problems of education in kazakhstan

Challenging times for Education in Kazakhstan due to the pandemic

The economic crisis is only the tip of the iceberg of the problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Its underwater part is damage to national educational systems, human capital due to the interruption of the traditional learning process in secondary schools. The problems of countries (including Kazakhstan) with the transition to distance education resulted in a decrease in educational level. The education system in Kazakhstan faced challenges even before the outbreak of the pandemic. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, 6 out of 10 students in Kazakhstan were functionally illiterate - in an upper-middle-income country where the average child completes 13.7 years of schooling. The pandemic threatens to lead to functional illiteracy in more than 100,000 more students. This will especially hit children from poor families, countries, and regions with high poverty. In the long run, inequality in education will translate into inequality in income. The only alternative is distance education. But an urgent transition to it is associated with a host of problems, which was not easy even for developed countries to solve.

The loss of knowledge

According to the World Bank , the coronavirus pandemic inflicted a "destructive blow" on the education system, the consequences of which will "be felt for decades to come." In Central Asia, economic losses, according to the bank's calculations, will amount to at least 44 billion USD dollars. Students’ learning losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic will average 30-50% of those acquired in the previous year when compared to a typical school year. Losses from summer vacations should also be taken into account - on average, the lack of knowledge over the summer is equivalent to 0.25 years of study. The impact of the forced transition to distance learning on the educational level of students will have a cumulative effect, when the objective decline in the level of knowledge over the summer will be increased critically, up to two years of study.

The decline in knowledge is even higher for children from low-income families or remote rural areas, who have no computer, no Internet access, and often no parental support.

All the consequences of the impact of COVID-19 on education systems and human capital can be roughly divided into short-term and long-term patterns.

The consequences of a short-term nature include a slowdown in the learning process, a weakening of students' desire to learn. The results of a study conducted in Russia showed that half of the children in school perceived distance learning as a vacation . School closures deteriorate the nutrition of students (those who had free meals in schools), their mental health, a possible increase in students' vulnerability to violence and other threats, as well as the prevalence of risky behavior and childbearing among adolescents. There is a reduction in public spending on education, a decrease in the quality of teaching, the closure of private schools.

There may be significant school dropouts. This is especially true for children from poor or disadvantaged families, the growth of child labor, underage marriages, commercial sex, and a reduction in parental investment in the education of children. A clear example: due to the global economic crisis in Romania, the number of children out of school in 2009-2018 doubled from 192 thousand to 378 thousand - even with a decline in demographic indicators .

The long-term impact of the pandemic has a bigger impact. The closure of schools and the decline in the educational level of some children led to an increase in the level of educational inequality. Recent World Bank report estimates that Kazakhstan will also show that the pandemic will reduce learning outcomes by 8 on the PISA scale . PISA is the International Student Assessment Program that assesses the math, reading, and science skills of 15-year-olds.

There is a high risk of declining academic performance for students with learning difficulties; many students may not return to school, which will increase the incidence of “educational poverty” and could reduce the future productivity of an entire generation .

The learning outcome gap between 104 million students from high-income countries (HICs) and 59 million students from middle-income countries (LICs) will widen. So far, the gap between the average HICC and SDI Human Capital Index is 13% .

School dropouts and declining educational quality lead to declines in productivity and income throughout life, which are reflected at the macro level. If an extra year of schooling increases income by about 8-10%, and students on average miss a quarter of school hours a year, then school closings could lead to a steady 2-2.5% decline in income.

All these factors threaten to exacerbate the problem of social inequality. Since, as noted above, students from wealthier families tend to learn online more effectively, and the decline in their educational level over the summer is less critical than children from poor families.

Remote education

The coronavirus pandemic has forced a complete reformation of the education sector on a tight schedule. Countries were not ready for the transition to digital distance learning, which was used to ensure lifelong learning in the vast majority of countries, and faced great difficulties. As a result of the pandemic, schools were closed in 191 countries, affecting more than 90% of students worldwide, half of whom did not have access to a home computer, 43% did not have an access to the Internet.

In Kazakhstan, during the transition to distance education, out of 3 million children, about 700 thousand (23%) need computers, although, since the beginning of the epidemic, more than 250 thousand computers have been given to students for temporary use. Children from low-income families, with special educational needs and primary school students, lack resources for efficient studying.

The head of UNICEF in Kazakhstan, Arthur van Diesen , believes that Kazakhstan is well prepared for digital education. He argues that 78% of the population have access to the Internet and with “very cheap” tariffs for mobile data transmission, the presence of an Internet connection in most schools, digital educational platforms in the country, it is possible to provide quality education to the children.

However, Internet penetration is uneven across regions, the quality of data transmission also raises questions, as well as the quality of distance education. Both teachers and students were not ready for the emergency transition to the remote control.

Distance education: obstacles

Lack of computers. The first and most important problem for many countries was the problem of equipping students with computers . With almost one-fourth of children without access to technology, Kazakhstan faces a huge challenge of ensuring access to the technology and thus, education.

Unavailability of teachers. According to UNICEF, the transition to distance learning is a major challenge for teachers, even in the best of circumstances, adding stress and confusion to their work. As Tatiana Klyachko , director of the Center for the Economics of Continuing Education of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, noted, not all teachers know how to work remotely and technical problems became a big obstacle for the older generation of teachers. According to the Minister of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan Askhat Aimagambetov , Kazakhstan had a lack of human resources in the education system even before the pandemic, and with online learning, this problem became only worse.

Technical problems. Distance education should be provided with appropriate infrastructure and educational platforms should not be too complex. These rules are not enforced in all countries. In Kazakhstan, which has the highest Internet penetration in Central Asia, according to a 2018 survey , 54 percent of students lack the necessary skills to use digital technologies in education.

Aimagambetov also highlighted the lack of domestic IT platforms for organizing simultaneous streaming connections for a large number of students as well as the lack of digital educational content and full-fledged software for conducting classes via the Internet.

So far, distance education remains inaccessible for poor and rural schoolchildren. This means a potential increase in educational inequality, which will eventually translate into wealth inequality.

What’s next?

Researchers are considering various options for the development of the situation with the need to switch to a distance format in education . All of them predict negative consequences for education. On the agenda in all countries is the question of what are the optimal strategies for coping with a pandemic situation, which can reduce or minimize the scale of losses.

In Kazakhstan, in the next academic year, at least one-quarter of schoolchildren will again study remotely, therefore, it is necessary to expand the possibilities of distance learning on a scale, ensure its reliability and sustainability, digitalize education with ensuring inclusiveness for children with special educational needs.

Another problem is social inequality as geographic inequality often exacerbates social inequality. The uneven landscape of human capital development in Kazakhstan was presented by the Center for Research and Consulting during the discussion of the Human Capital Index organized by the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Research under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan in early october last year. According to the Center's analysis, “four Kazakhstan” phenomenon exists in the country, each of which has a different level of income, fertility and life expectancy, and other indicators that affect the Index. It is striking to see the huge differences between the four regions: for example, in income levels, there is a fourfold difference between high and low regions, infertility the north of the country can be compared to Europe, while the south reflects the trends of low-income countries, and northwest Kazakhstan is similar in life expectancy to African countries.

