How a Bryncrug couple helped to reshape the education system of a former Soviet republic

June 14, 2024

How a Bryncrug couple helped to reshape the education system of a former Soviet republic

Bryncrug-born Richard Evans and Hampshire-raised Claire Powis were both teachers at schools in England when they met on holiday in Finland, 500 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Little did they know then that within a decade they'd be living and working together in Kazakhstan, helping to reform the former Soviet republic's education system and writing the country's new national curriculum.

Nor did they know they'd spend three years in Moscow and that their shared love of travel would see them visit more than 60 countries over the next 20 years (top photo: on safari in Zambia).

Today, life has come full circle for Richard, as he and Claire have settled in the village he left more than 40 years ago. "It's good to be back," he says. "I've noticed quite a lot of people who left the area in their 20s are now returning."

Richard may have come back to his roots, but the couple's wanderlust remains strong: they still travel to out-of-the-way places - North Macedonia is their next planned trip - and Claire continues to influence education globally: she is a named author for maths textbooks published by HarperCollins' international series - "written from my front room in Bryncrug"!

It has been quite a journey. Richard grew up on Caerffynnon Farm in Rhyd-yr-onnen, but after leaving school in Tywyn moved to Hatfield to study for a degree in environmental science at the University of Hertfordshire. He returned to Wales for two years, working for the RSPB in Dolgellau, before moving to London and then to Ramsgate in Kent. For 20 years he taught at a large secondary school in nearby Broadstairs, becoming head of science.

When he met Claire on an organised four of Finland in 2003, she was head of maths at a school near Lincoln, so for the next two years they had to make do with a long-distance relationship, meeting up for holidays, before Claire found a job in Kent.

In 2011, she was made redundant. "I was working with the local education authority, supporting schools that were struggling," she recalls. We were very successful, helping to get a lot of schools out of special measures. But then, because of financial cuts, the team was made redundant. Although there were other jobs opportunities for me in Kent, there was nothing that really excited me. By then, Richard had been at his school a long while, so we thought: what shall we do?"

At that time, newly independent Kazakhstan was embarking on a major internationalisation programme in order to shake off seven decades of Soviet rule and convert to a market economy. This included recruiting teachers from overseas to reshape the education system. For avid travellers Claire and Richard, it was too good an opportunity to pass up.

Kazakhstan - the ninth-biggest country in the world in terms of land mass - was part of the Soviet Union until 1991. "That meant the political elite was Russian; ethnic Kazakhs had a limited intelligentsia," explains Richard. "School teachers had been brought up in the Soviet style, so in order to train up the next generation to have an international outlook the government needed teachers from abroad to bring in new ideas and to work collaboratively with local teachers. One of the reforms was to implement a trilingual policy in schools, which meant pupils learned Kazakh, Russian and English."

The new approach required a new national curriculum, and teams of teachers were recruited to draw it up. Claire was on the maths team, Richard on the team for biology.

Today, all schools on this educational programme in Kazakhstan are internationally accredited, with many young people going on to study at some of the world's top universities, such as Harvard and Oxbridge. "The government pays for students' overseas university education, as long as they come back to work in Kazakhstan afterwards," explains Claire.

Because, back then, almost no one spoke English - and most of those who did had never conversed with a native English speaker - Claire and Richard had to learn Russian quickly. "The first week we were there we needed to buy towels, so we had to use phrase books," remembers Claire. "Once people realised you didn't understand them, they were really kind."

Within two years the couple were both fluent, with Richard also becoming proficient in Kazakh. "Probably growing up bilingual in Welsh and English helped," he remarks.

During the six years they were there, Claire and Richard worked in four different schools in three different cities, both becoming deputy principals. Their first school was in Kokshetau on the border with Siberia, where temperatures can plummet to -50C in winter. "Most people there had never met anyone who didn't speak Russian."

Claire wrapped up for the Kokshetau winter

The Kazakhs are famous for their horses and, says Richard, "there are horses everywhere. Outside the cities, everything revolves around horses and the seasons. The oldest-known evidence that humans domesticated horses was found in Kazakhstan: a skull with bridle bit marks dating back to 4,000BC."

By 2017, with their respective parents' health beginning to decline, Claire and Richard felt the need to visit the UK more regularly, "but this was problematic because the school holidays are different from the UK; there was one really long one in the summer but almost nothing for the rest of the year." So they decided to leave Kazakhstan and move to Moscow, to work at a private international school. Holidays were more evenly spread out over the year and flying back to the UK was easier.

Richard with his sister Ellie in Red Square

Then, three years later, Covid struck, and for four months the couple were confined to their one-bedroom apartment, working valiantly to keep the school running virtually.

"By then we were senior management, so we were trying to run the school and keep everything on track," recalls Claire. " Richard worked from the kitchen and I worked from the ironing board in the lounge!"

As soon as restrictions were lifted in June 2020, the pair flew home to see their families - and ended up not going back. "Having to quarantine in both countries just wasn't practical, so we made the decision to stay in the UK," says Claire. "My parents are in Southampton, so we had to decide whether to live near them or near Richard's parents in Wales. As property prices are very expensive in Hampshire, we opted for Wales, but we travel to Southampton regularly to see my parents."

They have both developed new, home-based interests: Richard has transformed the large garden of their 200-year-old cottage and is also a member of Bryncrug Community Council, while Claire takes their dog, Idris, to agility classes in the village, has rekindled her love of baking and is learning Welsh. They married here too - tying the knot on the Talyllyn Railway soon after returning from Moscow.

Looking back on their years abroad, Claire describes living and working in Kazakhstan and the Russian capital as "occasionally challenging, but so much fun", as well as professionally fulfilling.

"It's quite something to think that we both went from working in school classrooms in the UK to influencing an entire country's education system!"