The author focuses on the reconstruction of the educational environment in the Akmolinsk and Semipalatinsk regions throughout 1850s — 1880s. The author analyzes measures taken to get Muslim confessional schools under control and to incorporate the Kazakh population into the imperial cultural environment. Having examined the turning points in central government politics in the area, the author revealed some legislation sources highlighting the central government approaches toward education of the indigenous population. Such key periods in legislation were: 1854, when the Semipalatinsk Region and the Region of the Siberian Kirghiz were founded; 1868, when the Akmolinsk Region was set up; the 1870s, when a differentiated approach within the framework of «orderly organization» was introduced. All those activities helped to focus the ministry’s joint efforts on developing new educational policy adjusted to ethnic and religious characteristics of the region. The research has revealed the leading role of the Imperial administration in the formation of the educational environment. A great deal of attention has been paid to the elements of the educational environment (educational institutions), formed under the influence of ethnic and religious peculiarities. The responsibility to develop the Kazakh self-identity was delegated to confessional schools (maktabs, madrassa); parochial schools were intended for Russians, the Kazakhs being given free education there.