PISA results similarly confirm the differences in the level of human capital across Kazakhstan - according to the study, regions with low academic performance lag behind regions with a high academic performance by an average of 4 years of study, showing weak results in both rural and urban schools, while in regions with the highest academic performance have the largest gap between rural and urban schools.To combat this problem, the government with the support of The World Bank is currently working on the Education Modernization Project . The project focuses on improving quality and equity, especially among vulnerable schools. The initial design of the project is aimed at improving the quality and equity in primary and secondary education as well as finding ways to adapt the project to help address the specific issues of educational equality posed by the COVID-19 crisis.

2019 has become a representational year for Kazakhstan education system. Results of the most prominent international assessment tests have been published, including PISA, TALIS, ICILS and PIAAC. Kazakhstan has scored low by many indicators. What do these results tell us?

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Thirdly, they provide us an opportunity to adjust our education and training development plans, identify weak and strong points and set up priority directions where focus should be made for further improvement.

Therefore, based on these test results at least 10 reasons can be laid out to understand why we need to ring the alarm when it comes to the national education system. I would like to emphasize that the purpose of this blog post is not to criticize the Ministry of Education as the responsibility to raise and educate our kids lie on us, not on education policy makers only.

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Reason #1. One of the most important reasons is teachers and school administration . Some initiatives stipulated in the new Law on Teacher’s Status do not solve main problems of teachers’ preparation, high quality training, motivation, professional prestige and selection of the best at the entrance stage. This is despite of the international evidence which confirms that the main factor of education outcomes is the teacher.

Reason #2. Pedagogical universities and colleges. Life of these education institutions is behind a real world. If you have ever been there, you know, that it feels like the life stopped there 30 years ago – old Soviet infrastructure and methodologies, teaching staff who had officially retired ten years ago and often times do not have skills to prepare 21 st century teachers.

Reason #3. Absence of a dialogue and connection of central and local executive authorities with schools, school administration, teachers and most importantly – with students and their parents who are main beneficiaries of education services. I keep receiving feedback about ongoing reforms in education from teachers and parents, but their voice is not always heard, unfortunately.

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Reason #4. Resolving small issues over complex and systematic matters , and resolving them formally, for reporting and just to tick the box. It is much easier to deliver computers or introduce e-journals, rather than focus on teachers, their preparation and building constructive dialogue with the teachers and parents. It is indeed not an easy task. But are there any countries with excellent education systems that do not focus on teachers? When I speak with policy makers in Finland, Singapore or Estonia (with highest PISA results) I constantly hear that the most important in the education system are the teachers.

Reason #5. Growing gap between strong and lagging schools . Through creation of elitist NIS schools, the gap with general public schools has increased. What are 17 NIS Schools (where less than 1% of students study) compared to over 7000 public schools? PISA results show growing gap between Kazakh and Russian speaking schools (difference of 1,5 years) and socio-economic status of students (“rich” and “poor”, the difference on 1 year). The argument about high NIS students’ scores is not a strong one, when we speak about the whole system which should provide equal opportunities to anyone in the country, whether born in urban or rural area or which language his/her family speaks.

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Reason #6. Unequal distribution of finances. NIS and Nazarbayev University budgets “eat up” most of the budget allocated to education. Many policy makers make a point that the budget is limited and education is already provided a lot. The issue lies not only in the quantity, but in the fact how effective, equal and efficient these funds are allocated throughout the system. Most of developed states strive to provide equal access to social goods.

Reason #7. Rankings chase. Disappointing results of Kazakhstani students in PISA 2009 and 2012 tests led to development of the National Functional Literacy Plan, and changes to the Education development plan had been made to include PISA indicators. Did these results improve? Obviously, not (see Reason #4). It might be more effective to stop the rankings chase and address complex matters.

Reason #8. Absence of school autonomy and accountability . According to international evidence , better school autonomy allows inclusion of schools’, teachers’ and parents’ voices in the education improvement process. School autonomy in our country is limited (see Reason #3). The working mechanism includes decision making process done at the central level where decisions are merely laid down for implementation (top down approach).

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Reason #9. Excessive load of paperwork for teachers and schools. As an example, introduction of E-learning system forced teachers to fill out two reporting forms – one in electronic format for national authorities, and another one in paper format for local authorities, doubling their workload.

Reason #10. High turnover or “depreciation” of human resources. Due to low salaries, huge amount of work and paperwork “whitewash” (see Reasons #4 and 7), real professionals and pedagogues who know the issues inside out do not participate in policy level dialogue. High staff turnover kills many efforts to change things to the better, and lack of professionalism of these who join (who might not be here year after) aggravates daunting situation with the reform implementation.

Herman Gref , Sberbank CEO, once said: “Main minister in the government should be a minister of education, who provides foundation for cultural code”, noting that “the abyss divides western and Russian education systems”. How can one describe a division between Russian and Kazakhstan education, taking into account that Russian results in PISA and PIAAC are better that ours ( 479 compared to our 387 )?..

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Education system is multidimensional. There is no person in the world who is not concerned about today’s education. We all have children, grandchildren, parents, relatives or friends who somehow relate to education sector. Therefore, it is our common task to contribute to its improvement. What I mean by “contribution” is not to criticize education and complain “how awful our system is to introduce these summative assessments”. Instead we need to show our civic engagement, identify issues, propose solutions, build a dialogue as collectively and civilized as possible and become responsible for self-education at home. The Ministry of Education and schools will not be able to resolve all the issues without our contribution. As my colleague used to say: “I would never want to be in the policy makers’ shoes – it is difficult to make decisions and take responsibility for 18 million people; no one will thank you in any case”.

At the end of the day, we all (recipients of education services, schools and government) have the same goal – so that every citizen of our country receives high quality education and skills needed in the 21 st century. Key foundation of any civilized and economically sustainable society is high quality human capital.

Aliya Bizhanova, Almaty Management University researcher, OECD consultant

Post-COVID education in Kazakhstan: Heavy losses and deepening inequality

Jean-françois marteau.

In my nearly two decades with the World Bank, I have worked through several crises. And yet the latest estimations on the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic everywhere in the world have left me in utter disbelief. Where I sit in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan, it is too early to tell the consequences of the virus in many areas, but it is already clear that the impact on student learning will be devastating.

The education system in Kazakhstan was struggling even before the pandemic struck. Before COVID-19, six out of 10 students were functionally illiterate in Kazakhstan, a higher-middle-income country where, on average, a child is expected to complete 13.7 years of schooling. The pandemic now threatens to push over 100,000 more students into functional illiteracy.

Functional literacy is not the same as “regular” literacy. Literate students can still memorize most capitals in the world or recite Mendeleev’s periodic table. But they lack the capacity to apply their knowledge—math, science, and reading skills—in their day-to-day life to function professionally and flourish both as individuals and citizens.

The Bank’s recent estimates for Kazakhstan also indicate that, as a result of the pandemic, learning will decline by eight PISA points. PISA is the Program for International Student Assessment study that looks at the math, reading, and science skills of 15-year-olds.

What is worse, these losses and negative implications are going to be most pronounced for the already vulnerable and disadvantaged. Even short-term school closures will widen the reading achievement gap by 18 percent between children from poor and rich households, as can be seen in our estimates in the figure below.  

Inequality and the “four Kazakhstans”

Geographic inequalities often compound social ones.  An uneven and unequal landscape of human capital development in Kazakhstan was presented by the Center for Research and Consulting during a discussion on the Human Capital Index (HCI) organized by the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan in early October.

