Educating Ten Future Leaders of Kazakhstan

We can all remember hating school at some point or another. But hopefully as you look back at your school experience, you can see the good, recognise how much you learnt and benefitted from, remember some good times, and appreciate the preparation for life that you received there.

In this culture, such things aren't always taken for granted. An education that genuinely provides a solid preparation for life, that attends to constructive character development as well as academic accomplishments, is not so often realised.

Mary is now into the last few weeks of her school year - the weather is already hot, the summer break is just around the corner, and it's hard to stick with it. We're into the home straight. But there's still a signficant recognition that her studies at Salem School can be seen as more than just ticking the boxes, plodding along. This is preparation for life, and for that she is very grateful.

The school year here is built around the seasons, and the key national holidays. Summer is very long and hot, and so schools in Kazakhstan only run from 1st September to the end of May. New Year is a natural break (and a very big festival!) which splits the academic year into two halves, whilst the Kazakh New Year at the equinox in late March splits the second half into its two quarters.

All that means that there is no half-term break here like some countries have, and so we're currently in the long quarter through the cold of winter from early January until mid-March. But when that's done, the warmth of Spring will already be in the air, and only a couple of months will remain before the long summer break arrives once more. 

For now, Mary and her friends in 4th class are doing a great job of studying together. Mary has had some struggles in the last few months with her teacher's style and the draining drudgery of winter here, but she's still doing well and appreciating her opportunity to study at Salem, as well as making a new friend with a recent arrival to their class. 'I love studying at this school,' she says. And you can see that she means it.

Thanks to all our sponsors for making this a possiblity for Mary, your generosity is really appreciated by her and her family.