The problems connected with high school education can hardly be discussed within the categories of the rights abridgement or violation. There were exceptional cases in 1990–1991 as some people told us when high school graduates were not given their high school certificates. Unfortunately, we could not double check this information and find out what was the reason for the refusal.

The Turkish children experienced the most the serious problems in high schools in 1989–1991 in connection with a poor knowledge of the Russian language. The situation in many schools tends to be as follows: the Slavic children form forms «A» and «B» while the children of the Turks–Meskhetians, Armenians, Yezidians , Kurds are concentrated in individual classes including the so called «correctional classes» (forms for children who permanently lag behind in the educational process). The representatives of school administrations and regional departments of people’s education believe that this approach makes it easier for the teachers to work and facilitates the children’s adaptation to the barely familiar language environment.

It also should be noted that many children find it hard to go to school because of the necessity to financially assist their families and to work in the fields and because of inadequate housing conditions. The scores of the Turkish schoolchildren have to quit school for the sake of work.

In Krymsk school no.2 more than 100 children of 750 students are the Turks, Armenians and Yezidians. According to school director F.F.Kormishin the only problem is still the problem of the tongue barrier as many children have a poor knowledge of the Russian language. In co-ordination with the regional department of people’s education they have formed correctional classes for the children with a poorer knowledge of the language. Unlike usual forms where some 30 children are studying these classes have 18 children. (There are totally six classes of this type: forms from 1 through 4 and two fifth forms.) The Turkish parents would want their children to learn together with the Russians so they could master the language as soon as possible. There are no special problems with the Turkish children as far as discipline is concerned, no ethnical confrontations were noticed either. All children are catered irrespective of their residence registration within the same financial limits. The parents committee has Turkish members. As of now the school is heavily overpopulated — it has 30 complements, that is 1.5 times as many as prescribed.

4 of 10 first forms in the school of Nizhnebakanskiy stl. in Krymsk Region are «Turkish» and being taught by the Turkic teachers. Overpopulation in Nizhnebakanskiy school is extremely huge — 60 complements.

In Kholmskiy (Abinsk Region) the Turkish schoolchildren of the 1st through the 3rd forms are brought together and have a Turkic teacher. Correctional groups for the students of the 5th–7th forms whose Russian is poor were organised even three years ago. Kholmskiy is inhabited basically with the Turks–Meskhetians who arrived from Namangan where few Russians lived and where they had to send their children to Uzbek schools, therefore the problem of poor knowledge of the Russian language is especially acute here. The things look easier in Akhtyrskiy stl. and in Abinsk — the majority of the Turkish families who reside there have arrived from Tashkent Oblast.

Thus, despite the above marked difficulties the high schools of Krasnodar Territory make their best to have the children of the refugees involved in the process of training. However, we have hard time to give an ultimate answer as to what degree the «Slavic» and «non-Slavic» division is justified in each particular case and whether it would not hinder the children of the refugees, in particular the Turks–Meskhetians, from achieving an adequate education level. We got the impression that in general teachers displayed tolerance, interest and creative initiative and that it found support on the part of the Territory people’s education authorities.

The refugees are not entitled to enter state higher educational institutes because they do not have passports or residence permits. Those who have residence registration may become students at higher educational institutes, for example, according to B.Iskenderov at the present time there are seven Turkish–Meskhetian students in Apsheronsk Region. As Nizhnebakanskiy settlement administration chief T.A.Shaprynskaya said some high school graduates became students at private higher educational institutes.

Education is one of the most painful problems for the Meskhetian leaders and activists. They are anxious that the number of the Turks–Meskhetians with special vocational and higher education has decreased by scores of times during the last years. The process of intelligentsia formation was practically suspended and, to their opinions, it is equivalent to the near-term decrease of the total intellectual level of the Meskhetians, the conversion of this people into unskilled workers.