Turkmen children still learn late leader's words

ASHGABAT, Mar 6 (Reuters) State propaganda called him ''the light of new Turkmen literature'' and even after his death the writings of late President Saparmurat Niyazov take precedence over other subjects in Turkmenistan's schools.

The Central Asian state may have a new leader who has promised to reverse cuts in education, but schoolteachers still go to work daily prepared to drill pupils on Niyazov's main book, the Rukhnama.

Niyazov, who died of heart failure aged 66 in December, diverted millions in natural gas revenues to marble palaces and golden statues of himself.

He published books -- chief of which is the Rukhnama -- herald a golden age for his nation, and Rukhnama (The Book of the Soul) remains central to all aspects of life.

The new president, Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, kissed the bright pink and green first volume at his inauguration last month. It still forms part of the driving test.

The book is a mix of folklore, morality, autobiography and history written in oracular style.

One teacher, who asked to be called Aman, said he was paid 100 dollars a month to prepare children for their Rukhnama exams.

Teaching is one way out of widespread unemployment, he said.

''During lessons I explain parts of the book and the children take notes,'' said Aman. ''The children are not interested in the philosophical parts, but I can't just do the stories in the Rukhnama all the time.'' Dressed in a suit, the 41-year-old asked to have his name changed for personal security and spoke to Reuters in a cafe away from school.

Niyazov wrote in Rukhnama: ''Every Turkmen citizen should have a knowledge of science.'' But the crumbling green paint, portraits and quotations of Niyazov lining the corridors of Turkmenistan's schools testify to educational decline.

History exams were replaced with Rukhnama exams. Teachers were ordered to teach the ''sacred book'' instead of conventional subjects for two lessons a week. Even maths was adapted to include Rukhnama references.

LONG SHADOW Promises of reform by Berdymukhamedov, the new president, have led many to hope that education might recover in a country noted for its poor human rights record and repressive security apparatus.

Berdymukhamedov has ordered that from September schooling be extended by a year to meet the ten-year international standard, foreign languages be taught, more university places created and the Internet made more widely accessible.

But Rukhnama is not going away for the time being.

Inside two new state-run Internet cafes, Niyazov portraits glower over small tables upon which lie copies of the book, also available electronically at sites like http://www.rukhnama.com.

Prime-time television still features the evening Rukhnama reading, just before the news.

A man in a dark suit and skullcap and woman in a long green traditional gown walk around a giant mock-up of the book in a darkened studio as they read out excerpts in serious voices.

A few days after being sworn in, Berdymukhamedov attended the opening of a new university building where smartly dressed students lined staircases, all clutching a copy of the book.

Thousands of schoolchildren stood for hours along the route the new president was to drive in order to wave flags and cheer as his armoured Mercedes sped past.

Like all important buildings, the university sports an enormous portrait of Niyazov over the entrance, a golden bust of the ''Great Leader'' inside, and his golden profile in relief dominates the stage of the main lecture hall.

The irony is that despite all this the Rukhnama may actually be poorly known in Turkmenistan.

''We were told we could only give pupils a four or a five in Rukhnama,'' Aman said. The Soviet-era 5 point grade scale goes from one to five, with 5 being the top mark.

BRAIN DRAIN What many perceive as the ''dumbing down'' of intellectual life in Turkmenistan has driven the educational elite into exile or underground.

Niyazov revoked the validity of foreign diplomas and closed down the Academy of Sciences.

One man, who publishes academic research in nearby Kyrgyzstan, said he had put his doctoral thesis on architecture on ice for the whole of the post-Soviet period, faced with high fees in Russia and no outlet at home.

He also spoke on condition of anonymity.

Now though, Russian universities -- benefiting from an oil boom and new-found confidence in Russia -- are courting him and others like him, he said, with offers to help complete the thesis for free.

That could quicken the brain drain.

Aman, the Rukhnama teacher, said he believed the book had a good side in that it contained moral lessons and taught Turkmens something of their own history. No one expected the new president to make anything other than gradual changes, he added.

''I don't see it as a tragedy that he is still talking about the Rukhnama,'' he said. ''But I'd like to teach history... The last 15 years have not been a step forward but a step backwards.'' Reuters BDP DB0940