The Center analysts argued that four Kazakhstans co-exist in the country, each with a different level of income, life expectancy, fertility, and other indicators that impact HCI. It was striking to see the tremendous disparities among the four different regions: for example, regarding income, there is a difference of four times between high and low performing regions, on fertility the country’s North can be compared to Europe, while the South reflects trends of low income countries, and in terms of life expectancy, the northwest of Kazakhstan is similar to sub-Saharan African countries.  

PISA outcomes confirm similarly concerning differences in human capital across Kazakhstan, whereby, on average, low-performing regions are four years of schooling behind high-performing regions, demonstrating weak results both in rural and urban schools, whereas top performing regions demonstrate the largest gap between rural and urban schools. North Kazakhstan is an inspiring example, where the overall regional performance is high and the gap between urban and rural schools is one of the smallest.

Another alarming gap is between best and low-performing students. Take the Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools (NIS), a network of 22 highly competitive schools for the brightest students, aged 5–18. The NIS students outperform their peers by 124 PISA points, which equals to almost three years of schooling.

On functional literacy, NIS student performance is also strikingly different from the national average: according to the PISA 2018 results, only 6.2 percent of NIS students were deemed functionally illiterate compared to 64 percent nationwide. The performance of a small number of students is great and should continue to be sought, but Kazakhstan needs to raise the average level of skills both to ensure better equity, and as a question of necessity to reach the level of development to which the country aspires.

The human capital outlook

If a child born in Kazakhstan before COVID-19 was expected to fulfill just 63 percent of her or his potential, how much will the pandemic further limit their opportunities? And to what extent will these educational setbacks impact the economy’s competitiveness and productivity in the future?

The HCI value captures how productive a child will be in the future if fully healthy and educated. Between 2010 and 2020, Kazakhstan’s HCI enjoyed some, albeit mild, growth from 59 to 63 points. The increase was mainly due to improvements on the health side of the index: an increase in the adult survival rate and a decline in stunting among children under five.

Because years and quality of schooling are linked with ability to generate income in the future, school closure is likely to reduce the income of those affected. We estimate that, in Kazakhstan, after four months of school closures in March-June 2020, future income could be reduced by 2.9 percent, or equivalent to an overall economic loss up to $1.9 billion every year.

For a country with aspirations of joining the group of 30 most developed countries by 2050, strengthening human capital is a matter of urgency. Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked and most sparsely populated country in the world, and to generate growth it cannot rely only on natural resources or on densely populated markets.

What would it take?

Kazakhstan aims to increase education financing from the current 3.4 percent of GDP to 7 percent by 2025. This is a welcome initiative that will bring the country up to the OECD average on spending, but it is important to ensure that these investments are smart and efficient and that they benefit all children.  

The projected severe impact of the current pandemic on educational outcomes requires commitment and continuous monitoring at the highest levels of government. Strengthened performance monitoring, assessments, mentoring, and accountability could help schools and teachers deliver results.

The Bank’s Education Modernization Project has a special focus on improving quality and equality, particularly for disadvantaged schools. The initial design aimed to improve both the quality and equity in primary and secondary education, particularly among rural and disadvantaged schools. Today, together with the Government of Kazakhstan, we are looking into ways to tailor the project to help tackle the specific equity concerns emanating from the COVID-19 crisis.

In particular, Kazakhstan will need to address the challenge of an increasing learning gap that has been exacerbated by school closures during the pandemic. The educational recovery program should include an in-depth assessment of this gap, as well as accelerated training for teachers, stronger outreach to students in need, implementation of an intensive tutoring program, and continuous monitoring of learning recovery.

This approach can help to effectively confront the challenge of the “four Kazakhstans” in the wake of COVID-19, by addressing the widening inequality in learning, especially among the country’s poorest and most vulnerable.

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Former World Bank Country Manager for Kazakhstan

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Promoting quality education in kazakhstan.

Education planners Zulfiya Torebekova and Nurgul Shamshieva describe current efforts to improve the quality of education in Kazakhstan.

Education is one of the main priorities of state policy in Kazakhstan. During the relatively short period since independence in 1991, the government has made considerable investments in improving access to quality education, achieving significant progress in universal basic education, gender equality in education, and adult literacy. In the  2012 PISA assessment ,  Kazakhstan moved upward ten positions in the OECD rankings, from 59th place to 49th place. In 2015, Kazakhstan reached 99% attendance for primary education, 100% for secondary education, 99.6% coverage for general adult literacy, and 99.3% for gender equality.  

However,   a cross-regional comparison   of educational achievement in the PISA 2012 assessment revealed low scores in rural schools, with scores in mathematics and reading 8-10% below the national average. Furthermore, on Kazakhstan’s Unified National Test (UNT), students from rural schools scored on average 66.50 points, while students from urban schools scored 76.16 points.

These eye-opening results from PISA and other assessments have pushed the government to initiate extensive programmes to provide equitable and quality education in rural areas, as well as to give increased support to disadvantaged students with learning difficulties. In 2012, the country adopted a five-year National Action Plan to improve students’ functional literacy skills, encourage creative thinking and problem solving, as well as ensure the readiness of students for lifelong learning. In addition to adjusting the curriculum and management system, five particular measures have been taken to improve the quality of general school education, as detailed below:

1. Expansion of the pre-school network

The government of Kazakhstan has made the expansion of pre-school education a priority. Between 2003 and the latest statistics from 2013, the network of pre-schools increased by over six times, to 8,143 facilities, primarily through the mechanism of public-private partnerships. Overall, pre-school education coverage has reached 81.6% of children aged 3-6 years old, and the new program for educational development for 2016-2019 aims at providing 100% coverage of preschool education.

2. Creation of regional hub-centres to support rural ungraded schools

A distinctive feature of the school network in Kazakhstan is the prevalence of small ungraded schools, accounting for almost half of all schools in Kazakhstan, including nearly 70% of rural schools. The provision of these mixed-grade schools ensures that all Kazakh citizens—even those in remote or underpopulated areas—are guaranteed the right to free preschool, primary, basic secondary and general secondary education in accordance with the Constitution. In order to achieve higher learning standards in these schools, special hub-centres have been set up across the regions, with each hub-centre supporting the improvement of education quality in three to four small ungraded schools. In 2015, there were 160 such hub-centres operating across Kazakhstan.

3. A new system of teacher professional development

In partnership with the University of Cambridge in the UK, Kazakhstan has started a new system of teacher professional development. The Basic level of the training program focuses on understanding learning processes in the classroom; the Intermediate level focuses on the whole school; and the Advanced level focuses on guiding learning processes within a network of schools. After successful completion of each level of the training program, teachers are entitled to additional payments of 30%, 70%, and 100% of their previous salary, respectively.

4. Development of new mechanisms of school financing

Kazakhstan recently piloted  a new model of school financing   based on a per-pupil formula. This mechanism of funding raises the financial autonomy of schools in providing differentiated salaries and bonuses based on performance, thus contributing to more efficient use of resources to improve the overall quality of education. Boards of Trustees, composed of parents, sponsors, and school graduates, are also helping to enhance transparency and accountability at the school level. During pilot implementation of this funding approach, the share of teachers with the highest qualification increased from 60% to 79% and the average student score on the Unified National Test improved from 76 points to 80 points.

