Quality education is strategic priority for the development of Kazakhstan

The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev delivered a message to the people of Kazakhstan "The unity of the people and systemic reforms are a solid foundation for the country's prosperity" (1.09.2021). In his message, the head of state revealed the main directions of the country's development:

1.economic development in the post-pandemic period;

2. increasing the efficiency of the health care system;

3. providing quality education;

4. improvement of regional policy;

5. formation of an effective ecosystem in the labor market;

6. political modernization and protection of human rights;

7.consolidation as the main factor for further progress

In his message, the President highlighted quality education as a separate priority, which is one of the important strategic directions of state development. In this regard, as a representative of the education sector, I want to dwell in more detail on the main issues discussed by the head of state in the message:

- the question of the salary of teachers is relevant; an increase in salaries by 25% has passed since January 1, 2020, but the state is pursuing a policy of supporting teachers and allocates an additional 1.2 trillion tenge over the next three years for these purposes.

- the rapid changes of time, the age of the Internet, the conditions of the pandemic set the task of improving online education, curricula, and national telecommunication networks. It is necessary to prevent the obsolescence of knowledge, on the one hand, and the devaluation of education, knowledge and science as a whole, on the other. Situations in which children drop out of education because they do not see the need for it are unacceptable. Therefore, I am instructing the government to work on improving the quality of information systems for remote learning formats, so that education becomes accessible and inclusive.

- the President notes that there are examples of high achievements of Kazakhstani schoolchildren - winners and prize-winners of international subject Olympiads. These are talented children who need to be fully supported. The state will provide them with grants for admission to universities on a non-competitive basis, pay lump sum cash bonuses, and encourage their teachers morally and financially. It is also fundamentally important to support children from socially vulnerable families within the framework of “universal education”.

- material support measures should be supplemented by the educational project "Digital Teacher". The education system needs motivated and qualified teachers. Retraining of teachers is required every three years, but it is unacceptable for teachers to take courses at their own expense. After all, they should be the carriers of new knowledge, real enlighteners.

- the shortage of places in schools remains an acute problem of the secondary education system - the deficit is 225 thousand. By 2025, it could reach one million seats. It was previously planned to build at least 800 schools by the end of 2025. Today the president sets a task to build 1000 schools at the expense of the budget. It also requires the involvement of the private sector. The task of starting a phased transition to per capita financing, to full-fledged rural schools was set.

- early career guidance for children is of particular importance. The younger generation should be conscious about the choice of a future profession. Within the framework of the project "Free technical and vocational education" 237 thousand people from among NEET youth remain unreached. Every year 50 thousand applicants enter on a paid basis, 85% of them are classified as low-income. The President notes that it is necessary to ensure 100% coverage of free technical and vocational education in demanded specialties. Another opportunity for obtaining a profession should be the army. The conscripts can master working specialties that are in demand in the real sector of the economy.

- the task of the ministry of education is to improve the quality of higher education. Higher education institutions are required to be responsible for the proper training of personnel.

- the most important priority is the development of science. It is necessary to provide a stable and decent salary for leading scientists, including it in the basic funding of science. It is necessary to introduce direct financing of research institutes involved in fundamental science. A serious barrier to the development of basic science is the limited grants to three years. It is necessary to increase the terms of grant funding for science up to five years. The problem of objectivity in the decisions of National Scientific Councils is acute. The need to introduce the institution of appeal is ripe.

Thus, having examined in detail the key aspects of the development of quality education, the President identified a large-scale and urgent task facing Kazakhstan's education and science. It is not just to keep up with new trends, but to be one step ahead, to generate trends.

At the end of the message, the President proposed five initiatives that are aimed at improving the socio-economic standard of living of the population, increasing salary and wages, and the availability of solving the housing issue for Kazakhstanis.

The head of state in his message "The unity of the people and systemic reforms are a solid basis for the country's prosperity" showed the main directions and set specific goals for improving the quality of education. They open up new opportunities and horizons in the field of education and science for solving the set tasks.

Utegalieva A.D., Candidate of Historical Sciences,

Associate Professor of the Department “Social Disciplines” of

AUPET named after Gumarbek Daukeyev

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