In an interview with a Turmush correspondent, 66-year-old Mamytova shared that she teaches at the M. Mamakeev Gymnasium. “I am proud of my choice to be a Kyrgyz language teacher, as it allows me to pass on my native language to future generations. As the saying goes, ‘If you are a nation, you are a nation through your language’ [‘Without a language, there is no nation’]. We contribute to the preservation of the nation. When teaching children, I do not limit myself to theory but focus on folk pedagogy and traditions. The main goal is to instill a love for reading. Many wise and successful people have become so thanks to books. However, nowadays children read less; they are distracted by smartphones,” she noted.
In Baktygul's opinion, it is important for parents to read actively as well, setting a personal example for their children. “Some parents simply send their children to kindergarten or school without showing interest in their further education. In such situations, the knowledge of one teacher is not enough. If parents care and read with their child, success will not be long in coming. The programs ‘Mom's School’ and ‘Dad's School’ really help. We see in practice that when parents read, children also start to read. Unfortunately, there are those who believe that it is enough to take a child to school and pick them up in the evening, without caring about their children's future. Therefore, our work is aimed at changing the attitude of parents, and then the children,” the teacher explained.
Over the years of her practice, Baktygul Mamytova has concluded that adult illiteracy is a consequence of insufficient attention to children at an early age. “Today, many adults, including civil servants, make spelling mistakes. I always tell them: ‘Don’t be shy, you need to relearn the grammar of the Kyrgyz language.’ In the early 2000s, I taught a special course where I taught officials who did not understand the texts of resolutions and bills. It was especially difficult for graduates of Russian schools; they did not understand the meaning of words. Later, this course was closed, and language specialists began to work in institutions.
Illiteracy develops due to a lack of attention to the child in the early grades. Children learn not only letters but also the correct spelling of words. If mistakes are not corrected at this age, they become ingrained. Therefore, to ensure our children are literate and educated, it is necessary to monitor their education from the very beginning,” the teacher added.
In addition to her teaching activities, Baktygul Mamytova is fond of handicrafts and passes on her knowledge to her students. “There are many paths in life. We pass on knowledge about our traditions and history to children, teaching them crafts in practice — creating products with our own hands. As women, we pass on what we learned from our mothers, as this art should also be transmitted to the next generations,” she explained.
For her many years of service, Baktygul Mamytova has been awarded several honors from local authorities and received the title of “Excellence in Education of the Kyrgyz Republic.”