  5. Investment in school infrastructure and technologies

The Ministry of Education and local governments have also made considerable efforts to equip schools with modern technologies and laboratory facilities, as part of an effort to upgrade school infrastructure. By 2015, around half of all schools had physics, biology, chemistry, and language laboratories, with two-thirds of the newly equipped schools located in rural areas. Kazakhstan has also attached great importance to the use of information communications technology (ICT) in education. In 2010, the majority of schools were equipped with computer hardware and software, multimedia equipment, and interactive smart boards. Since the 2012-2013 academic year, Internet access is available in 98.8% of urban and 99.2% of rural schools, though not all with broadband technology. The  State Program for Education Development   sets a target of 80% of schools being equipped with modern laboratories, and 90% with broadband internet access, by 2020.

The Minister of Education and Science of Kazakhstan, Erlan Sagadiev,  has stated  

“education determines the fate of our children, and the level of education depends on both educators and parents”.

The government of Kazakhstan plans to continue its partnership with parents around the country to provide the best possible education to the next generation.

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Experts from kazakhstan, unicef and unesco discussed the transformation of the national education system.

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NUR-SULTAN, June 14, 2022 - The national consultations held today in Nur-Sultan are devoted to the topic of transforming the education system. Such consultations are being held in every country around the world in the run-up to the UN Global Education Summit, which will be held in September this year in New York.

National consultations in Kazakhstan are organized by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan in close cooperation with the UN Resident Coordinator Office in the Republic of Kazakhstan and with the technical support of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Kazakhstan and UNESCO Almaty Cluster Office to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Experts from the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, UNICEF, UNESCO, I. Altynsarin National Academy of Education, Institute for Professional Development "Orleu", JSC "Financial Center", parliamentarians, representatives of civil and academic society, teachers and youth gathered to work out a common vision for the transformation of education in Kazakhstan.

“Kazakhstan has made significant progress in the field of education over the years of independence. However, as elsewhere in the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact, created risks for the education system and limited access to education for the most vulnerable groups of children. In Kazakhstan, UN agencies are already supporting various initiatives to overcome the effects of the pandemic and expand access to education. We hope that our joint efforts with the Government of Kazakhstan will ultimately improve the quality and relevance of education” , - said Michaela Friberg-Storey, UN Resident Coordinator for Kazakhstan.

Five thematic areas determined the course of the public discussion. These directions build on the priority actions identified in the 2020 UNESCO Global Meeting on Education Declaration, which national political leaders and the global community have committed to accelerate as part of SDG 4, both in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. In addition, they build on the vision, principles and proposals contained in the UN Secretary-General's report "Our Common Agenda" and the UNESCO “Futures of Education” Report. The five areas are universally relevant to any country and highlight areas that require urgent and coordinated action by governments and the global community.

The first track on inclusive and safe schools sparked a heated discussion among the National Consultation Thematic Group participants. As a result of the discussion, the participants developed a common position on the necessary changes so that all children, regardless of their abilities, have equal access to education.

“The pandemic has become a real test for the Kazakhstan education system. Remote learning has shown the need for digital skills for teachers and children. School closures have had a negative impact on children's mental health. Children were unable to directly interact with their teachers and peers. When children are unable to interact with their teachers and peers at all, learning losses can become irreversible. Now we cannot afford to simply return to the old “normal”. We need a new understanding of it. A qualitative revision of approaches to education, a reimagining of the existing system is important. The priority of any transformation must be given to the protection of the right of every child, regardless of their abilities, to a quality and affordable education”, - said Arthur van Diesen, UNICEF Representative in Kazakhstan.

A changing world, rapid changes in the labor market and the demand for new professions have identified the second priority topic of the national consultations. Skills for life, work and sustainable development, as well as quality programs for teaching these skills, should be available to all children and youth. Educational programs should meet the challenges of the time and prepare young people to become active members of Kazakhstani society. The quality of education is a critical guarantee that children and young people are actually acquiring the skills and knowledge that will help them continue their education and find employment.

“Sustainability is incompatible with young generations failing to acquire the knowledge, values and skills to grow up in a world facing such complex challenges, from climate change to the digital revolution. If we are to avoid a generational disaster, education must be a priority during the recovery period and beyond as a national policy imperative and a global public good”, - said Maki Katsuno-Hayashikawa, Director, Division for Education 2030, UNESCO Education Sector.

Teachers play a key role here. They are the basis of any educational system and the direct conductors of educational policy. All participants in the discussion of the third thematic group came to the conclusion that the transformation of education is possible only if teachers are highly professional and qualified and provided with the necessary support - in all institutions and at all levels of the system: from school to vocational, adult education and higher education.

Teacher qualifications in the 21st century should include digital learning skills. The COVID-19 pandemic and distance learning have made it clear how critical knowledge of digital tools is for organizing quality online education. UNICEF and UNESCO experts emphasized during the discussion that concrete actions should be taken, guided by three principles: focusing on the most marginalized groups, increasing investment in free and high-quality digital educational content, and digitizing education through pedagogical innovation and change.

The increase in investment in education was discussed by the participants of the last thematic group moderated by JSC “Financial Center”.

The result of the national consultations will be the preparation of the National Statement of Commitment of the country to transform the education system in the period up to 2030, which will be announced at the Transforming Education Summit

2022 this September in New York as part of the high-level Global Debate of the United Nations General Assembly.

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For more information on UNICEF's work, visit  www.unicef.org . 

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UNESCO is the United Nations’ specialized agency for education, providing global and regional leadership to drive progress, strengthening the resilience and capacity of national systems to serve all learners. UNESCO also leads efforts to respond to contemporary global challenges through transformative learning, with special focus on gender equality and development across all actions. 

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Perspectives and Problems of Inclusion Education in Kazakhstan during Covid 19

International Journal of Special Education and Information Technology

The XXI century is characterized by the understanding that only individual self-realization is the primary goal of any social development. These changes in public consciousness have caused the emergence of a new paradigm of education based on approaches and concepts developed by modern practice. This includes the idea of "inclusive education." Inclusive education in Kazakhstan is in the formation process, therefore, establishing a system of inclusive education requires a solution at the state level. Coupled with the global pandemic which has affected every person especially the most vulnerable kids, the State Program for the Development of Education and Science in the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2020-2025 raises an urgent problem of developing inclusive education. This study conducted a survey using an online poll with participants who are parents of kids with special needs. We asked what kind of challenges they met during Covid 19 pandemic time. Respondents ranked the following topics as the most complicated: lack of funding and resources reduced effectiveness of the educational staff training system, unregulated management and legislative framework, weak coordination of external services, and insufficient participation of the public and private sectors. The results of the research demonstrated that very few schoolchildren with special educational needs receive quality inclusive education.

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Approaches to Inclusive Education in Kazakhstan

In the 21st century, the contingent of the field of education is becoming more and more diverse, which is a challenge for higher education. The report on human development of the UN (2019), based on global research, states that serious barriers to access to education, academic success, and the well-being of many students from socially vulnerable groups remain in higher education [Undp.org, 2020]. The trend of introducing inclusive and fair practices in higher education and maintaining high academic standards are the goals that determine the discourse about the university in the 21st century. Inclusive excellence is the concept of excellence in a broad sense, including a set of strategies and practices of the university aimed at achieving the best results in teaching, research, and service through the support of diversity and inclusion. Diversity is understood as “the totality of individual and group/social differences that can be taken into account in the learning process”; and inclusion is understood as “active, intentional and constant interaction with diversity to improve the quality of the learning process and achieve interaction of individuals within systems and institutions” [Clayton-Pedersen and Musil, 2009].

