education in kazakhstan essay

Education in Kazakhstan

Education system, secondary education, technical and vocational education, higher education.

Kazakhstan's education system helps to gain knowledge that enables to get a profession later. In the Republic of Kazakhstan, education is divided into general and vocational. School (secondary) education is divided into the classes: primary (grades 1-4), basic and senior. Primary vocational education (after the 9th grade) can be obtained in the specialized lyceums, while secondary vocational education can be received in the specialized schools or colleges.

The education system in the Republic of Kazakhstan consists of the several education l evels : 

• preschool education and training;
• primary education;
• basic secondary education;
• secondary education (general secondary education, technical and vocational education);
• post-secondary education;
• graduate education;
• post-graduate education.

The education system is supervised by the relevant ministries: Ministry of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Secondary education in Kazakhstan is compulsory and includes primary, basic secondary (9 grades) and general secondary (11 (12) grades) education. There is also a vocational and secondary vocational education.

Children aged 6 years old are admitted to the first grade of school. Education in schools of Kazakhstan is comprised of 3 levels: primary (1-4 grades), basic (5-9 grades) and senior (10-11 (12) grades). Educational programs are developed for comprehensive development of capabilities of the especially gifted students and are implemented in the specialized schools for gifted children.

Technical and vocational education is aimed at training of qualified workers and middle-ranking specialists and is delivered in the academies, colleges and tertiary colleges based on the basic secondary and (or) general secondary education.

The technical and vocational education in the country is delivered in the 772 technical and vocational education organizations, of which 446 are public and 326 are private. The total amount of students in technical and vocational education organizations is 517.3 thousand people, of which 312 thousand people have studied under the state order.

The major tasks of technical and vocational education are the following:

- the training of qualified workers and middle-ranking specialists;

- expanding the coverage of free-of-charge technical and vocational education;

- increasing the target state order at the request of the enterprises (10 thousand people annually);

- increasing the amount of scholarships for students of technical and vocational education organizations;

• creating conditions for increasing the accessibility of technical and vocational education;
• improving financial stability and targeted support of technical and vocational education;
• improving corporate governance of technical and vocational education;
• organizing and developing social partnership in the system of technical and vocational education;
• creating equal conditions and barrier-free access for students with special educational needs;
• ensuring consistency and continuity between the levels of education;
• expanding international cooperation in the field of personnel training and re-training of in the technical and vocational education organizations.

In order to ensure the accessibility of technical and vocational education, since last year, the state order has been placed under the principle "money follows the student" . Earlier the admission to the colleges was carried out according to the allocated places under the state order and currently the fellows could select the colleges and specialties as per their will. These measures ensure the transparency of state order distribution and admission of applicants to the colleges.

The applicants will be able to apply to the colleges through the Egov.kz portal or directly to the college. The applicants can choose up to 4 specialties and up to 4 colleges.

All the school graduates will be given an opportunity to undergo professional diagnostics through the education departments’ information systems. As a result, the applicants will get recommendations to select a particular specialty and be familiar with the datasheets of recommended industries.

The competition is conducted through the education departments’ information systems based on the diploma average score under required and vocation-related disciplines.

Also, the new mechanism is aimed at 100% coverage of the graduates with free-of-charge college tuition under highly demanded specialties.

Currently, higher education in Kazakhstan is at the stage of dynamic development that is dictated by scientific and technological progress requirements. Recently, the republic has undertaken global measures to upgrade and reform the education through introducing top notch teaching methods and developing up-to-date infrastructure and providing full-fledged student support.

Higher education structure and study format

Today, the Kazakhstani higher education system in the context of the Bologna process parameters is of the following structure:

• Baccalaureate is higher educational programs intended for cohort study with awarded bachelor's degree under relevant specialty.
• A scientific and pedagogical direction with a study period of at least two years;
• A discipline direction with a study period of at least one year.
• a scientific and pedagogical direction with a study period of at least three years;
• a discipline based direction with a study period of at least three years.

Today, the number of universities in the country is 120 , of which national universities – 11 , state – 29 (non-profit joint-stock companies), international university – 1 , corporate universities – 16 , private – 48 , autonomous – 1 (Nazarbayev University), non-civilian – 14 .

Study format

Today, Kazakhstanis have the opportunity to receive higher education under the following study format:

• Full time or classroom study. Under this format a student must attend seminars and lectures in classrooms.
• Distance learning. Internet based learning. Assignments and educational materials are posted online for self-study. Online consultations are upon request. Diploma projects defense is the higher educational institution intramural conducted.

The most important aspect of higher education development in the country is the creation of a culture of academic integrity. For this purpose, the League of Academic Integrity had been created in 2018 as an independent and self-established organization following the example of the Ivy League in the USA, the Russell Group in the UK and C9 in China.

Admission to universities

The citizens who have acquired general secondary or technical and vocational education or post-secondary education also have the opportunity to receive higher education. There is possibility to go through a shortened educational programs process with an accelerated study period for the persons with acquired technical and vocational, post-secondary or higher education with re-crediting the grades  and crediting the earlier grades of disciplines accomplished provided for the sufficiency of the scope of study and continuity of the educational program.

In Kazakhstan, admission to universities is based on the Unified National Testing (UNT) results. Since 2017, they have been passing overall school exams attestation to obtain a certificate of secondary education, “Altyn Belgi” (with honors) and UNT score for admission to universities and receiving government grants for studying at universities. Since 2019, there is a possibility for school graduates to take the UNT four (4) times a year.

The UNT in electronic format is carried out in the following terms:

• from January 10 to February 10 (one attempt);
• from March 1-31 (one attempt);
• from May 16 to July 5 (main UNT for receiving a government grant, two attempts);
• from August 10 to August 20 (one attempt).

Applications are accepted (online) on the website www.testcenter.kz of the National Testing Center within the following deadlines:

• from December 20 to January 6 of the calendar year for individuals;
• from February 20 to March 10 of the calendar year for individuals;
• from April 28 to May 14 of the calendar year for individuals;
• from July 20 to July 30 of the calendar year for persons.

Admission to the university after a re-test is done is possible only on a paid basis; and the government grants are distributed upon passing the main UNT (in May-July of the year).

At the end of a bachelor's program study a student receives in-depth knowledge of occupation. Studying in master programs is of advanced specialty. In Kazakhstan, students can study in one specialty at the bachelor's program, and continue their graduate studies at the master program in another specialty. At the end, the student has the opportunity to master two specialties and hold down the financial and time costs of receiving the second higher education.

Studying in higher educational institutions of Kazakhstan is organized both on the basis of government educational order and at the student’s own expense. The major of government educational grants is allocated for the study of technical specialists and teachers. Almost half of the total number of educational grant holders are representatives of a socially vulnerable group of the population. In addition to the government educational grants, the universities expand an access to receiving the higher education through corporate grants and tuition allowances.

