This article highlights the implementation of colonial policy in the Zhetysu region during the period of the Russian Empire in the II half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. At the same time, the goal of opening Russian parish schools and the policy pursued by the Russian administration in the field of education are being determined in the region. The region is showing the news of the gradual reduction of the Muslim education system by demonstrating the newly opened Russian schools. Along with the military colonization of the southern region by tsarist Russia, the retention of the local Kazakh people in "spiritual citizenship" was shown. Analyzing the works of Russian travelers and researchers, we note that the colonial policy was carried out in general educational institutions, which, first of all, changed the attitude of students towards religion. The cities of Semirechye became the main centers of education in the region. The Russian government, of course, contributed to the development of the educational sphere among the Kazakh people. They taught the Kazakhs the Russian language. And this meant the adaptation of the local Kazakh people to the language, on the basis of which the Russification policy was carried out in the Turkestan region. Through the works of Russian travelers, the cultural life in the South of Kazakhstan in the middle of the 19th and early 20th centuries is described.