Author Archive for kzblog
The new law “On Education” has been drafted and passed. It aims to modernize Kazakhstan’s education system and bring it in line with international standards. While the law did call for 12 year secondary schooling, in his Address to the People in February, President Nazarbayev stated that it was too soon and schools were not ready. Some provisions in the law are clear in their purpose of modernization–the transfer to a credit system as the US, the UK, and Europe have is already underway and technology is entering the classroom.
Other provisions of the bill seem to increase centralization and government interference, something not in line with modern systems of education. The bill calls for closing all branches of universities–so that only main campuses will exist. Furthermore universities will be rigorously evaluated and any universities not making the grade will be closed. These two provisions will have the effect of cutting the number of universities in the country by 50% especially outside Almaty and Astana where many universities are in effect branches of major universities.
Finally, rectors are to be appointed by the President directly, which he did for the first time on the 21st of April. The list of new rectors alone gives an idea of the severity of the situation: 8 public universities and institutes in a country of 16 000 000 000 people.
In meeting with the new rectors Nazarbayev emphasized that national universities get more money from the government and therefore must contribute more to the welfare of the country. He also noted that KIMEP (a joint public-private university), has a better rate of graduates with jobs than other universities. Finally he emphasized that corruption in education must be wiped out.
Thanks to English Advantage for writing on the Center for English Language in Astana.
As part of the government initiative to get people to learn English, the akimat of Astana has set up the Center with classrooms in many schools throughout the city.
The main office is on Abai Street, near the corner of Sara-Arka in Lycee 35 and classes are conducted in:
Schools 8, 15, 17, 25, 35, 49, 52 and 53.
Schoolchildren can attend lessons for 200 tenge an academic hour (45 minutes).
Adults pay 600 tenge.
So if you need to learn more English, check it out.
No, the issue isn’t grade inflation or cutting down on corruption.
The problem is that university students who get A’s (or 5’s by the Soviet system) for the year get a stipend from the government of 60 000 som ($45). So the more high-achieving students, the more money the government has to pay! The Ministry of Education has therefore ordered universities to cut down on the number of A grades that they give.
Apparently a professor in Tashkent was told to either reduce the number of A’s he gives or have himself and the student called in to pass an exam–presumably to prove the student really deserves the grade AND the professor is smart enough to recognize good students.
As the article suggests, there are a lot of problems in the Uzbekistan educational system from corruption to widespread cheating. It would seem the Ministry would have better things to do with its time than discourage students from achieving high grades. Or one obvious way to cut costs, if necessary, would be to make stipends need-based.
Read the full article on Registan.net
According to Liter.kz (via Newzzz), South Kazakhstan schools are so overcrowded that some students study in an old hospital, other schools are using all available space including the toilets as classrooms, and some schools are even working in four shifts to accomodate all the children. South Kazakhstan is the biggest oblast in Kazakhstan by population. Every year, according to the article, schools must take on 50 000 new first-graders. Aggravating the problem is that construction of new schools doesn’t occur on schedule forcing schools to be creative.
And the ‘Bolashakers’ returned the favor. On the 30th of Jan, in Astana President Nazarbayev met with scholars and alumni of the Bolashak Program[RU], a merit-based government-sponsored Scholarship that pays tuition and a living stipend for students to study abroad. The program started in 1993 at the initiative of the President to help citizens get foreign education and contribute new ideas to the development of the country.
Yesterday, about 500 people gathered to hear the President speak and to address him as well. From participants, I gather that most of the speeches were patriotic homilies and words of praise for the President. At the end of the event when a mic was passed for questions, one girl marched onto stage and announced her gratitude to Nazarbayev, and asked to shake his hand. She then apparently pumped her arm in the air and shouted, ‘We are for the President!”
In the his speech, reproduced in Russian in the Nomad.su article linked above, the President introduced the idea of a new community for an Information Society and urged students to contribute their knowledge to the country. He also pushed the idea that rural students must get involved in the program and that alumni must work not only in the cities, but also find jobs in regional government and small businesses to ensure that their experience reaches everyone.
Walking by bus stops in Astana, particularly those near universities, you might see ads that read like the one illustrated here: “Will write research papers and dissertations (in Russian or Kazakh). Selection of texts and translations. Written to schedule, high-quality, CHEAP!” Other ads highlight that they write course papers in Kazakh, a big help to those students whose grasp of the language isn’t up to par.