The first model of inclusive university excellence was developed in 2005 by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). The basis for this concept is the idea that diversity, fairness, and inclusiveness are integral parts of the educational experience and success of all students, staff, and the university as a whole [Volosnikova et al. 2021]. At the beginning of its initiative, AAC&U identified the main elements of inclusive university excellence:

– focus on the intellectual and social development of students;

– offering the best training courses for the relevant context;

– targeted improvement of the quality of student education and use of organizational resources for this purpose, which means creating a favorable environment for every student and every employee of the university;

– attention to cultural differences that students bring to the educational experience and that strengthen the community.

The authors of this concept believe that such a university will not only occupy high positions in world rankings, which is also important but will also serve to overcome social inequality and achieve social justice. The number of socially vulnerable groups includes not only students with disabilities, as it seems to many, but also students from families with low income, immigrant status and residents of rural areas. Many of them face a lack of support, social isolation, and other forms of alienation, discrimination and marginalization.

In the international educational space, the understanding of the great importance of inclusive education is recognized and recorded in the documents of leading universities in the USA, Australia, Great Britain, Canada, Germany, Finland, and other countries.

Since the independence of Kazakhstan, the educational sphere has become the domain of permanent and quite significant reforms. Ultimately, the then Ministry of Education and Science (MES) strived to create state programs aimed at improving the education system and integration into education at the international level. At the same time, the attractive idea of inclusiveness and justice is actively promoted in education. Kazakhstan recognizes inclusive education as the most effective means of combating discriminatory attitudes, as well as for creating a favorable environment in society and ensuring education for all.

In this regard, a legislative framework was created over the years in the form of, for example, the Law on Education of 2007 (with amendments of 2019), in which inclusive education is defined as a process that provides equal access to education for all students taking into account their abilities and special educational needs (SEN), laws “On the rights of the child in the Republic of Kazakhstan” of 2002, “On social protection of the disabled in the Republic of Kazakhstan” in 2005, “On social-medical and pedagogical and correctional support of children with disabilities”, 2002, which ensure the rights of children, including children with disabilities, to education. Along with this, the government adopts state programs in the field of education, which outline the strategic vision of educational reforms for 2011-2020 and 2016-2019, where the goal of Kazakhstan is again proclaimed “to ensure equal access of all participants in the educational process to the best educational resources and technologies” [Adilet.zan, 2016].

Kazakhstan has supported such global initiatives as “Education for All” (EFA), the Salamanca Declaration on Principles, Policy, and Practice in Education for Persons with Special Needs, and the Dakar Framework for Action. It was established by law that all citizens have the right to free preschool, primary, general secondary, and professional education, as well as free higher education on a competitive basis, regardless of gender, nationality, social and economic status, language, religion, state of health and other individual characteristics.

So, inclusive education is a natural stage in the development of the education system, which is connected with the rethinking of the attitude of society and the state toward persons with limited health opportunities, with the definition of their right to receive opportunities equal to others.

In the Kazakh discourse, the concept of inclusive perfection is still at the stage of study and institutionalization. At the same time, researchers most often discuss the revision and change of the process of training specialists for raising children with special educational needs in school [Baimenova et al., 2015]. Narrowing down the problem to the school level, however, is characteristic not only for Kazakh researchers, many foreign experts also focus their attention on children of preschool and mostly school age [Göransson and Nilholm, 2014; Qvortrup and Qvortrup, 2017]. However, if the situation at the school level of education is solved in some way, even within the limited framework, inclusion at the level of higher education, unfortunately, is in more difficult conditions.

According to the National report on the state and development of the education system of the Republic of Kazakhstan, tertiary education coverage in Kazakhstan is 62% [Gov.kz, 2021]. Higher education in Kazakhstan has transformed from elitist to mass education. This was facilitated by changes in the Unified National Testing (UNT) system for university admission, an annual increase in the state educational order, an increase in the number of scholarships, etc. Diversification of the student contingent became the result of the expansion of access to higher education. The government has taken significant measures to expand the participation of underrepresented groups in higher education, including applicants from families with low socio-economic status, rural areas, migrants, etc.

Socially vulnerable students, who study according to the quota, make up 11.5% of the total number of students. Rural youth (88.8%) are the most represented in the structure of socially vulnerable students studying under the quota. Among other socially vulnerable categories studying under the quota, the contingent of students is represented by students of Kazakh nationality who are not citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan (3275), orphans and students left without parental care (2761), disabled people (1349), persons equal to benefits and guarantees participants in the war and invalids of the war (34).

The creation of conditions for inclusive education remains a “priority direction” of the State Program for the Development of Education and Science for 2020-2025 at all levels of education. In 2020, the share of civil universities, which created conditions for inclusive education, was 15%. Nevertheless, despite significant changes in the creation of conditions for students with SEN, several barriers remain to their full involvement in the learning process. Some conducted social studies show that the process of implementing an inclusive society in Kazakhstan is not very successful yet [Sailauova, 2020]. It is necessary to develop a comprehensive policy supported by appropriate resources.

Thus, a survey of directors of technical and professional colleges in Kazakhstan showed that the shortage of personnel is an acute problem in the education of people with disabilities, as well as the lack of education and psychological unpreparedness of teachers, lack of appropriate conditions, low awareness of parents about accessible colleges that provide inclusive education, weak career orientation of youth. In addition, it is necessary to provide colleges with the appropriate equipment, to regularly organize advanced training courses for teachers of inclusive education. The same problems, but to an even greater extent, are characteristic of universities, which are currently also unable to satisfy the needs of this group of students due to the lack of material, infrastructural and human resources.

Some applied studies show that, for example, students with disabilities in universities face numerous obstacles, which can be conditionally divided into three groups; problems related to the surrounding space, related to attitudes, and related to access to information.

Barriers related to the environment are difficulties in accessing buildings, the location of classrooms, and inconvenient infrastructure. Despite the worldwide transition to an inclusive environment, favorable for all people with disabilities, the reality of Kazakhstan shows that educational locations are still physically difficult to access. For this reason, students with disabilities are dependent on external factors, such as the weather, which often forces them to miss classes, and the impossibility of participating in social activities on campus, which, in turn, hinders their social integration.

Attitude-related barriers are “social barriers”, meaning the influence of the relationships of peers, teachers, and staff with whom students interact. They often have a negative character when those around them do not want to provide reasonable support to students and/or do not understand their additional needs. Teachers often tend to underestimate the expectations of students with disabilities or, on the contrary, do not take into account the individual health conditions of students. Barriers to relations entail the necessity of consulting services for employees and teachers. Moreover, to minimize negative consequences and make the educational environment more favorable for people with disabilities, it is necessary to train teachers and employees.

As for difficulties in accessing information and educational materials, they include assistive technologies and pedagogical approaches. Even for students without disabilities, it is a difficult task to cope with a large volume of educational material accompanying studies at the university. The so-called “inability to perceive printed information”, including on the part of the blind and students with visual impairments, means that they are deprived of basic access to these resources, which puts them at a disadvantage and significantly limits their learning opportunities. At the same time, this means the inability of universities to provide equal access to educational materials for their students. New technologies and electronic sources expand the possibilities of student learning but require special applications, processing techniques, and additional time [Abdykaimov, 2021].

