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MODERNIZATION OF HIGHER SCHOOL IN KAZAKHSTAN
Z. O. Zhilbayev N. Z. Shakhanova
The Republic of Kazakhstan is a signatory and member of the "European Higher Education Area" since 2010. The article describes progress of Kazakhstan in implementation of the Bologna academic degree and quality assurance standards.
Key words: Higher education system of Republic of Kazakhstan, Bologna process (Bologna accords), implementation of the Bologna standards.
The Bologna Declaration is a convention signed by education ministers of 29 European states in 1999. The purpose of the convention has been declared as creation of a single educational area, a unified system of higher education in Europe. The first serious step towards formation of the unified European higher education area was the adoption in 1988 by the European university community of the Great Charter of Universities (Magna Charta Universitatum) at the university of the Italian city of Bologna. The Charter was the first to define the new role of universities in the conditions of transfer from elite to mass higher education. The basic document determining the strategy of the Bologna Process is the Convention “On the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region”, published by UNESCO in April 1997.
Kazakhstan was among the first CIS states to sign and ratified the Lisbon Convention. On 11th March 2010, at the Second Forum of European Education Ministers in Budapest, Hungary, the final decision on Kazakhstan joining the Bologna Declaration was taken. The Republic of Kazakhstan became the 47th participant country of the Bologna Process and a full member of the European area of higher education. The aim of Kazakhstan’s participation in the Bologna Process was defined as follows: (a) enhanced availability of European education for Kazakhstani students; (b) an increase in student and teaching staff’s mobility by adopting a comparable system of higher education degrees; (c) adoption of the credit system and issuance of the European Supplement for Kazakhstani diplomas; (d) further upgrading of the national education system. In order to coordinate the activities on Bologna principles implementation, a Bologna Process and Academic Mobility Centre was established (http://www.naric-kazakhstan.kz).
Joining the Bologna Process radically changed the higher education system of Kazakhstan. This event was preceded by years of great systematic work of the Ministry of Education and Science and the country’s higher education establishments on developing essentially new curricula taking into account the Dublin descriptors, the succession of all the levels of education as well as an increase of the research component in the process of studies. Basic competences were determined as the result of studies. Since 2005, the curricula for Ph.D preparation are being implemented experimentally in two national universities. On the legislative level, the three-stage education model was adopted in 2007.
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On joining the Bologna Process, the participant countries undertake obligations to comply with the basic parameters which are divided into obligatory, recommended and optional.
The obligatory parameters are considered top priority for the creation of the European higher education area (EHEA) and advancement of the European education system globally. They include: (a) university autonomy; (b) three-stage system of higher education; (c) ECTS academic credits; (d) academic mobility of students, teachers and administrative staff of the universities; (e) European Supplement to the diploma, quality control of the higher education; (f) creation of a unified European research area. Let us consider briefly these obligatory requirements:
(a) university autonomy is a leading paradigm of the Bologna Process along with the development of the internal democracy, corporative management, close cooperation with production companies, etc. In the January 2014 President’s Message to the people of Kazakhstan entitled “Kazakstan’s Way-2050: A common goal, common interests, common future” the task was set to implement the principles of academic and managerial autonomy in the leading universities of Kazakhstan. Work has started on reorganizing universities into a new organizational and legal form. Each university develops an independent development program, a collegiate administration form through the Councils of Trustees;
(b) three-stage system of higher education. Bachelor’s degree curricula have been implemented in Kazakhstan since 1994, while those of the master’s degree have been implemented since 1996. The new Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Education adopted in 2007 regulates the possibility of multilevel specialist training (bachelor - master - doctor) (1);
(c) ECTS academic credits. The transition to the credit system has been going on for 10 years. Previously the Kazakhstani credit system was based on the US model. After signing the Bologna Declaration in 2010, development of a conversion system based on ESTC was started. At present, the rules and the Kazakhstani conversion quotient system as well as the credit conversion into ESTC model have been developed which is to be implemented in all the universities of Kazakhstan in 2015;
(d) since the adoption of the Bucharest Communique, the Strategy of academic mobility, the Concept of academic mobility of university students and the Rules of learning process organization under the credit system have been developed in Kazakhstan. The Ministry of Education and Science of the RK has developed and is implementing the program of academic mobility of students and involvement of foreign scientists and professors.At present, 38 universities have developed and implemented joint curricula with international universities which enhances the academic mobility of students and teaching staff;
(e) European Diploma Supplement is the single official certificate of education recognized by all participant countries of the Bologna Process, which provides the possibility of further education abroad. The Supplement is to be executed in English and contains a description of the character, level, amount, content and status of the acquired education, academic progress data, and
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information on the academic results evaluation system. Kazakhstani university graduates are given this supplement along with the national diplomas;
(f) integration into a unified European research area. Since the Bologna Declaration was signed, the number of scientific and technical programs and projects developed by universities has significantly increased in Kazakhstan. The extent of academic science financing has increased significantly: if in 2011 the amount was 1 billion tenge, in 2013 it reached 7.3 billion tenge. A completely new type of a higher education establishment has appeared - the research university. The number of publications of Kazakhstani scholars in international magazines with a high impact factor has increased. On the initiative of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Nazarbayev University has been created and is successfully functioning, which is to become the first research university in Kazakhstan of international fame (3). The Kazakhstan Higher School has joined the work in the context of the European Research Area (ERA) aimed at enhancing relations between researchers and scholars and creation of an equivalent Common Market for goods and services in the sphere of research and innovations. Kazakhstani universities take an active part in the implementation of EC, UNESCO, UNDP, British Council in Kazakhstan, DAAD, CNOUS and other projects.
