Kazakhstan plans to revise its school curriculum for grades 10 and 11, including the list of literary works, following a scandal over a Russian language and literature textbook that contained an explicit scene involving Sultan Baibars and a young girl, the website infohub.kz reports.
A Kazakh woman drew attention to the textbook's contents on the social network Threads. She posted photographs of the grade 10 reader showing an excerpt from Maurice Simashko's novella "Yemshan."
The author of the post was outraged that schoolchildren were being asked to read a scene in which an adult man has sexual relations with a girl. The work describes the heroine's fear and the pain she endures.
In an official response, the Committee for State Property and Privatization of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan (KGIiP) said the reader is part of the teaching materials published by Mektep.
The set was included in the list of recommended textbooks in 2019. The excerpt from "Yemshan" was placed in the "Man and Motherland" section in accordance with the standard curriculum for Russian language and literature for schools with non-Russian languages of instruction.
However, in July 2026 the teaching set was submitted for reprinting and did not receive a positive assessment following the first stage of expert review.
"According to the results of the scientific and pedagogical review of textbooks and teaching materials for grades 10-11 submitted for reprinting in July 2026, this teaching set for the subject 'Russian Language and Literature' was not recommended for use in educational organizations following the first stage of review," the official response says.
In addition, there are plans to revise the standard curricula for grades 10-11, including learning objectives and the list of recommended works.
The response does not specify whether the experts' negative assessment was related specifically to the excerpt from "Yemshan." It is also unclear whether previously issued readers will be withdrawn from schools and when the updated curricula will take effect.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote about why the Ministry of Education produces textbooks in different sizes.