The disadvantage of inclusive policy in the field of the education system is the fact that although the aforementioned legislative documents contain references to inclusion, the provisions of the documents seem vague and do not prescribe external mechanisms for the implementation of inclusiveness in practice [Makoelle, 2020]. The Law on Education (Kazakhstan, 2007) stipulates that universities in Kazakhstan cannot discriminate against students with disabilities, but the legislation does not establish legal mechanisms and procedures for overcoming existing barriers to access to universities. In Kazakh universities, there are no established inclusive services and transitional programs taking into account the special needs of students with disabilities [Ontario Human Rights Commission, n.d.].

The lack of available educational resources in the Kazakh context is aggravated by the lack of qualified and well-informed administrators and teachers. According to the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan on education (2007), persons with disabilities have the right to a 75% supplement to the monthly student scholarship. However, this financial assistance is insufficient. There are no rules binding on university staff and teachers to meet the needs of students related to their studies, students depend on the goodwill and awareness of individual teachers and administrators.

To conclude, to realize the rights of people with disabilities to access education without discrimination and based on equality of opportunity by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and under the Message of the Head of the State to the people of Kazakhstan dated September 2, 2019, the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On amendments and additions to certain legislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on issues of inclusive education” was adopted. In the issue of accessibility of higher education, it is necessary to note the gradual increase in the number of students from among persons with disabilities. Since 2010, this indicator has increased by 2.5 times and amounted to 1,349 people in the 2020/2021 academic year.   However, a centralized institutional policy is required to comprehensively solve the problems of vulnerable students. Thus, the inclusiveness of education is a political, economic, and social issue that remains an important aspect of the development of modern Kazakhstan in the wider world community.

Abdykaimov, Ziyat. (2021). Visually Impaired Students and Their Experiences. Retrieved from https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Visually-Impaired-Students-and-Their-Experiences-Abdykaimov/5df77e944c7ae94a8411fb8cf3750024cc381297. Accessed on 27.12.2022.

Adilet.zan (2016). About the Approval of the State Development Program of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2011-2020. Retrieved from https://adilet.zan.kz/rus/docs/U1000001118. Accessed on 28.12 2022.

Baimenova, Botagoz, Bekova, Zhanat and Zhubakova, Saule (2015). Psychological readiness of future educational psychologists for working with children in inclusive education. 6th World Conference on Psychology Counseling and Guidance, 14 – 16 May 2015, Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 205, pp. 577 – 583. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283276700_Psychological_Readiness_of_Future_Educational_Psychologists_for_the_Work_with_Children_in_the_Conditions_of_Inclusive_Education. Accessed on 27.12.2022.

Ontario Human Rights Commission (n.d.). Main barriers to education for students with disabilities (fact sheet). Retrieved from https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/main-barriers-education-students-disabilities-fact-sheet . Accessed on 20.01.2023.

Clayton-Pedersen Alma R. & Musil Caryn M. (2009). Making excellence inclusive. A framework for embedding diversity and inclusion into colleges and universities academic excellence mission [Internet]. Washington, DC: AAC&U; 2009 [cited 2020 May 27]. Retrieved from https://www.aacu.org/sites/default/files/files/mei/MEI.pdf. Accessed on 27.12.2022.

Gov.kz (2021) National Report on the State and Development of the Educational System of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Retrieved from https://www.gov.kz/uploads/2021/3/11/004d895b28e14465fc4f257dfaa0691d_original.17822697.pdf . Accessed on 29.12.2022.

Göransson, Kerstin & Nilholm, Claes (2014). Conceptual Diversities and Empirical Shortcomings – A Critical Analysis of Research on Inclusive Education, European Journal of Special Needs Education, 29:3, 265-280, DOI: 10.1080/08856257.2014.933545. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/action/showCitFormats?doi=10.1080%2F08856257.2014.933545 . Accessed on 22.12.2022.

Makoelle, Tsediso Michael (2020). Language, Terminology, and Inclusive Education: A Case of Kazakhstani Transition to Inclusion. Sage Open, 10 (1). Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020902089 . Accessed on 22.12.2022.

Qvortrup, Ane & Qvortrup, Lars (2018). Inclusion: Dimensions of Inclusion in Education, International Journal of Inclusive Education, 22:7, pp. 803-817, DOI: 10.1080/13603116.2017.1412506. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13603116.2017.1412506 .  Accessed on 27.12.2022.

Sailauova, Aibanu (2020). The Implementation of Inclusive Society in Kazakhstan. How Successfully Inclusive Society is Being Implemented in Kazakhstan? Retrieved from https://kz.academia.edu/AibanuSailauova . Accessed on 27.12.2022.

Volosnikova, Ludmila, Zagvyazinskiy, Vladimir, Kukuev, Yevgeniy, Fedina, Ludmila and Ogorodnova, Olga (2021). The Convergence of the Concepts of Academic and Inclusive Excellence at Research Universities, Education and science. №4. Retrieved from https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/konvergentsiya-kontseptsiy-akademicheskogo-i-inklyuzivnogo-sovershenstva-issledovatelskih-universitetov. Accessed on 27.12.2022.

UNDP.org (2020).  Human Development Report 2019. Within the Framework of Today’s Income Level and Average Indicators: Inequality in Human Development in the XXI Century. Retrieved from https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/hdr2019rupdf_1.pdf . Accessed on 22.12.2022.

Note: The views expressed in this blog are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the Institute’s editorial policy

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Nadirova Gulnar Ermuratovna graduated from the Oriental Faculty of Leningrad State University, in 1990 she defended her thesis on the Algerian literature at the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies, in 2006 doctoral thesis - on modern Tunisian literature at the Tashkent Institute of Oriental Studies, Professor.

Inclusive Education in a Post-Soviet Context pp 3–18 Cite as

Kazakhstan’s Transition to Inclusion: The Journey So Far

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This chapter presents an overview of the developments in inclusive education since the advent of the new educational dispensation in the Republic of Kazakhstan since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The chapter introduces information about this vast but sparsely populated country, its historical policy metamorphosis on education reforms, and particularly on its milestones and struggles in the quest to ensure accessible, equal, and equitable education for all its children.

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Rollan, K. (2021). Kazakhstan’s Transition to Inclusion: The Journey So Far. In: Makoelle, T.M., Somerton, M. (eds) Inclusive Education in a Post-Soviet Context. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65543-3_1

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Overview                                                                                       

• 604,345 students are in higher education institutions in Kazakhstan and over 160,000 high school students graduated in 2020;
• Over 84,000 students study abroad annually and 1,830 studied in the United States (2020-21);
• Demand for K-12 distance learning education technology is expected to rise as the Government seeks to meet population boom while trying to address the shortage of teachers.
• Fall 2020/21 secondary education was conducted online at over 7,000 schools.
• Over 350,000 teachers currently receive training in IT and ‘cyber-pedagogy’;
• Lack of curated digital learning material despite good connectivity, especially in light of COVID-19
• College-aged population will expand considerably thru 2030 and this is expected to fuel continued growth in the number of outbound students;
• Government education spending will be increased to USD 27 billion thru 2025.