Let us dwell on some other new features of higher education in Kazakhstan.
Higher education quality control. A national Quality Assurance System has been created in Kazakhstan coordinated with European standards. The National Program of the Development of Education till 2020 provides for the transition from state control to independent university and syllabus accreditation. In 2012, the Kazakhstani government became a member of the European Quality Assurance Register [2].
Social support of low-income students. In the framework of the Bologna Process there is a series of documents related to social measurements. The purpose of social measurements was defined by the participant countries the European higher education area (EHEA) in their 2007 London Communique. The forms of support of low-income students in Kazakhstani universities are sufficiently diverse (rectors’ grants, grants of national and foreign investors, discounts on tuition fees, allocations for participation in international conferences, monthly stipends, nominal scholarships, etc.) In order to support certain categories of citizens entering the universities, a system of quotas has been established: (a) village inhabitants; (b) orphans and abandoned children; (c) invalids of the 1st and 2nd category, persons with childhood disabilities and handicapped children, etc. The scope of the government order for the training of personnel with higher education degrees is constantly growing, as well as the average expenditures per student under the government order.
In order to facilitate the access to paid educational services, a mechanism of the state educational saving system (SESS) has been developed. On 14th January 2013 the Law on the State Educational Saving System was signed. This system provides to each Kazakhstani citizen the opportunity to accumulate on a planned basis money for the child’s future instruction in universities and colleges. SESS provides for a state premium for citizens’ savings. A unique opportunity to obtain a high-quality education abroad is offered by the Bolashak Presidential Program.
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Starting with 2008, the quotas for village youth, public employees, scientific and educational workers have been established.
Lifelong education. Kazakhstan signed the Memorandum on Lifelong Education (Lisbon, Portugal, March 2000). The Bologna Process task group on social measurements and lifelong education is developing a document on implementation of social measurements and lifelong education in EHEA by 2020. This policy document will be presented at the meeting of EHEA ministers of education in Yerevan in 2015. It is expected that by 2020 the conditions for lifelong education irrespective of the age, educational level and professional qualification will be created. In Kazakhstan, a concept of lifelong education is expected to be developed in accordance with the main trends in the European higher education area (EHEA) promoting the modernization of higher education in the country.
National qualification network. Kazakhstan has developed the National Qualification Framework (NQF) compatible with the European Qualification Framework. With the adoption of this document, a system of qualification confirmation and assignment is being created in Kazakhstan. Based on the National Qualification Framework, the branch qualification frameworks in the sphere of education and science, and agriculture are being developed. Professional standards have started to be developed. The main idea of the framework is implementation of the principle of acknowledging the results of the previous education irrespective of the form of education.
Optional parameters of the Bologna Process are also paid attention to by Kazakhstani universities. They are of great value in planning and organization of the teaching process taking into account the interests of employers and the requirements of the society, and suggest non-linear teaching methods, optional courses, a modular system, distant learning, e-learning, and academic ratings of both students and teachers.
In Kazakhstan, the academic freedom of universities in developing curricula for bachelor’s degrees has expanded to 55% since 2011, for master’s degrees to 70%, and for PhD degrees to 90%. This allows universities to develop curricula independently involving employers and social partners. These curricula are developed in compliance with the Dublin descriptors. Along with the obligatory subjects, the professional training curricula include optional subjects, elective courses, and even individual programs can be developed. By 2020 the optional component of the curricula will increase for bachelors to 70%, for masters to 80%, and for PhD to 95%. The universities will independently determine the list of optional subjects in accordance with the labor market requirements.
Recently, Kazakhstani universities have been actively implementing distance learning technologies as well as various innovative teaching methods (problematic and gaming technologies, team and group work, imitation methods of active study, situational analysis method, project method, business and role-play games, problematic lectures, binary lecture, press conference lecture, interview lecture, visualization lecture, dispute lecture, training, portfolio, and case methods). Various types of e-textbooks are extensively used, like the basic version, internet version, slideshow lecture, multimedia presentation, virtual laboratory, web portfolio, videolectures, webinars [4].
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Therefore, the mainstream of the higher education system development in Kazakhstan is aimed at formation of a competitive state conversing with the global economical, political and educational community.
Reference literature
1. Жакыпова Ф.Н. Казахстанский опыт реализации принципов Болонского процесса//журнал «Высшая школа Казахстана», №1. 2014. - С. 6-7 http://www.nahc-kazakhstan.kz
2. Отчет о реализации принципов Болонского процесса в Казахстане // Министерство образования и науки Республики Казахстан. Центр Болонского процесса и академической мобильности. - Астана, 2012. - С.12.
3. Даирова К. Н. «Назарбаев университет- новый импульс роста системы высшего
образования Казахстана» // журнал «Высшая школа Казахстана». № 1 #2014.
С. 9 http://www.naric-kazakhstan.kz
4. Газалиев А.М., Егоров В.В., Головачева В.Н. Реализация принципа обучения в течение всей жизни в Карагандинском государственном техническом университете // журнал «Высшая школа Казахстана», № 2. #2014. С. 25 http://www.naric-kazakhstan.kz
Translated from Russian by Znanije Central Translastions Bureas
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