In the US professors struggle with similar problems from fraternities that keep file cabinets full of essays to students who cut-and-paste from Wikipedia, to ads on Craigslist that advertise paper-writing services. A friend of mine recently brought to my attention an ad posted near my old university where a student was soliciting someone to write their paper for them. Plagiarists who copy from the Internet, or who resubmit a paper from a past class are easily caught–professors have Google and long memories. Students who use paper writing services are harder to catch.
It’s sad that something like this can be advertised so freely on bus stops. One would hope that professors or administrators might see them and call them up in order to find out who they are and catch them, or at least learn their trademark styles in order to recognize the style of such services. But more than that, one might hope that the general public would be disgusted by such blatant cheating. Hiring someone to write a paper for you will teach you absolutely nothing and make your paper worthless–plagiarists at least have put in some research time! I certainly wouldn’t want a doctor who had used such a service operating on me. Or a lawyer or economist consulting my company!
But it isn’t surprising that students will find ways to cheat or that the market will find ways to help them. An informal interview with some students indicates that the average student sees term papers and dissertations as bureaucratic hoops to jump through. They are happy to use such services and some express admiration for the people who run paper-writing businesses, saying they must make a lot of money. One acquaintance even argued that it was an honorable profession because the guy was using his brain. It was the dumb students who were in the wrong.
In any case, few are surprised that a new form of cheating has come to Kazakhstan.
Crossposted on KZBlog
Inform.kz has published an interview with the President of KIMEP, Dr. Chan Young Bang. KIMEP is the Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Policy (now known as the Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research). A joint public, private venture, the institute was founded in 1992 by order of the President and follows the Western model of education. All courses are taught in English.
Highlights from the interview include the note that last year KIMEP applied for accreditation from the US-based Commission on Institutions of Higher Education, the first Kazakhstan university to try for international accreditation.
He also emphasizes the good record that graduated have on the job market:
I would like to point out that prior to graduation 95% of students find employment. There is an intense competition among both public services and private companies who recruit KIMEP graduates.
Last year’s Address to the People of Kazakhstan by President Nazarbayev charged the government to carry out a number of projects in education. Some of them are well under way, such as moving to a credit system for higher education much like that used in the US and Europe, and moving to 12 years of secondary education.
The newest project to be started is Educational TV. While there are a few shows for children produced in Kazakhstan, most of them feature cartoons and other entertainment. And frankly most of those cartoons are produced in other countries. So it’s as much a step forward for Kazakhstan’s television industry as it is for education.
A statement on the Ministry of Education website says that on 11 Jan, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Information and Culture, and the state-owned TV Channel Kazakhstan on creating educational TV. The statement notes that television is an effective pedagogical tool due to its multimedia nature
Kazakhstan channel will be the first to show programs produced under this project and at first, shows will be broadcast 1-2 times a week, and later 2-3 hours a day.
A statement by the Minister of Information and Culture [RU] also affirms the faith that essentially that studying with new technology is good. However one hopes that attention will be paid to quality. I mean not only what many in Kazakhstan call “the quality of knowledge,” i.e. the accuracy and factual basis of what is being taught. One hopes that the project will do more than simply produce documentaries or perhaps televised lectures. Television is an effective pedagogical tool because you can mix pictures, sound and special effects and because it is in real time (as the Minister noted) it can be interactive–with people phoning or emailing in.
Because television stations in Kazakhstan seem unable or unwilling to produce a wide variety of programming, it is good that the government is stepping in to provide what could be a highly innovative project. Sesame Street, Mr. Wizard’s World, and a host of other American educational TV projects presented entirely new ways of teaching while entertaining.
However the downside of the government acting as leader in this project is that governments are not known for innovation and in the area of education, Kazakhstan has tended to lean on the side of ideology guiding content. One hopes that educational TV will not turn out to be a bunch of nature documentaries, followed by exhortations to be proud one has such a beautiful country. Not that such things are bad. It’s just that there are other frontiers to be explored. I for one would kill for a Sesame Street-like program to teach me Kazakh. Lots of memorable visuals and easy words and repetition. But fun for me to watch.
The Concept for the Project emphasizes interactive learning via websites and delivery not only by television but by video and DVD and website. All of that is really good. However one does pause to worry when the concept cites the lack of “long-duration video productions that demand a lot of technical people, and complicated equipment.” As if the project’s purpose is to hire people and buy new toys.
Perhaps I’m being to harsh, but I will wait to get my hopes up until I hear more about the content than the form.
