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The Decline of Yisun Tolgoi School in Hobogsair


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Authors

Bulag, Uradyn E. 
Fuerwa, Dorjraa 

Abstract

This video explores the ruins of the Yisun Tolgoi School in Hobogsair, which was constructed in 1983 and closed in 2002. Initially established as a “mobile school”, the Yisun Tolgoi Surguuli (Nine Hills School), involved teachers travelling across the pasturelands to provide one to two hours of lessen to one set of children before moving on to the next family and they would return periodically to check on homework. By 1983, the mobile school had partially settled in Yisun Khar Tolgai. In its early years, the mobile school boasted a team of around a dozen teachers, including individuals like Tseren, Bekheish, Baajin Gombjav, Togtah, Buyantai, and Batnasuni Buuva, with Batkhishig serving as the school’s head. At Yisun Tolgai, the school recruited young teachers with basic literacy skills and provided them with further training at the Normal College Centre in Hobogsair, nurturing them into professional educators. Over the years, the school had a significant increase in student numbers, growing from six students initially to around 150 within four years. However, challenges such as the remote location and delays in constructing essential infrastructure like electricity and heating systems forced students to study directly at the Hobogsair county centre or Hoshotolgai town, rather than in the village itself. In September 2002, the school received an official termination letter, leading to the retirement of elder teachers and the transfer of younger ones to alternative schools. After nearly two decades of operation, the Yisun Tolgoi School merged with other schools in the county centre of Hobogsair, and its building was repurposed as a warehouse.

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Keywords

Torghuts, Hobogsair, Mongol School, Education, History, Yisun Tolgoi School

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Publisher

Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge

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Sponsorship
Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin.