This article examines the educational work and activities of the national intelligentsia of the early XX century. In Kazakhstan, public education developed in two directions: religious and secular. The Russian Empire considered school education as one of the most effective means of Russification in the Kazakh land. In the fight against this policy of Russification, Alash representatives contributed enormously. The article substantiates that the activities of the Kazakh intelligentsia in the field of education resonate just as strongly today as when they appeared in the early XX century. In addition, the paper also demonstrates the importance of the Latin alphabet, founded by the Kazakh intellectual AkhmetBaitursynov.