Government scholarship

To encourage the school youth and provide the opportunity to obtain higher education at universities within the country, the Government will allocate scholarship to the students. The government scholarship is divided into:

• It is paid to the students who accomplished the session with “good” and “excellent” grades.
• Increased (+15% to the basic). It is assigned to the students who accomplished the session with “excellent” grades.
• Presidential (+100% to the basic). Students with special merits such as creative, scientific research, sports, social and cultural etc. could apply to receive a presidential scholarship.

The government also allocates increased scholarships for students with disabilities and those who are without parental custody.

What are the grants the one could receive for higher education programs study in Kazakhstan?

There are different higher education grant types in Kazakhstan:

Government general grants. The republican budget funds are allocated among the country's universities.

Grants for the youth from western, densely populated and newly created regions of the country . They are allocated according to the designated list of country’s universities and the republican budget funds are allocated.

Government target grants. They are allocated in advance to the country’s universities and can be implemented only in a particular educational institution.

Mayor office grants. These are the local executive body funds. The students study in specialties at the universities that are in short supply in the region.

Rector's grants and scholarships. They are special achievements and merits awarded at the university.

There are specific conditions for receiving the grants to study in each particular university. There are also grants and scholarships from public foundations and organizations. They can be awarded based on competitive arrangements in the separate universities or awarded to the high achieved students throughout the country.

“Bolashak" program

Kazakhstanis have the opportunity to receive higher education abroad on a paid or free basis. Many European universities are welcoming to admit students from Kazakhstan. An international scholarship "Bolashak" has been established by government of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Kazakhstanis who have intention to receive a doctorate or master's degree abroad.

An international scholarship “Bolashak” has become a unique initiative that provides an access the talented youth to the world top universities. Over the 30 years of scholarship implementation a pool of more than 12.5 thousand highly qualified specialists has been formed in the country amongst the scientists, engineers, doctors, government managers and other professionals. The scholarship graduates have contributed to the building of international relations, Kazakhstan’s integration into international community and transfer of international knowledge and technology to the country.

The Program graduates have played a key role in the launch of the flagship of Kazakhstan’s higher education - Nazarbayev University, Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools, Astana International Financial Center, a number of National Medical Centers, AstanaHub, Astana IT University, International Center for Green Technologies and Investment Projects.

Today, the Kazakhstanis have a unique opportunity to gain advanced knowledge in more than 200 of the world top universities in 27 countries, including those included in the highly reputed Ivy League and Russell Group.

In its current implementation the “Bolashak” program has prepared highly qualified specialists for the economy of Kazakhstan in such current specialties as urban planning, energy systems, hydrology, nuclear industry, cybersecurity, robotics, virology, emergency prevention and response, etc.

To address the request of the Head of State to reorient the “Bolashak” program, in 2022, 60% of scholarships were allocated for the engineering and technical specialties study and internships. In 2023, to create high-quality competition environment among the engineering and technical workers through the increased number of applicants, a preferential category - “Engineering and technical workers for a master's degree” was introduced which provides for foreign language prerequisite study for up to 12 months.

Higher and postgraduate education

State compulsory education   standards

Beginning this year academic independence of state compulsory education standards (SCES) has been expanded. Currently, universities are authorsied to revise the content of a number of compulsory disciplines and independently regulate the number of credits for basic and profile disciplines.

The history of Kazakhstan will be studied from the ancient times to the modern period. Also, the universities may independently incorporate the amendments into the content of general education disciplines cycle with regard to the specifics of the directions.

It is provided to recognize the micro- qualifications learning outcomes, also such notions as "nano-credit" and "building the degree" have been introduced.

The "Mamandygym-bolashygym” project has been launched, which provides for strategic consolidation of efforts of the universities, mayor offices and business structures. In each region, basic universities had been determined, wherein foresight studies of the personnel requirements of the region have been conducted, and regional vocation maps have been developed.

The rules of dual study in the HEIs have been developed. Today, over 5 thousand employment agreements were concluded with the employers who provide production premises for vocational practice. More than 6 thousand students has been covered with dual study. Paid practice is also provided by the enterprises.

A number of measures has been taken to strengthen pedagogical education.

A law of the RK “About vocational qualifications” has been adopted for the certification system development . Now all the graduates who have completed vocational study under vocations that are included in the register of vocations of the MLSPP shall go through certification for the skills and qualifications.

A new form of study has been introduced that is online study . This form will allow to provide online study from the enrollment document receipt until the student graduation.

Digital ecosystem in the HEIs .

Digital ecosystem in the HEIs has been strengthened. All the universities were connected to the LMS platforms (Platonus, Univer, Moodle, etc.). There are DDoS attack protection systems, an electronic library, and electronic document circulation.

Virtual labs have been created. A model of digital universities has been developed, and this year it is planned to launch this model in the pilot mode in the premises of 2 universities: KazNRTU named after K. Satpaev and EKTU named after D. Serikbaev.

The digital university model covers 4 main aspects. This is: digital transformation of educational activity, campus and IT infrastructure, scientific activity, as well as single digital platform services development.

To develop cooperation and apply innovative education technologies, negotiations were held and Memorandums were signed with such large companies as Coursera, "Huawei Technologies Kazakhstan” LLP, Binance Kazakhstan.

Huawei ICT Academy on the basis of 26 universities to provide certified Huawei courses was created. It is planned to deploy this practice and create these Academies in 50 universities. Huawei has encouraged the students to obtain Huawei certificate and has developed the talents with practical skills for the ICT industry and society.

In 2023, for the purpose of implementing educational programs on block-chain technologies in universities, a Memorandum on partnership on the provision of materials was signed between the Ministry and the company BN KZ Technologies Ltd.

Under the support of Binance Kazakhstan, about 350 teachers of ICT faculties of 22 universities passed the blockchain technology training. It is planned to train more than 40 thousand specialists in blockchain technology.

To develop cooperation and expand access of the Kazakhstani citizens to the courses of lead foreign professors, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Coursera Company .

Today, about 100 Coursera courses have been translated into Kazakh and Russian. A real students' online study re-crediting mechanism has been implemented. More than 20 thousand students of 25 universities were trained under the unique Coursera courses.

A Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and Amazon was signed to involve the IT students in the OpenSearch project and gain industry-level experience .

This is the first pilot, which is aimed at creating the basis for the future programs. On the part of Amazon employees OpenSearch provides support in the form of documentation, tools, processes, knowledge sharing sessions, etc. There are 100 best students taking part in the OpenSearch project.

The internalization is expanding . The number of foreign students has been increased for 3 years (in 2020 - 28,169 people, in 2021 - 28,968 people, in 2023 - 27,756).

