Paper long abstract:

"How will the children grow up as patriots if the alphabet says that our homeland is Russia?"

As the quotation states, this is the resentment of the Member of Parliament Ainura Altybaeva at the parliament session. Many Uzbek parents equally express the importance of learning the Russian language because they do not see their children's future in Kyrgyzstan, and their children and grandchildren attend private Russian schools, kindergarten, and other additional courses. This phenomenon was in contrast what the state is doing at the larger political level, increasing the role of Kyrgyz language, culture, and tradition. In this way, the imagination of future is given common form in learning Russian language, attending private schools, and opening a private business sphere. This has encouraged people to rely on different educational and professional strategies which provide better security and establish feelings of belonging in a period where people are insecure about their future prospects. The purpose of this article is to examine how parents make sense of their children's future in acceptable ways in response to dramatic conflict and political changes in Kyrgyzstan's post-Soviet environment. In times of insecurity and rapid change as a result of conflict, new needs and demands emerge in the society. This process of change gradually brings new opportunities for belonging within a potential system which provides access to resources and satisfies basic needs in present time. My aim is to discuss the emotional aspects of security generated by the parents, specifically how expectations and hope are created together with feelings of protection and dependency. This paper examines the future orientation and local security making of parents towards their children in the Osh, Kyrgyzstan. The key question I pose is how parents decide their children's education and their future perspectives and what practices they use to achieve their ends and secure their children's future.