Education technology, boarding schools, technical and vocational education, English-language courses, and higher education are highlights for demand in this market. Per capita income of $24,380 (2020) and a large disposable income of its population make Kazakhstan an attractive market for the U.S. education sector. Unlike the rest of Central Asia, Kazakhstan’s per-capita GDP has been steadily increasing up until 2014, creating burgeoning middle- and upper-class youth eager to travel and study abroad. However, multiple currency devaluations in 2014 as well as in 2015 had a negative impact on Kazakhstani families. Nonetheless, government policy has dramatically increased English-language education nationwide over the past decade. Major multinationals regularly noted a “skills gap”, with an insufficient supply of up-to-date technicians, engineers, scientists, and professional managers, which meant an increasing demand in education for related degrees. Kazakhstan’s population reached 19,397,998 by July 2022, and 90% of the population completes secondary education or beyond. Since Kazakhstan’s independence in 1991, Kazakhstan nationals have taken increasing advantage of studying overseas. Over 84,000 students study abroad annually and 1,830 studied in the United States (2020/21).

The education system in Kazakhstan is highly centralized, which allowed it to effectively implement a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with local governments moving quickly to online learning platforms. Most higher education institutions already had online infrastructure in place and secondary schools had 90% readiness. Technical and vocational colleges were less prepared for the transition. There were also challenges with internet access in rural areas.  Despite 78% internet coverage across the country and access to cheap cellular data, some rural areas with no access relied on TV and radio to transmit material to students. Teacher training in cyber-pedagogy is a priority along with developing online digital learner content.  Even before the pandemic, the government has been keenly focused on increasing digital capabilities in schools in Kazakhstan, but there is much room for improvement.

COVID-19 challenges included:

• overall network capacity and connectivity issues;
• access to devices for teachers, parents, and learners;
• lack of curated, appropriate digital learning material;
• lack of material adapted for children with special learning needs;
• lack of IT and pedagogical skills.

Education has moved back to in-person for 2021-22 academic year. However, some exceptions or COVID-19 outbreaks still lead to schools moving to remote learning on a case-by-case basis. Investments in education technology may continue well beyond the pandemic to support students in remote areas suffering from lack of faculty and facilities, considering network capacity and internet connectivity issues are resolved.

From 2005 to 2020, the number of universities in Kazakhstan declined by nearly a third, falling from more than 180 to 125— 33 public and 92 private , according to government statistics. The government hopes that improved oversight and quality standards will eventually reduce that number to 100.

• According to Kazakhstan’s Committee on Statistics, there were 604,345 students enrolled in higher education institutions in 125 universities nationwide in Academic Year 2019-20, with the highest concentrations of students in Almaty, Shymkent, Karaganda, and Aktobe, with a growing number of students in Nur-Sultan.  Additionally, slightly more than 70% of the students are self-funded and 27% are on state scholarships. The country’s 2050 Strategic Development Plan which includes the adaptation of the education system to the new socio-economic environment, creates opportunities for U.S. higher education institutions and education technology companies.

State financing of education in 2019 was a record 19% of the national budget and 3.62% of the GDP, with the largest portion spent on secondary education, amounting to over USD 5.5 million. The government announced that by 2025, education financing will increase to USD 27 billion (7% of GDP), with a focus on building 800 new schools, training in education technology and innovation, 100% coverage with kindergartens, and increasing teachers’ salaries, among others. The State Program of Education includes construction of schools and kindergartens, modernization of vocational and technical education, e-learning education projects, and professional development systems for teachers.

The government has attempted to cultivate international educational connections by promoting international student mobility, both into and out of Kazakhstan, and encouraging the internationalization of its higher education system. In its  Academic Mobility Strategy in Kazakhstan 2012-2020 , the primary policy document governing the country’s internationalization strategy over the past decade, the government laid out a series of bold internationalization goals. These included having one in five Kazakhstani students engage in some form of study abroad by 2020 and increasing the number of international students studying at Kazakhstani universities by 20 percent each year. Improving the English language skills of students and faculty, expanding the number of programs offered in foreign languages, and promoting links with foreign universities and international organizations were also identified as objectives in the strategy. The government has backed these plans with concrete actions. It has funded generous international scholarship programs, issued directives requiring institutions to establish international academic partnerships, and joined intergovernmental higher education initiatives, most notably, those associated with the Bologna Process.

In 2011, Kazakhstan was ranked first worldwide on UNESCO’s Education for All Development Index  (EDI), which measures elementary enrollment and completion rates, adult literacy levels, and gender parity in education and literacy. Today, enrollment in elementary and secondary education is nearly universal, with negligible differences in access and achievement by gender. International organizations, such as  the OECD , have also praised the Kazakhstani education system for its low repetition rates. Most Kazakhstan students’ progress smoothly from one grade to the next, with few held back.

The college-aged population will expand considerably over the rest of the decade and is expected to fuel continued growth in outbound numbers: the population of students aged 15-24 is over 2,290,000 and under 15 is 5,214,000.

The Unified National Testing

In 2020, over 160,000 students graduated from Kazakhstani high schools. Students completing high school courses take a final examination that certifies graduation.  Those who proceed to enter higher education institutions undertake Unified National Testing. Students who successfully pass with 50 points out of 140 are then allowed to apply to local universities and other higher educational institutions.  The UNT is not obligatory for those students applying for foreign universities on a self-funded basis, but 130,000 of them took the test in 2020, leaving 30,000 students to self-fund or seek scholarships in order to study abroad.

The Bolashak Scholarship

The Bolashak is a national government scholarship established in 1993.  It aims to assist talented young people in obtaining quality education abroad.  The scholarship covers all costs related to education including tuition and fees, costs of travel, and a living stipend.  The program requires all Bolashak recipients to return to Kazakhstan upon completing their education and to work for five years in Kazakhstan.  Since 1993 over 12,898 Kazakhstani students have received Bolashak Scholarships with a capacity of 1,000 scholarship recipients a year. Since 2011, the program has provided scholarships for masters and doctoral programs only. The most popular countries for study are the UK, United States, Germany, and Russia. The Bolashak program currently has agreements with 33 countries and 83 educational institutions worldwide, of which 31 in the United States.  Bolashak is considered a good partner by U.S. universities.

U.S. Higher Education Competition

According to UNESCO, there are approximately 84,681 self-funded Kazakhstani students studying overseas, excluding China. According to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Education, approximately 150,000 Kazakhstanis study in universities abroad and in 2025 the number of students studying overseas is expected to rise to 400,000.  Both numbers are approximations but provide an average estimate of 100,000 students abroad. Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan (American University in Bishkek), United States, UK, and Malaysia lead the ranks. Other countries with Kazakhstani students include Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and other European countries.  Only about 10% of all students studying abroad are awarded with the Bolashak Scholarship, the rest are self-funded.

Competition from other countries, admissions deadlines, fees and policies, current testing availability, perceived visa difficulty, limited access to high schools for recruitment, and lack of institutional relationships tend to severely hamper the growth of enrollment in U.S. higher education institutions.

Opportunities & Challenges

Although there is very high demand in Kazakhstan to study overseas at both undergraduate and graduate-levels, the total numbers of Kazakhstanis choosing to study in the United States has remained flat over the past five years (1,879 students in 2018-19 academic year). Unlike the rest of Central Asia, Kazakhstan’s per-capita GDP has increased significantly, creating a burgeoning middle and upper-class youth eager to travel and study abroad.  In addition, government policy encourages this and has also dramatically increased English-language education nationwide over the past decade. The quality of students has been improving and with the introduction of new reforms and high-quality school technologies, student academic performance has improved by 15-20% since 2010.  Despite Government efforts to introduce English as the third official language and building education facilities that have English language curriculum, Kazakhstan still ranks low on global English proficiency ranking at #96 out of 112.

