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PROSPECTS OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE SYSTEM OF TECHNICAL AND PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION IN KAZAKHSTAN T. I. Espolov
In recent years in Kazakhstan, a number of new normative documents have been released which create conditions for emerging from the world economic crisis by creating a labor potential of economic support for the development of the country’s industrial production complex. Therefore, it is important to examine problems of the further development of the system of technical and professional education in light of issues with arise in connection with the prospects of the country’s economic development.
Building a new Kazakhstan has given a global goal to the education system, and namely: to carry out in practice training of competitive staff at the level of international standards. The State program of the development of education in the Republic of Kazakhstan until 2010 and the Law "On education” are designed to achieve this goal. The structure of these documents was predetermined by a conceptual idea on the creation of a completely new educational environment in the country. According to these documents, Kazakhstan will enter the world education space by solving the following issues: (a) updating the structure and contents of all levels of education; (b) improving study, introducing innovative technology; (c) further development of the national system for assessing the quality of all levels of education.
At present, the structure of the Kazakhstan system of education is being brought into compliance with the criteria of classification of educational programs of the International Standard of Education Classification, which was recommended by UNESCO. This structure stipulates the realization not only of professional educational programs of different levels, but also specialized study programs, study programs of additional education, and education for adults. This is necessary for a quality breakthrough in training staff of technical, professional and service work, which is caused by the constant growth in the scale and complexity of tasks of the industrial and innovative development of Kazakhstan in the conditions of global production processes, and the move of the country as a whole to a "knowledge economy”.
The creation of a highly effective national system of continuous technical and professional education is one of the main conditions for
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ensuring the stable economic growth of the country, the social stability of Kazakhstan society, and a mechanism for supporting the stable employment of young people, their social safety in the conditions of the developing market economy. At the same time, it can be said that the paradigm of education has shifted from "education for life” to a realization of the need and possibility for "education throughout the course of one’s entire life”. So everywhere at institutes of study in the country, advanced technologies and methods are being introduced, new methods of conveying knowledge and developing motivation of pupils. The next innovation is the transfer to 12 years of study in 2010. At the same time, the curricula of the 11th and 12th classes will be designed for full pre-specialization training and specialization study. They provide a wide opportunity for pupils to select an individual form of study.
It must be noted that the Law "On education”, serious changes have been made to the existing structure and contents of technical and professional education: training of qualified staff should be carried out on the basis of 10 classes, and on the basis of general secondary education at professional lyceums, academies, colleges and higher technical schools. However, it proved insufficient only to create a favorable legal framework for training staff not only for popular professions, but for rare professions. It became necessary to pass the State Program for development until 2012 (hereinafter the Program) of the system of technical and professional education. This was caused by the need to provide branches of the economy and employers with qualified technical and servicing specialists.
The program stipulates carrying out all measures in two stages: the first is institutional modernization (2008-2010), and the second is stable development (2010-2012). At present, the first stage is being carried out. The Program poses many new tasks for educational establishments, including: improving training of staff with new advanced contents as a prospective basis for the formation of a middle class which can ensure the stable economic development of the country. The solution to this and other issues not only depends on the image of the educational establishments, but on the pupils themselves, on the attitude of parents, employers and society to the system of continuous professional education.
Pupils who begin to study the foundations of their profession in the system of primary and secondary professional education will be able to become true masters of their trade. Employers will be glad to hire people who have graduated from a school of professional mastery, rather than having university education without the necessary practical training. The
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new education programs that are created within the Program are directed towards forming basic and special competencies among pupils. In these conditions, they will always be more attractive both for young people and for employers. If in the past, the graduates of primary and secondary professional educational establishment were not hired in an organized fashion, in the new conditions (together with employers), a new system for organizing production training and professional technical and technological practice will be organized at the specific workplace, where graduates may go after they graduate from the education establishment. In order to find jobs for graduates, assistance systems will be created together with employment bodies. The percentage of pupils studying the system of continuous professional education, and those wishing to continue study at universities, will increase by up to 30%, and among this number the percentage of graduates receiving a high level of qualification in more science-intensive fields of specialization will increase by up to 20%. This system should be implemented both at universities and at secondary professional educational institutions, raising the education level of pupils and allowing them to enter universities. This approach to the problem of selecting school-leavers from pupils of secondary professional educational establishments will raise the image of these educational establishments, and the professional mastery of graduates of these universities will only gain from this.
Another important problem is the development, drawing up and signing of memorandums with associations of employers and representatives of major enterprises on issues of training, re-training and advanced training of staff. Educational establishments did not previously have experience in drawing up these agreements. The main task is to trains specialists with universal and flexible skills who are capable of continuously raising their educational level. Only in these conditions will the task be fulfilled that was set by the Program. Educational establishments of Kazakhstan must create new educational programs directed towards forming basic and special competencies among pupils, which would become more attractive both for young students, and be more in demand among employers. Furthermore, scientific and scientific-pedagogical workers must develop over 800 textbooks and the same number of study guides on various specialized disciplines. The process of forming a state educational order should proceed taking into account the requirements of employers and the labor market, for which it is necessary to improve the contents of over half the state compulsory standards: innovative integration educational
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programs are required in new directions of technical and professional education.
In order to work in accordance with international standards, and also in order to completely replace the foreign workforce in Kazakhstan, it is necessary to create modern innovative programs and start using them to train pedagogical staff for primary and secondary educational establishments. These pedagogues should be capable of introducing the new system of production study together with the employers at a specific workplace. At the same time, an independent assessment of the quality of training staff and their certification must be carried out on over 70 special fields and professions, constantly increasing the percentage of graduates of educational establishments who have receive a high level of qualification.
Providing for the future requirements of labor resources for the economy must be carried out above all in rural areas. The strategy of employment during the world crisis should be directed to full, joint work with professional educational establishments for re-instructing and re-training staff. The main direction of reforms during the crisis is to organize the retraining of specialists on the basis of existing educational establishments, so that everyone who wants to work in a new profession can receive this opportunity.
Therefore, the future of Kazakhstan depends on the further modernization of professional educational establishments which are capable of boosting the economy and developing the basic infrastructure of the country.
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