Norov
Basic information
Interviewee ID: 990255
Name: Norov
Parent's name: Junhai
Ovog: Borjigin
Sex: m
Year of Birth: 1932
Ethnicity: Halh
Additional Information
Education: higher
Notes on education:
Work: retired
Belief: Buddhist
Born in: Gurvansaihan sum, Dundgovi aimag
Lives in: Songinohairhan sum (or part of UB), Ulaanbaatar aimag
Mother's profession: herder
Father's profession: herder
Themes for this interview are:
(Please click on a theme to see more interviews on that topic)
childhood
education / cultural production
work
family
herding / livestock
Alternative keywords suggested by readers for this interview are: (Please click on a keyword to see more interviews, if any, on that topic)
childhood
schoochildren's life
secondary school
movies
plays
student life
To read a full interview with Norov please click on the Interview ID below.
Summary of Interview 090515A with Norov
After completing elementary school in Deren sum of Dundgovi aimag in 1946 I went to the aimag secondary school in 1947. In 1950 I completed the seven-year secondary school of Dundgovi aimag and became a teacher due to lack of trained teachers. I taught at the elementary school in Deren sum for three years and then went to the army. I served for three years and in 1956 I was demobilized and went to Dundgovi aimag and worked as the head of a bag and of a negdel. Then going to the aimag centre I worked at the aimag party committee from 1962-1965 and at the same time I studied in the secondary school and had completed the tenth grade. From there I went back to Deren sum to work as a party cell darga for two years and then I entered the Party Institute. In 1973 I graduated, and worked as the head of a party cell in Deren and Tsagaandelger sums. In 1992 I retired. Through the privatization I got some livestock and I had raised them for ten years but in the zud of 2000 my livestock had died, and my wife passed away. I followed my children to the Ulaanbaatar city and I’m living here.
When we were in the elementary school the school dormitory was bad and we always used to live in gers. At that time the age of the schoolchildren varied. There were 8, 9 and even 11, 12 year-old children in the same grade. The children from small families that had a lot of livestock mostly finished the fourth grade and went to the countryside to tend the livestock.
There were three main subjects, math, reading and grammar. The textbooks were very rare. During the 1945 war, we couldn’t even find a pencil. We went to school in Mongolian deel and gutal. We had no toys and we used to play throwing kerchiefs and riding on each other like riding horses and bucking. In the aimag secondary school the vocational teachers used to teach us algebra, geometry and many other subjects. During the lessons, we weren’t noisy, and we strove to note down what the teachers said. The secondary school had been organized almost in a half-military way, I would say. The schoolchildren’s dormitory used to be in the gers. The dormitory teachers always checked the children’s presence. The dormitory children were never hungry or thirsty. Beginning from the 1950s the general condition of the schools improved a little. From being initially in gers we moved to a building with many tables and chairs. Beginning in 1951 the seven-year schools became ten-year schools. Later days, when I was studying in the tenth grade in the 1960s the school conditions been abruptly changed for the better and the professional teachers started to teach us. The teachers who used to teach in the elementary school later had received professional training as a teacher.
When I was small, there used to be silent movies. There used to be organized concerts and plays in the aimag cultural palace. The schoolchildren used to perform concerts a lot with their classes. The First of September and the New Year party were well organized within the school.
In 1969 I took exams to enter the Party Institute and I studied the science of that time, Marxism, Leninism and Russia’s party history. We used to study a lot of Russian language. The Party Institute trained the responsible state and party officers. You couldn’t enter it directly after finishing the tenth grade, only those who had worked could enroll. The school had a good organization and it was a serious school. The attendante (jijuur) would not let any students in who didn’t have a tie. It was couldn’t be compared with other Institutes and the student stipend was high.
