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THE ROLE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES AT UPGRADING SKILLS AMONG ADULTS IN SINGLE-INDUSTRY CITIES
M.B. Zhumadilova
In modern society, the idea of lifelong education acquires the nature of a paradigm of scientific and pedagogical thinking, and is expressed by terms such as "continuing education", "education throughout life", "lifelong learning", "further education", "adult education", and "recommencing education". The theory and practice of lifelong education place a special focus on adult education beyond basic education (training, retraining and skills upgrading) in the course of adapting to the changing social context.
The psychological and pedagogical aspect of lifelong education is based on the following: self-education; the development of abilities and skills in self-guided learning; the development of value orientations in the spirit of "learning throughout life"; the wide use of modern forms and methods of active learning, approaching learning as a process of increasing life and professional experience; and the use of modern information technology. "Education throughout life" means that an individual goes through a few compulsory stages of training that are an indispensable part of his or her education. They are not restricted to formal education and can be implemented outside formal education. Each level of education is seen as part of the system of lifelong education. The wide spread of information technology significantly broadens opportunities for self-guided learning. Education institutions gradually shift from strictly-regulated organization of education to a variable, modular approach which involves choosing elective courses in line with demands of the labor market. This implies a high level of academic autonomy and improving one’s ability for self-realization and selfeducation.
The European summit in Lisbon in March, 2000 defined six key principles of lifelong education: humanism, democracy, mobility, anticipation, openness and continuity. The systematizing principle is the principle of continuity of education. The meaning and significance of continuous professional education is to develop an individual’s abilities in line with his or her needs, time, pace, focus, feasibility, as well as diversity, flexibility, organizational forms, etc. The message of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, to the people of Kazakhstan entitled "Kazakhstan-2050 Strategy: A New Policy of the Established State" sets the task of developing effective training and retraining programs for the unemployed that will directly take into account the demands of the labor market. The state will provide all-round support in the form of social assistance to the unemployed who are willing to improve their skills or learn a new profession.
The Republic of Kazakhstan has 27 single-industry cities with a population of 1.53 million people, which accounts for 16.8% of the total urban population in the country. Single-industry cities usually have high levels of unemployment. Ways to address this issue are considered in the Program for Single-Industry Cities Development in 2012-2020 approved by the Decree of the Government of the
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Republic of Kazakhstan. Significant progress is seen in those single-industry cities where the main focus was placed on encouragement of entrepreneurship (training courses, business incubators, etc.). Residents of single-industry cities will be provided with training and employment assistance in accordance with the "Regulations on organization and financing of training and outplacement for selfemployed, unemployed and low-income groups" approved by the Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It is necessary to develop a strategy for renewal of the system of upgrading skills among adults in single-industry cities in the modern context. In recent years, the adult population has increasingly tended to improve their professional qualifications or retrain, improve competence and culture in general. This dramatically increases the educational needs and demands of adults, and, in turn, greatly extends the range and diversity of educational services.
The structure and content of all extra-educational activities (work, economic, political) are currently constantly changing, therefore the education system should provide continuous retraining and development to people. The main goal of the system of adult education as a social institute is to provide social and educational assistance to an individual in adapting to new living conditions, in defining the extent of their involvement in the production, social and cultural life of society, and in developing proper behavior patterns in extreme situations. Thus, the new economic landscape in the country changes not only the goals and objectives of training and upgrading skills of adults, but also consumer categories and the content of educational needs.
One of the areas in combating unemployment in single-industry cities is to increase the level of self-employed individuals and retrain them. Promoting this goal requires a systemic approach to studying demands of the labor market, monitoring and forecasting areas for retraining of learners, taking into account age-specific characteristics of learners, and opportunities for the use of modern educational technologies. Due to the intensive development of information technology and the growth of amounts of information, the adult population falls outside the concept of lifelong learning, thus facing considerable difficulties in searching for a job.
Therefore, it is relevant (especially in the case of single-industry cities) to conduct special research to analyze the professional and age structure of the unemployed population, and the demands of the labor market and opportunities for training this group of the population to cater for the needs of the economy in these regions.
Translated from Russian by Znanije Central Translations Bureau
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