THE ISSUE OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND RELIGION STUDIES BASED ON THE FIELD OF RELIGION POLICY OF THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC

Abstract

Since gaining independence, Kyrgyzstan has granted freedom to religious education. Thanks to this freedom, religious educational institutions were opened in all regions of Kyrgyzstan. In Kyrgyzstan, religious and educational activities are carried out mainly by representatives of two religions: Islam and Christians. In the field of religious education, Islam mainly prevails. In 1991, a madrasah named after Hazrat Umar was opened, providing the first religious education in Kyrgyzstan. After this, religious educational institutions opened in the regions; it is known that at this time their number exceeds more than 300. In the early years of independence, a religion lesson was introduced in schools, and the imam of that village would come and teach a special lesson about religion and faith once a week. Later, imams conducting lessons in schools began to interfere with the clothes and gaits of school teachers; these cases caused a stir in some places, as a result of which the imams were forced out of the lesson at the request of school directors. Based on a decision taken at a meeting of the Defense Council held in February 2014, the issue of religious education and religious studies lessons was raised. As a result, the task was set to organize a unified curriculum and content of religious subjects in Islamic educational institutions in accordance with modern requirements. Also introducing classes related to religious studies in public high schools. Since 2016, some schools have introduced the subject “History of the Culture of Religions” on a pilot basis. After the change of government in 2020, starting from 2021, the subject “History of the Development of Religions” was introduced and taught in all schools. In this article, we analyze the above-mentioned issues.