International cooperation

Branches of National Research Nuclear University MEPI in the premises of KazNU named after al- Farabi, Russian University of Oil and Gas named after Gubkin in the premises of Atyrau University of Oil and Gas named after S. Utebayev, University of Economics in Bydgoszcz (Poland) in the premises of Shakarim University, Herriot-Watt University (Scotland) in the premises of Aktyubinsk Regional University named after K. Zhubanov, Marke Polytechnic University in the premises of Zhetysu University named after I. Zhansugurov.

A strategic partnership model between the North Kazakhstan University named after M. Kozybaev and the University of Arizona by concluding an agreement for consulting services in academic, scientific and financial activities, as well as implementation of joint educational programs and double degree programs has been implemented.

During the visit of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, an agreement was signed on the establishment of the Kazakh-German Institute of Sustainable Engineering (a consortium of German universities) in the premises of Yessenov University.

There are about 243 joint educational programs and double-diploma programs implemented by universities.

Since 2019, 550 educational grants for foreigners are provided as part of the scholarship program .

Annually, 200 foreign scientists and 570 students funded from the RB are sent to study as part of academic mobility.

Since 2021, the opportunity to take the UNT twice to participate in the competition for the award of an educational grant has been provided . For the qualitative selection of applicants for teacher training, the UNT threshold score has been increased from 60 to 75 points.

For the first time since September of this year, orphans and students left without parental care, as well as persons with disabilities of groups I and II will be reimbursed by the state for the cost of living in dormitories in the amount of 29 times the MCI or 100,050 tenge. The cost of living in dormitories will be compensated which is a significant financial support for the specified student categories.

To determine the degree of student participation in the public life of higher and post-graduate institutions and volunteer activities, it is planned to introduce an integrated social performance average score (Great point average, GPA). In addition to the academic achievements of students, also social activity, research skills and participation in the volunteer movement at the regional, republican level will be taken into account.

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The impact of OECD research on the education system of Kazakhstan

• Published: 13 September 2021
• Volume 22 , pages 757–766, ( 2021 )

Cite this article

• Yerbol Sarmurzin   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3142-0545 1 ,
• Nazerke Amanzhol 2 ,
• Kamshat Toleubayeva 2 ,
• Marina Zhunusova 2 &
• Aray Amanova 1  

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In education, reform and renewal are constant. Policies are continually changing to meet the needs of the times and the society. Political advisors, such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, play an important role among private consultants as policy actors. According to Gunter’s (in: Howlett and Mukerjee (eds), Handbook of policy formulation, Edward Elgar Publishers, 2017) classification of policy actors, the OECD can be classified as a supra-national organization. This paper examines the impact of OECD research on the education system of Kazakhstan. Based on the literature, the authors address two key issues—what role the OECD is performing in education policy reforms in Kazakhstan and whether this facilitates or undermines the provision of public education. The authors focus on the influence of Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) as a global phenomenon, how Kazakhstan has embraced this international test, and how, even though PISA has made little or no difference to student outcomes, it is still credited for educational achievements.

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Introduction

Kazakhstan, like many other countries, participates extensively in international comparative research. An opportunity for a developing country such as Kazakhstan to set future benchmarks. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is one such test in which Kazakhstan is actively participating. Kazakhstan has taken part in four PISA exercises—2009, 2012, 2015, and 2018. The performance of Kazakhstani’s 15-year-old students is not particularly impressive. Kazakhstan was not a member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) when the PISA 2009 results were released in 2011. This paper aims to determine if the PISA findings changed Kazakhstan’s educational system.

Education reform has been spreading globally. Levin ( 1998 , p. 131) describes this as “a policy epidemic.” As Ball ( 2003 , p. 215) notes “this epidemic is ‘carried’ by powerful agents, like the World Bank and the OECD.” Bakvis ( 1997 ) claims that “a quick glance at the crucial advisory space enveloping core executives in a number of countries suggests that this space is increasingly being populated less by key bureaucrats, pressure group representatives, and close partisan advisers and more by gurus from think tanks, polling firms, and management consulting organisations” (p. 85).

The OECD can be categorized as a supra-national policy actor (Gunter, 2017 ) that challenges the structure and range of education policies and programs around the world. Volante et al. ( 2017 ) note that the OECD’s policy recommendations are largely based on the findings from their various international evaluations, such as the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), PISA, and the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). Kazakhstan, as part of the global community, has been involved in all these studies, despite not being a member of the OECD. It must be emphasized that the OECD is widely seen as a body that has significant influence worldwide, including non-OECD countries. The establishment of the OECD Centre for Co-operation with Non-Members indicates the growing number of nations working within the OECD's sphere of influence across all the continents (Martens & Jakobi, 2010 ; Sorensen et al., 2021 ).

A significant amount of research has been devoted to the impact of the OECD on global education policymaking (Sorensen et al., 2021 ). The effect of OECD policies varies significantly depending on the country, with each society reacting differently or having varied interpretations (Grek, 2009 ; Waldow & Steiner-Khamsi, 2019 ; Wiseman & Taylor, 2017 ). There is extensive literature on the impact of PISA on countries’ education systems, with examples from nations such as Portugal (Marôco, 2021 ), Japan (Takayama, 2008 ; Takayama & Lingard, 2021 ), Mexico (Moreno-Salto & Robertson, 2021 ), Spain (Gomendio, 2021 ), and others. However, no such research has been conducted on Kazakhstan’s educational system. Some papers include other aspects or statistical reports, but no full-fledged study exists.

This paper examines how OECD data have influenced Kazakhstani education policy and whether resulting policy measures have improved or hindered Kazakhstan’s national education system. To bring more informed conclusions about PISA’s role in educational contexts, a structured analysis of the literature on this topic was conducted. This included reviewing PISA national reports and official documents and compiling a database of scientific research papers, books, and research on PISA.

This paper begins with a discussion of methodology, followed by a brief explanation of PISA—what it measures, its procedures, and so on—and Kazakhstan’s experience with the test. The paper concludes with the findings.

A systematic literature review has been used to inform this paper’s arguments vis-a-vis the OECD’s influences on the education system. The data had to meet two criteria for inclusion in the review: (a) report initial research results and (b) focus on the use of OECD research in educational settings, particularly PISA results.

There are several reasons for using a literature-based approach. First and foremost, as Cohen et al. ( 2013 ) point out, appropriate research techniques should be used according to the research goals. A literature-based approach is the most suitable method for this study because it “increases understanding and knowledge” (Cohen et al., 2013 , p.157). In addition, this paper compares international research and how it affects Kazakhstan’s secondary education. In light of Cohen et al. ( 2013 ) advice, researchers should employ all the resources they have access to. Library and internet sources provided sufficient material on the research question of this paper.

