March 16 marks Shanyrak Day within the ten-day celebration of Nauryznama. For the Kazakh people, the concept of the “kara shanyrak” (ancestral home) is sacred and deeply respected. This notion, rooted in national traditions and consciousness, is closely connected with the country’s first higher educational institution – Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University. Over nearly a century of its history, this respected alma mater – a true forge of teachers – has trained about 250,000 highly qualified specialists for Kazakhstan’s education and science sectors.

 In the 1930s, prominent figures of the Alash movement made an invaluable contribution to establishing this educational institution, which aimed to promote enlightenment and improve literacy among the population. Beginning with the great national teacher Akhmet Baitursynuly, such distinguished figures as Sanzhar Asfendiyarov, Oraz Zhandosov, Saken Seifullin, Temirbek Zhurgenov and Mukhtar Auezov delivered lectures and taught here. These facts highlight the university’s deep historical roots. Since then, the institution has continued to train teachers who contribute to the development of education for the people living across the vast lands between the Irtysh and Volga rivers, from Saryarka to Alatau. For this reason, Abai University is considered the spiritual and intellectual “kara shanyrak” of science and education.

Shanyrak Day within the Nauryznama decade aims to promote family values and emphasize their importance. For humanity, family is the most important value in life. The traditional blessing, “May your shanyrak be high, your kerege wide, and your threshold strong,” reflects a profound wish in Kazakh culture. As mentioned earlier, within the walls of this national university, which has trained nearly 250,000 specialists, many people have established families and built their own shanyrak. Many students found their life partners during their university years. Today, numerous alumni live together in harmony and unity under one shanyrak. Let us mention a few of them.

The university community knows Murat Zhaksybayev and Gulnarai Sabdenaliyeva well. They not only received higher education at Abai University but also defended their candidate dissertations and became associate professors. Since receiving their diplomas in the 1990s, the couple has continued to teach at their alma mater. They work at the Department of Biology of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and the Department of Geography and Ecology. It would not be an exaggeration to say that they found their family happiness at Abai University.

 At the Department of Art Education of the Faculty of Arts, three married couples of lecturers are currently working. These creative individuals, who have devoted their lives to art and painting, also found their family happiness at Abai University. Aigali Sultangubaev and Gulnaz Asylbekova married in 2008, while Aidyn Kozhagulyov and Karlygash Gaysina established their family 15 years ago. Ernath Imanbakiev and Yryskul Okhanova are celebrating their first twelve-year cycle of marriage this year.

The renowned scholar, teacher, and academician Serik Kirabayev, who devoted his life to Kazakh literary studies, also met his life partner at the university. His wife Aliya Beisenova, a graduate of the Faculty of Philology who worked at the university for many years, is one of the institution’s proud alumni. Today, new generations follow the academician’s path. Among them are Tileules Atikov and Nazerke Makhanbetova, who studied at the same faculty and married in 2018. They graduated from the program “Kazakh Language and Literature in Schools with Non-Kazakh Language of Instruction.” Many graduates stepped into the university together and later created families. Some couples have been wearing their wedding rings for more than half a century.

 The recently supported new Constitution states that the family is under the protection of the state. This means that the Fundamental Law guarantees respect for the sacred concept of the shanyrak for the Kazakh people. On the eve of Shanyrak Day, we highlighted several individuals who studied at Abai University and created families here. Undoubtedly, the number of such stories will continue to grow in the future.

 “Abai University” Media Center.