Development of school education in the national environment in the don and the North Caucasus during the NEP
Introduction. The article reveals the features of the development of education in the ethnic environment through the expansion of the network of national schools in the don and the North Caucasus during the NEP. The purpose of the article is to identify the specifics of educational policy among dispersed ethnic groups in the don and North Caucasus in the 1920, and to analyze its main tasks, directions and mechanisms. Attention is drawn to the importance of the problem of education development, the fight against illiteracy, and raising the level of culture in the national environment. A comparative analysis of the state of the school network among the largest dispersed ethnic groups in the region. The key problems of educational policy in the national environment are shown, its main achievements and contradictions are revealed. Methods: the article applies the basic principles and scientific methods of historical research, including the principle of objectivity and historicism, as well as system, historical-genetic, historical-comparative methods. The content of the article shows the historical experience of interaction between the state and society in the field of education development, as well as the contradictory nature of the state educational policy in the national environment in the 1920. during the NEP period, many national communities in the framework of increasing demand for primary education experienced financial difficulties in opening and providing educational institutions. Under these conditions, the Soviet state provided assistance to the development of education in the ethnic environment in the format of Soviet national schools. The opportunity to receive education in their native language was combined with the need for ideological and political education of young people in the spirit of Soviet ideology. The desire to eliminate illiteracy, increase the level of culture of national minorities was combined with elements of coercion, the closure of religious schools. The value of the study is to emphasize the importance of interaction between the state and society, including in the field of culture and education, as well as the need to find a compromise between them on these and other issues, taking into account both state and ethnic interests. Conclusion. The materials of the article can be used in teaching the disciplines "National history", "History of the Don and the North Caucasus."