Official documents, books, and journal articles were the primary sources of information. There were several reasons for using these resources. Documents are an easily accessible database, whereas high-quality books can offer both an outline of a field and an in-depth analysis of a single subject (Creswell & Creswell, 2017 ). Peer-reviewed journal papers, in addition to books, offer scholarly material of a measurable quality (Bryman, 2016 ). The researchers undertaking non-empirical research may consider academic debates “particularly useful” (Winstanley, 2010 ) because such discussions facilitate a critical and dialectical perspective on the research topic.

All studies were evaluated using a coding sheet created after a preliminary review of 10 publications and official documents. Content analysis was used to classify basic themes in the descriptive data (Weber, 1990 ). The results obtained from the collections of research papers are discussed in this paper, along with the positive and negative effects of OECD research on Kazakhstan’s education system.

PISA and Kazakhstan

PISA seeks to assess 15-year-old students’ academic performance in reading, mathematics, and science. The test is noted for its focus on students’ practical abilities to apply academic knowledge and skills in real-life circumstances, as well as assessing competence in solving tasks that are not specifically relevant to particular subjects or educational fields. PISA’s research framework aims to determine the degree to which students have developed general problem-solving skills that can be used to function effectively in modern society (OECD, 2001 ).

The PISA report looks at the academic ability of 15-year-old students. The test is given to this cohort because, at 15, students have now begun making key choices about their future—i.e., whether to continue their studies or enter the workforce. Thus, determining the degree of expertise and skills that will be useful for students in later life, as well as assessing their capacity to acquire the knowledge required for a relatively smooth transition to the adult world, is feasible at this age.

The PISA tests were first administered in 2000 and are repeated every 3 years. The cyclical nature of the test enables participating nations to track students’ educational achievements and the impact of any educational system reforms, develop policy directions in general secondary education and identify barriers to their implementation, and conduct analytical work in an international context and assist each country that participates. PISA’s seventh cycle was completed in 2018.

Due to the COVID-19 challenges, OECD member countries agreed to postpone the PISA 2021 assessment to 2022 and the PISA 2024 assessment to 2025. PISA 2022 will focus on mathematics, along with a creative thinking component (OECD, 2018 ). PISA 2025 will be based on science, which will include a revised foreign language evaluation. In addition, it will also provide a new feature, Learning in the Digital World, which will assess students' ability to participate in self-directed learning through digital platforms.

Kazakhstani students aged 15 years first took part in PISA in 2009. The PISA 2009 test included 470,000 15-year-olds from 65 countries. A probability-proportional-to-size sampling was used to select 15-year-old students from each country. A total of 5590 students from 200 educational institutions comprised the nationwide sample of Kazakhstani 15-year-olds (Amreeva et al., 2010 ). Many countries felt the so-called “PISA shock” when the first PISA results were announced. In Germany, the PISA findings in December 2001 had a “tsunami-like effect” (Gruber, 2006 , p. 195). Kazakhstan itself was ranked 58th out of 65 participating countries, but this came as no surprise. Yakavets and Dzhadrina ( 2014 , p. 48) point out that involvement in international research such as PISA was “the key strategic step towards entering the world education arena” for Kazakhstan. As the OECD notes, “PISA can assist countries in seeking to bring about improvements in schooling and better preparation for young people as they enter an adult life of rapid change and deepening global interdependence” (OECD, 2001 , p. 3).

Literacy was PISA ‘s main focus in 2009. According to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Education and Science, local students had difficulty coping with multiple texts and struggled to find and use knowledge from different sources. This implied that the secondary education system in Kazakhstan was adequate for practical tasks but did not prepare students for real-life challenges (MoES, 2011 ). Amreeva et al. ( 2010 ) point out that Kazakhstan’s low PISA 2009 results demonstrated that the goal set for secondary schools—to prepare students to think critically in everyday life—was not achieved, owing to the lack of attention given to the functional aspect of learning materials and unfamiliar knowledge-testing conditions. This was revealed while evaluating students’ abilities to solve interdisciplinary life problems that required maneuvering in unfamiliar settings, recognizing essential facts and existing obstacles, formulating plans, resolving issues, and providing reasons for their solutions.

Thus, it was essential for Kazakhstan to examine deficiencies in the school curriculum so as being teaching in line with international standards. Following the announcement of the results, the school sector underwent significant reforms, which involved fundamental changes in the program materials, teaching methods, and learning benchmarks (Muratkyzy, 2020 ).

The first President of Kazakhstan, Nazarbayev ( 2012 ), in his annual address to the Nation, “Socio-Economic Modernization as Main Vector of Development of Kazakhstan,” announced that the Government would develop a National Action Plan for 2012–2016 (NAP) aimed at improving the functional literacy of students. In this context, the tracking of academic skills, including the involvement of Kazakhstani students in international tests such as PISA and TIMSS, was a successful step in the right direction (Yakavets & Dzhadrina, 2014 ).

The NAP for the Advancement of Student Functional Literacy was implemented in 2012 to strengthen functional literacy skills, promote creative thinking and problem-solving abilities, and ensure that students were equipped for lifelong learning. This strategy involves a range of steps, mainly the modernization of pedagogical principles, strategies, services, and curricula, as well as 10 reforms of the management system to provide schools with greater autonomy in the modification of curricula (Bokayev, 2016 ).

McLaughlin ( 2017 ) also notes that PISA made an impact on Kazakhstan education policy. After the PISA 2009 results, the Government introduced several changes to the school programs, benchmarked to the international standards of PISA ‘s highest performers and commissioning experienced professionals from the University of Cambridge to develop a revised curriculum.

However, Muratkyzy ( 2020 ) emphasizes that, prior to the PISA 2009 results, Kazakhstan’s government had already taken some active measures to improve the education system by founding Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools in 2008. Described as “agents of change,” these were the first schools to introduce a revised curriculum developed by the Cambridge University team. The new comprehensive program sought to build higher-level thinking skills for students by rejecting the former content-driven curriculum. Raidt ( 2009 ) warns that PISA might be used more to legitimize changes already in train rather than establish a new education model. Incidentally, Takayama ( 2008 ) proposed a similar argument for Japan, noting that PISA findings were used to support the implementation of curriculum policy changes being discussed by the Ministry of Education long before the publication of the 2003 PISA data. In this regard, Vera Centeno ( 2021 ) observes that the OECD has managed to establish a crucial role on the global political landscape, not only by defining its own policies but also by helping others do the same. This suggests that policymakers will draw on the results of international research whenever it is strategically convenient to do so.

Additional research of the OECD

Although Kazakhstan’s entire school system was the primary focus of these education reforms, the broader education sector was also impacted. For instance, the OECD Education Policy Committee recommended that Kazakhstan conduct an impartial review of the educational levels of the general adult population PIAAC and teachers TALIS in 2012. The review itself took 6 years; consequently, seven thematic assessments were made by the Ministry of Education and Science in partnership with the OECD. In 2013–2015, two projects were implemented (Abylkassymova, 2020 ): (i) a review of the national educational policy and (ii) a review to increase efficiency in the use of school resources.

