 5734 618 9,5 1,3 Other alien population male female 39520 38017 30897 16989 79,8 43 According to the UzSSR: male female 1069853 966864 189633 78635 17,7 8,1 total 2036717 268268 13,1% The analysis of the data in the table in the case of the sum of men and women shows that in 1926, 13.1% of the population aged 14 to 40 in the Uzbek SSR was literate [20]. The highest rate among individual nationalities belongs to Russians, 84.5 percent of whom were literate. The next places in terms of literacy are other foreign peoples - 61.7%, Tajiks - 5.8%, Uzbeks - 5.6%, Kazakhs - 4.8%, Kyrgyz - 3.3%, other indigenous peoples - 5.6%. organized. CONCLUSION In general, in the second half of the 1920s, the situation related to the education of adults in rural areas of Uzbekistan was very complicated. In the second half of the 1920s, many factors that hindered the process of ending illiteracy in rural areas - lack of financial resources and teachers. In addition, the seasonal establishment of schools for the elimination of illiteracy in most places, the suspension of school activities during the peak of agricultural work, led to unsatisfactory implementation of school work and low quality of education. 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