In addition, the second decade of the 2000s was marked by several reforms in Kazakhstan that required significant improvements in the curriculum, quality standards, and examinations. Consequently, pedagogical activities were planned to be more student-centered; subject content was revised in line with international best practices; and preparation for school and summative evaluations were introduced. The Government developed a trilingual program and allowed STEM teachers to teach their subject content in English language while working with high school students, as outlined in the State Program of Education and Science Development 2016–2019 (SPESD, 2016 ).

These were bold political initiatives to boost excellence, the country’s PISA ranking, and the quality of the education sector (Abylkassymova, 2020 ; Muratkyzy, 2020 ). As Toybazarova and Nazarova ( 2018 ) note, international comparative studies had contributed to the modernization of Kazakhstan's education system. The country's involvement in these studies helped the government to collect reliable statistics and offered a practical evaluation of the successes and challenges of education in general.

As previously mentioned, an education development policy for 2016–2019 has been introduced, with the key goal of renewing the content of secondary education (SPESD, 2016 ).

Abylkassymova ( 2020 ) states that the renewal of educational content is, firstly, a revision of the services and teaching methods. In this connection, Kazakh pedagogy faces the challenge of fundamentally changing the content of school education on the basis of advanced international pedagogical practice. The modern curriculum model focuses on the practical literacy of schoolchildren, independent study, critical examination and evaluation, and the effort and capacity to identify non-standard alternatives.

The transition to new educational content, which began in 2016 in Kazakhstan, has been completed. In 2020, the updated content was fully adopted (SPESD, 2016 , 2019 ). Consequently, to prepare children for primary education, the benchmarks for success in the delivery of pre-school and primary education programs were established. In the lower grades, teaching the script, reading, writing (including the alphabet), and early growth of children's social, life, and self-learning skills will be inculcated. The new education program provides STEM elements for the development of inventions, technological advances, mathematical modeling, programming, robotics, and primary technology preparation. To this end, additional training programs, extracurricular science, and field events are organized. In high school, selected subjects are taught in English.

The OECD and World Bank point out that Kazakhstan has instituted profound changes aimed at improving the education sector and is gradually attaining international norms and best practices. Reform proposals include the extension of the pre-school, the introduction of new financing structures (including a per capita funding scheme), the establishment of community centers to assist small-scale schools, more investment in educational facilities, and greater use of information technology in schools (OECD/The World Bank, 2015 ).

Considering international assessments and practices, along with commitments made and results achieved, Kazakhstan intends to continue the development of education and institute radical measures to improve the quality of education and science. The government has adopted the State Program of Education and Science Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2020–2025, which focuses on problem-solving and developing the education and science system to improve competitiveness and bring the nation closer to the best practices of OECD countries. This state program is aimed at improving PISA results in 2022. The government’s goal is to attain the following result in PISA 2022: mathematics–470 points; reading–440 points; sciences–465 points (SPESD, 2019 ). A comparison of Kazakhstan's results can be seen in Fig.  1 .

PISA results of Kazakhstan

All this demonstrated the great impact of OECD research on the National education system of Kazakhstan.

Results and discussion

Does oecd enable or threaten the provision of education systems.

According to Grek ( 2014 ), the OECD became a key policy actor mainly through its international tests and being a leading organization in the area of transnational administration in education. The starting point was the OECD’s research on the design of evaluation criteria and the organization’s influence was therefore primarily due to the development of its role in global comparative research. Martens ( 2007 , p.42) characterizes this as “a scientific approach to political decision making.”

Many countries recognize that education should be a primary focus of national policy and expend a lot of effort to improve the sector. Kazakhstan is no exception. The Kazakh government has demonstrated its commitment to the development of its education system by updating current regulations, introducing new legislation, and recognizing and enforcing best practices.

After the failure of PISA 2009, the Kazakh state actively engaged in improving the education system. Consequently, education performance in Kazakhstan improved significantly following PISA. This can be seen as a positive impact of PISA on the country’s education system (Bokayev, 2016 ). In 2012, Kazakhstan moved up 10 places, from 59 to 49th, in the ranking of OECD participating countries in PISA (MoES, 2013 ).

However, these claims were made before the recent PISA results. The findings of PISA 2015 for Kazakhstan were not released “due to the potential of bias introduced by incomplete student-response data” (Avvisati et al., 2019 , p. 3). There was a dramatic change in reading literacy outcomes for Kazakhstan in 2018 compared with 2009. Furthermore, in 2018, Kazakh students fared poorly in all three subject areas compared with 2012 (IAC, 2020 ). At first glance, these results imply that the new Kazakhstani education system is not quite as successful as intended (Fig.  1 ).

Despite the poor results, the Minister of Education and Science of Kazakhstan, Askhat Aimagambetov, argued that there are several reasons for the poor outcomes. He noted that the education reforms had not yet impacted on the 15-year-old students (children born in 2002). In addition, the Minister claimed that it was the first time that Kazakh children had taken a computer-based PISA test1. This meant that they could not refer to prior questions, unlike the paper-based exam (Kazpravda, 2019 ).

The Minister’s final argument should be taken into consideration. According to Jerrim et al. ( 2018 ), the transition to computer-based testing may create unexpected challenges for students, such as “mode effects” on the comparison of PISA ratings. Such effects may make questions designed to be answered on paper systematically easier or harder when delivered via computer ( 2018 , p. 477). Mode effects can be caused by a variety of factors, including variations in reading abilities between paper and display, test-taking practices, technological difficulties associated with computerized test administration in classrooms, and student involvement in the test (Jerrim, 2016 ). That administration of PISA saw a significant transition in 2015, with most countries switching from paper-based to computer-based evaluation. In this sense, Jerrim et al. ( 2018 ), using field trial PISA 2015 results from Germany, Sweden, and Ireland, investigated the effect of evolving evaluation modes on students' answers to pattern literacy, scientific, and mathematics questions initially intended for paper.

International Computer and Information Literacy Study 2018 (ICILS) demonstrates that the IT skills of Kazakh students are the lowest among the 14 countries (Fraillon et al., 2020 ). It is possible that low competence in information technology affected the results of computer-based PISA 2018.

One of the positive effects of PISA on the Kazakhstan education system can be seen in the chain of Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools (NIS). “The results of NIS have demonstrated the effectiveness of educational programs,” says Minister Aimagambetov (Kazpravda, 2019 ). According to the Minister, NIS students achieved 511 points in reading comprehension, 554 points in mathematics, and 526 points in science. The data are compatible with the metrics of the top leaders of PISA 2018 (Fig.  2 ). Given that Nazarbayev schools are applying international best practices and their experience is spreading throughout the country (Shamshidinova et al., 2014 ), Kazakhstan's position may improve over time. As Andrews et al. ( 2014 ) note, lasting reforms in education practices take decades to materialize.

TOP 10 countries according to the PISA 2018 and NIS students’ results

Foreign and local studies show the distinctive features of the traditional Kazakh school system, which relies more on the ability to recall rather than on the capacity to think. In Kazakhstan, however, topics are covered with an emphasis on theory, but less so on their practical implementation. Educational programs in the OECD states impact on the quality of student competencies (Abylkassymova, 2020 ). Meanwhile, these countries have experienced tremendous economic growth and, above all, a competitive advantage in their intellectual capital (Finland, South Korea, Japan, and others).

In this context, Kazakhstan has set itself the target of achieving a high standard of education by inculcating a new dimension to schooling. Kazakhstan is to transition from producing a “knowledgeable person” to nurturing an “individual who is able to think, perform, and improve creatively” through teaching that transforms from a traditional (knowledge-based) method to an innovation (competence) strategy. Therefore, the Ministry of Education and Science found it appropriate to establish a Compulsory Educational Standard (SCSES, 2012 ). Abylkassymova ( 2020 ) claims the new program, which is based on the PISA results, makes it possible to carry out an objective assessment of students' academic skills, motivation, and improvements in the educational process.

Kazakhstan intends to be the world’s most proficient reader

The PISA 2018 results revealed that the reading literacy of Kazakhstani students decreased for the first time in 10 years. The first literacy score was 390 points, which rose to 393, then dropped to 387 points at the end of 2018 (Fig.  1 ). This is 69th out of 78 possible positions in the final ranking summary (OECD, 2019 ).

Consequently, improving students’ reading skills was given a high priority. Addressing a meeting of the 4th session of the National Council of Public Trust, the Kazakh President, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, emphasized the need to foster an interest in reading among students (akorda.kz, 2020 ).

The President states: “One of the objectives of the educational process in Kazakhstan's schools should be to promote a high reading culture and the development of reading literacy. Boys and girls in elementary school should develop an interest in reading and awareness of the surrounding world through reading books” (akorda.kz, 2020 , unpaged).

Three areas were identified for improving students’ reading literacy: modernization of school libraries, raising interest in reading, and applying innovative approaches to teaching literature.

Thus, on April 2, 2021, the Ministry of Education and Science adopted an integrated plan for the long-term development of libraries in educational organizations for 2021–2025 and for the implementation of the Readings School project (MoES, 2021 ) in accordance with the guidance given by President Tokayev. There are 6,461 schools with libraries in Kazakhstan. It was reported that over 40 million books from educational organizations and libraries were no longer suitable for use. Gani Beisembayev, the former director of the Uchebnik Scientific and Practical Center, states: “The library stock in the country’s education system stands at above 200 million books, 39 million of which are literary and periodical publications. As for the quality, as some books were published in the 1980–1990s, about 20% of them are unusable now” (kazinform.kz, 2020 , unpaged).

The Ministry of Education and Science makes efforts to replace old school library books and expand library collections as quickly as possible. It is estimated that it will take five years to complete this project. The annual development of book collections of school libraries is expected to increase by 20%, according to the MoES’ plan (kazinform.kz, 2020 ).

Additional modifications are being considered by the Ministry of Education (MES) for the curriculum of Kazakh literature in Grades 5 to 10 in the coming years. There are also some heated discussions on the topic of teaching world literature in schools (CSS, 2020 ).

It should be emphasized that the Minister of Education and Science, Askhat Aimagambetov, encourages reading among students. During the pandemic, the Minister appealed to the parents of Kazakh students to foster a passion for reading in their children from an early age. According to the Minister, the more children read outside of school, the easier it is for them to comprehend the curriculum (sputnik.kz, 2020 ).

How OECD research could threaten the national education system?

PISA has been rigorously examined and roundly criticized by educational scholars around the world for the past 20 years. Zhao ( 2020 ) characterizes this period as “two decades of havoc.” Several studies have shown that PISA has a significant impact on policy initiatives in many countries. This has reached the point where PISA has virtually become synonymous with the OECD: when addressing the OECD’s impact on education, most academics refer to PISA (Seitzer et al., 2021 ). Inevitably, PISA is the subject of heated debate. Although Schleicher ( 2007 , p. 356) argues that the PISA results give “policy-makers and practitioners helpful tools to improve quality, equity, and efficiency in education by revealing some common features in students, schools, and education systems that do well,” OECD research could threaten the provision of public education. One of the critiques raised about the OECD in light of its global policymaking impact is that the organization is inherently politicized in favor of universalistic notions that can exacerbate current inequality between various regions and countries (Zurn, 2014 ). Therefore, Europe and North America, as well as a broader range of member States, could be seen as exerting disproportionate control over less developed places (Volante et al., 2017 ). Kazakhstan is a clear example of this, as the curriculum for a renewed education system has been prepared in collaboration with Cambridge University (Bridges, 2014 ).

Considering PISA’s origins and governing structure, it should come as no surprise that the organization primarily focuses on evaluating OECD countries. Despite the historical emphasis on member nations, the number of PISA non-OECD participants now exceeds that of OECD members (Rutkowski & Rutkowski, 2021 ). As shown by Rutkowski et al. ( 2019 ), there were significant variations in PISA 2015 performance across cultures, indicating that the PISA assessment may not be the best tool for measuring success across all the participating nations.

It is counterproductive if all countries adopt identical policies and practices irrespective of their local needs and backgrounds as education policies and practices are specific and culturally sensitive. It cannot even be guaranteed that so-called “policy borrowing” (Phillips & Ochs, 2004 ) practices will be as effective in a different social and political environment as in the domestic contexts in which they were developed. In certain cases, what works in one situation is ineffective in another or, even worse, may even be pernicious (Harris & Jones, 2015 ; Zhao, 2018 , 2020 ). What is required of 15-year-olds in one nation can vary significantly in another (Sjøberg, 2015 ).

In addition, PISA can impose another threat when it comes to curricula. The PISA assessments only cover certain aspects of education and only specific components within those subjects. They promote a “core and options” framework for curricula, “revering math, science, and reading” above other areas of education that some learners find more interesting (Starr, 2014 ). The same perspective is offered by Andrews et al. ( 2014 ), who claim that PISA does not address less explicit or non-measurable educational goals such as physical, spiritual, civic, and creative growth, thereby seriously limiting a common vision of the value of education. Kazakh researchers are also concerned that, by seeking high rankings in international research such as PISA or TIMSS, the government does not pay sufficient attention to arts, which have always been overshadowed by the hard sciences and social sciences (Semchenko, 2019 ). Consequently, national school programs no longer debate or focus on educational purposes but instead concentrate on improving PISA scores (Uljens, 2007 ).

Breakspear’s ( 2012 ) report, which analyzed the policy responses of 37 countries to PISA, revealed that the impact ranged from negligible to exceptionally large. However, over 80% of the countries surveyed indicated some degree of influence on their education reforms. A more recent study undertaken by Volante ( 2016 ) with a group of scholars from Canada, the USA, England, Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, New Zealand, and the Netherlands was consistent with Breakspear ( 2012 ). Germany, for example, was especially reactive when considering changes and used PISA to modify the school system dramatically. PISA is widely credited with introducing evidence-based policy guidance within Germany through the implementation of national guidelines, centralized evaluations, and educational control mechanisms. There are many research studies (Arzarello et al., 2015 ; Grek, 2009 ; Gruber, 2006 ; Kuramoto & Koizumi, 2016 ; and others) that actually identify certain countries that have been successfully changing their education systems by reviewing their PISA performance.

Nevertheless, some education experts point out that international studies have positive effects on national education. This is demonstrated by school reform in Kazakhstan, where radical changes were implemented. As Abylkassymova ( 2020 ) observes, in 2013–2015, the longitudinal study began with a change to 12 years of general secondary education in light of pending required school documentation specifying the teaching mode and materials adopted by the Ministry of Education and Science. Consequently, the weekly teaching load decreased by 1–3 h (to 36–39 h per week) compared with 11 years of education; key subjects were defined, which enabled individual students to select their own learning direction; and the standards for evaluating student comprehension were re-assessed.

Thus, the renewal of educational materials is aimed at meeting the key challenge of the school system—raising the standard of education and making the transition from “education for the whole life” to “lifelong learning.” In addition, the authors' review of the modernization of the basic education system in Kazakhstan has shown that, as general secondary education is developing, the quality of secondary school education is also being enhanced, which enables Kazakhstani students to be educated under a modern system in sync with the world educational process (Abylkassymova, 2020 ).

Limitations

It is essential to note that there exist other possibilities and problems too numerous to cover in one paper. Further analysis is required to examine the claims presented here, as well as to provide evidence to various stakeholders.

From the foregoing, it may be observed that OECD research has mostly had a progressive impact on the national education system of Kazakhstan. The PISA results have significantly accelerated the process of updating the content of the school curriculum and moving toward the internationalization of Kazakhstani reform. It should be noted that many large-scale reforms in education in Kazakhstan were adopted before the PISA results. Therefore, it is erroneous to claim that the new system of education is based only on PISA. However, it should be emphasized that the OECD recommendations were considered during the modernization of the Kazakh education system. Although contemporary policy agendas could threaten the national school system of Kazakhstan, it is important for Kazakhstan to be involved in these studies to allow the education system to work for the prosperity of Kazakhstan by offering quality education to everyone. In the pursuit of ratings and attention from the educational powers, national values should be a priority.

The PISA 2018 reading evaluation was a computer-based assessment that was administered in the majority of the 79 countries that took part. Nine nations, however, used paper-based tools to test their students’ knowledge and skills: Argentina, Jordan, Lebanon, the Republic of Moldova, the Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, and Vietnam. For the first time in 2018, Albania, Georgia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Malta, Panama, and Serbia moved to a computer-based measurement.

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Sarmurzin, Y., Amanzhol, N., Toleubayeva, K. et al. The impact of OECD research on the education system of Kazakhstan. Asia Pacific Educ. Rev. 22 , 757–766 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-021-09715-8

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Received : 03 March 2021

Revised : 05 August 2021

Accepted : 27 August 2021

Published : 13 September 2021

Issue Date : December 2021

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-021-09715-8

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Promoting quality education in kazakhstan.

Education planners Zulfiya Torebekova and Nurgul Shamshieva describe current efforts to improve the quality of education in Kazakhstan.

Education is one of the main priorities of state policy in Kazakhstan. During the relatively short period since independence in 1991, the government has made considerable investments in improving access to quality education, achieving significant progress in universal basic education, gender equality in education, and adult literacy. In the  2012 PISA assessment ,  Kazakhstan moved upward ten positions in the OECD rankings, from 59th place to 49th place. In 2015, Kazakhstan reached 99% attendance for primary education, 100% for secondary education, 99.6% coverage for general adult literacy, and 99.3% for gender equality.  

However,   a cross-regional comparison   of educational achievement in the PISA 2012 assessment revealed low scores in rural schools, with scores in mathematics and reading 8-10% below the national average. Furthermore, on Kazakhstan’s Unified National Test (UNT), students from rural schools scored on average 66.50 points, while students from urban schools scored 76.16 points.

These eye-opening results from PISA and other assessments have pushed the government to initiate extensive programmes to provide equitable and quality education in rural areas, as well as to give increased support to disadvantaged students with learning difficulties. In 2012, the country adopted a five-year National Action Plan to improve students’ functional literacy skills, encourage creative thinking and problem solving, as well as ensure the readiness of students for lifelong learning. In addition to adjusting the curriculum and management system, five particular measures have been taken to improve the quality of general school education, as detailed below:

1. Expansion of the pre-school network

The government of Kazakhstan has made the expansion of pre-school education a priority. Between 2003 and the latest statistics from 2013, the network of pre-schools increased by over six times, to 8,143 facilities, primarily through the mechanism of public-private partnerships. Overall, pre-school education coverage has reached 81.6% of children aged 3-6 years old, and the new program for educational development for 2016-2019 aims at providing 100% coverage of preschool education.

2. Creation of regional hub-centres to support rural ungraded schools

A distinctive feature of the school network in Kazakhstan is the prevalence of small ungraded schools, accounting for almost half of all schools in Kazakhstan, including nearly 70% of rural schools. The provision of these mixed-grade schools ensures that all Kazakh citizens—even those in remote or underpopulated areas—are guaranteed the right to free preschool, primary, basic secondary and general secondary education in accordance with the Constitution. In order to achieve higher learning standards in these schools, special hub-centres have been set up across the regions, with each hub-centre supporting the improvement of education quality in three to four small ungraded schools. In 2015, there were 160 such hub-centres operating across Kazakhstan.

3. A new system of teacher professional development

In partnership with the University of Cambridge in the UK, Kazakhstan has started a new system of teacher professional development. The Basic level of the training program focuses on understanding learning processes in the classroom; the Intermediate level focuses on the whole school; and the Advanced level focuses on guiding learning processes within a network of schools. After successful completion of each level of the training program, teachers are entitled to additional payments of 30%, 70%, and 100% of their previous salary, respectively.

4. Development of new mechanisms of school financing

Kazakhstan recently piloted  a new model of school financing   based on a per-pupil formula. This mechanism of funding raises the financial autonomy of schools in providing differentiated salaries and bonuses based on performance, thus contributing to more efficient use of resources to improve the overall quality of education. Boards of Trustees, composed of parents, sponsors, and school graduates, are also helping to enhance transparency and accountability at the school level. During pilot implementation of this funding approach, the share of teachers with the highest qualification increased from 60% to 79% and the average student score on the Unified National Test improved from 76 points to 80 points.

  5. Investment in school infrastructure and technologies

The Ministry of Education and local governments have also made considerable efforts to equip schools with modern technologies and laboratory facilities, as part of an effort to upgrade school infrastructure. By 2015, around half of all schools had physics, biology, chemistry, and language laboratories, with two-thirds of the newly equipped schools located in rural areas. Kazakhstan has also attached great importance to the use of information communications technology (ICT) in education. In 2010, the majority of schools were equipped with computer hardware and software, multimedia equipment, and interactive smart boards. Since the 2012-2013 academic year, Internet access is available in 98.8% of urban and 99.2% of rural schools, though not all with broadband technology. The  State Program for Education Development   sets a target of 80% of schools being equipped with modern laboratories, and 90% with broadband internet access, by 2020.

The Minister of Education and Science of Kazakhstan, Erlan Sagadiev,  has stated  

“education determines the fate of our children, and the level of education depends on both educators and parents”.

The government of Kazakhstan plans to continue its partnership with parents around the country to provide the best possible education to the next generation.

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Experts from kazakhstan, unicef and unesco discussed the transformation of the national education system.

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NUR-SULTAN, June 14, 2022 - The national consultations held today in Nur-Sultan are devoted to the topic of transforming the education system. Such consultations are being held in every country around the world in the run-up to the UN Global Education Summit, which will be held in September this year in New York.

National consultations in Kazakhstan are organized by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan in close cooperation with the UN Resident Coordinator Office in the Republic of Kazakhstan and with the technical support of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Kazakhstan and UNESCO Almaty Cluster Office to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Experts from the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, UNICEF, UNESCO, I. Altynsarin National Academy of Education, Institute for Professional Development "Orleu", JSC "Financial Center", parliamentarians, representatives of civil and academic society, teachers and youth gathered to work out a common vision for the transformation of education in Kazakhstan.

“Kazakhstan has made significant progress in the field of education over the years of independence. However, as elsewhere in the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact, created risks for the education system and limited access to education for the most vulnerable groups of children. In Kazakhstan, UN agencies are already supporting various initiatives to overcome the effects of the pandemic and expand access to education. We hope that our joint efforts with the Government of Kazakhstan will ultimately improve the quality and relevance of education” , - said Michaela Friberg-Storey, UN Resident Coordinator for Kazakhstan.

Five thematic areas determined the course of the public discussion. These directions build on the priority actions identified in the 2020 UNESCO Global Meeting on Education Declaration, which national political leaders and the global community have committed to accelerate as part of SDG 4, both in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. In addition, they build on the vision, principles and proposals contained in the UN Secretary-General's report "Our Common Agenda" and the UNESCO “Futures of Education” Report. The five areas are universally relevant to any country and highlight areas that require urgent and coordinated action by governments and the global community.

The first track on inclusive and safe schools sparked a heated discussion among the National Consultation Thematic Group participants. As a result of the discussion, the participants developed a common position on the necessary changes so that all children, regardless of their abilities, have equal access to education.

“The pandemic has become a real test for the Kazakhstan education system. Remote learning has shown the need for digital skills for teachers and children. School closures have had a negative impact on children's mental health. Children were unable to directly interact with their teachers and peers. When children are unable to interact with their teachers and peers at all, learning losses can become irreversible. Now we cannot afford to simply return to the old “normal”. We need a new understanding of it. A qualitative revision of approaches to education, a reimagining of the existing system is important. The priority of any transformation must be given to the protection of the right of every child, regardless of their abilities, to a quality and affordable education”, - said Arthur van Diesen, UNICEF Representative in Kazakhstan.

A changing world, rapid changes in the labor market and the demand for new professions have identified the second priority topic of the national consultations. Skills for life, work and sustainable development, as well as quality programs for teaching these skills, should be available to all children and youth. Educational programs should meet the challenges of the time and prepare young people to become active members of Kazakhstani society. The quality of education is a critical guarantee that children and young people are actually acquiring the skills and knowledge that will help them continue their education and find employment.

“Sustainability is incompatible with young generations failing to acquire the knowledge, values and skills to grow up in a world facing such complex challenges, from climate change to the digital revolution. If we are to avoid a generational disaster, education must be a priority during the recovery period and beyond as a national policy imperative and a global public good”, - said Maki Katsuno-Hayashikawa, Director, Division for Education 2030, UNESCO Education Sector.

Teachers play a key role here. They are the basis of any educational system and the direct conductors of educational policy. All participants in the discussion of the third thematic group came to the conclusion that the transformation of education is possible only if teachers are highly professional and qualified and provided with the necessary support - in all institutions and at all levels of the system: from school to vocational, adult education and higher education.

Teacher qualifications in the 21st century should include digital learning skills. The COVID-19 pandemic and distance learning have made it clear how critical knowledge of digital tools is for organizing quality online education. UNICEF and UNESCO experts emphasized during the discussion that concrete actions should be taken, guided by three principles: focusing on the most marginalized groups, increasing investment in free and high-quality digital educational content, and digitizing education through pedagogical innovation and change.

The increase in investment in education was discussed by the participants of the last thematic group moderated by JSC “Financial Center”.

The result of the national consultations will be the preparation of the National Statement of Commitment of the country to transform the education system in the period up to 2030, which will be announced at the Transforming Education Summit

2022 this September in New York as part of the high-level Global Debate of the United Nations General Assembly.

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About UNICEF

UNICEF works to ensure the rights and well-being of every child. Together with its partners, UNICEF works in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere. 

For more information on UNICEF's work, visit  www.unicef.org . 

Subscribe to our  Instagram ,  Facebook  and  Twitter  accounts.

Ms Elnara Bainazarova, Press and Communications Officer of the UN in Kazakhstan: 

Tel: +7 701 9400086, e-mail: [email protected]

About UNESCO

UNESCO is the United Nations’ specialized agency for education, providing global and regional leadership to drive progress, strengthening the resilience and capacity of national systems to serve all learners. UNESCO also leads efforts to respond to contemporary global challenges through transformative learning, with special focus on gender equality and development across all actions. 

For more information on UNICEF’s work, visit: http://ru.unesco.kz/  

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Nurbek Teleshaliyev

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Emal:  [email protected]  

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Artificial intelligence in secondary education: UNICEF and NURIS launch a joint education project

Personalized Approach to Education in Kazakhstani Schools

How a UNICEF programme helps students recover learning losses after the pandemic

From the Conference in Almaty: How to Learn Languages in Game Form at School

Equal opportunities for every child: How to achieve social equality in Education

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