Leading Sub-Sectors                                                            

Education Technology

• The government will continue to seek digital learning content from sources abroad to be adapted to local standards;
• In expectation of a population boom for teachers in the coming years, Kazakhstan is exploring options for online teaching platforms;
• Over 7,000 schools operated online in 2020;
• Lack of learning devices was cited as a key issue, especially in rural areas;
• Lack of technical skills and cyber-pedagogy is a potential opportunity for U.S. education training providers;
• Kazakhstan received a World Bank loan to develop its education system in the amount of USD 60 million;

During the pandemic the distance learning for K-12 was managed via national TV channels and there is now a nationwide push for online learning to be a norm for K-12, especially in rural areas . Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools is training its 3,500 teachers in English and could be a potential partner for U.S. education technology companies. Interest in partnerships with U.S. institutions for online education degree and certificate programs, especially valuable dual-degree programs that can be co-funded by the Ministry of Education. Partnerships can be directly with university/college or via local distributors.

U.S. Higher Education

Government reforms tighten licensing regulations and qualification requirements of local universities in order to improve education quality offer opportunities for U.S. higher educational institutions to attract students from Kazakhstan.  At the moment, fewer than 5% of potential Kazakhstani students overseas are studying in the U.S., and out of 80,000 students studying overseas, 80% are self-funded.

U.S. Community Colleges

Vocational education is underdeveloped as many vocational colleges and technical training schools were closed or transferred to other uses in the 1990s.  Vocational schools offer professional training for students who are not able or do not wish to pursue higher education.  Community colleges offering associate degrees in the U.S. could be a good fit for this specific category of students.

Research and Development

Starting in 2021, up to 500 scientists from Kazakhstan will receive a scholarship, within the framework of the Bolashak program, to undergo training in leading scientific centers of the world.

Graduate Internships and Practical Experiences

Bolashak scholarship program is interested in identifying U.S. private internship placement companies, especially in Tech/STEM fields. They are referred to as “internships” due to Kazakhstan’s regulations, these opportunities can also entail research and fellowship-type activities.

English Language Training

Despite a strenuous government effort to promote English language competence, introduced by then President Nazarbayev in the 2007 Trinity of Languages program, overall English language proficiency in Kazakhstan remains low.

Degrees in Demand

The labor market demand for certain qualifications do not match supply, mostly in technical professions. Major multinationals on the scene from the mid-1990s regularly note a “skills gap” – an insufficient supply of up-to-date technicians, engineers, scientists and professional managerial types capable of filling increasing demand.  Demand among students gearing towards business, humanities, and social studies with some increase in technical education.              

Resources                                                     

• Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan
• Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan
• Committee on Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan
• Bolashak Program ( https://bolashak.gov.kz/ru )
• World Bank for Technical and Vocational Education Project
• UNESCO International Students in Tertiary Education (http://uis.unesco.org/en/uis-student-flow).

For more information contact Commercial Specialist: [email protected] .

Education in Kazakhstan

Education system, secondary education, technical and vocational education, higher education.

Kazakhstan's education system helps to gain knowledge that enables to get a profession later. In the Republic of Kazakhstan, education is divided into general and vocational. School (secondary) education is divided into the classes: primary (grades 1-4), basic and senior. Primary vocational education (after the 9th grade) can be obtained in the specialized lyceums, while secondary vocational education can be received in the specialized schools or colleges.

The education system in the Republic of Kazakhstan consists of the several education l evels : 

• preschool education and training;
• primary education;
• basic secondary education;
• secondary education (general secondary education, technical and vocational education);
• post-secondary education;
• graduate education;
• post-graduate education.

The education system is supervised by the relevant ministries: Ministry of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Secondary education in Kazakhstan is compulsory and includes primary, basic secondary (9 grades) and general secondary (11 (12) grades) education. There is also a vocational and secondary vocational education.

Children aged 6 years old are admitted to the first grade of school. Education in schools of Kazakhstan is comprised of 3 levels: primary (1-4 grades), basic (5-9 grades) and senior (10-11 (12) grades). Educational programs are developed for comprehensive development of capabilities of the especially gifted students and are implemented in the specialized schools for gifted children.

Technical and vocational education is aimed at training of qualified workers and middle-ranking specialists and is delivered in the academies, colleges and tertiary colleges based on the basic secondary and (or) general secondary education.

The technical and vocational education in the country is delivered in the 772 technical and vocational education organizations, of which 446 are public and 326 are private. The total amount of students in technical and vocational education organizations is 517.3 thousand people, of which 312 thousand people have studied under the state order.

The major tasks of technical and vocational education are the following:

- the training of qualified workers and middle-ranking specialists;

- expanding the coverage of free-of-charge technical and vocational education;

- increasing the target state order at the request of the enterprises (10 thousand people annually);

- increasing the amount of scholarships for students of technical and vocational education organizations;

• creating conditions for increasing the accessibility of technical and vocational education;
• improving financial stability and targeted support of technical and vocational education;
• improving corporate governance of technical and vocational education;
• organizing and developing social partnership in the system of technical and vocational education;
• creating equal conditions and barrier-free access for students with special educational needs;
• ensuring consistency and continuity between the levels of education;
• expanding international cooperation in the field of personnel training and re-training of in the technical and vocational education organizations.

In order to ensure the accessibility of technical and vocational education, since last year, the state order has been placed under the principle "money follows the student" . Earlier the admission to the colleges was carried out according to the allocated places under the state order and currently the fellows could select the colleges and specialties as per their will. These measures ensure the transparency of state order distribution and admission of applicants to the colleges.

The applicants will be able to apply to the colleges through the Egov.kz portal or directly to the college. The applicants can choose up to 4 specialties and up to 4 colleges.

All the school graduates will be given an opportunity to undergo professional diagnostics through the education departments’ information systems. As a result, the applicants will get recommendations to select a particular specialty and be familiar with the datasheets of recommended industries.

The competition is conducted through the education departments’ information systems based on the diploma average score under required and vocation-related disciplines.

Also, the new mechanism is aimed at 100% coverage of the graduates with free-of-charge college tuition under highly demanded specialties.

Currently, higher education in Kazakhstan is at the stage of dynamic development that is dictated by scientific and technological progress requirements. Recently, the republic has undertaken global measures to upgrade and reform the education through introducing top notch teaching methods and developing up-to-date infrastructure and providing full-fledged student support.

Higher education structure and study format

Today, the Kazakhstani higher education system in the context of the Bologna process parameters is of the following structure:

• Baccalaureate is higher educational programs intended for cohort study with awarded bachelor's degree under relevant specialty.
• A scientific and pedagogical direction with a study period of at least two years;
• A discipline direction with a study period of at least one year.
• a scientific and pedagogical direction with a study period of at least three years;
• a discipline based direction with a study period of at least three years.

Today, the number of universities in the country is 120 , of which national universities – 11 , state – 29 (non-profit joint-stock companies), international university – 1 , corporate universities – 16 , private – 48 , autonomous – 1 (Nazarbayev University), non-civilian – 14 .

Study format

Today, Kazakhstanis have the opportunity to receive higher education under the following study format:

• Full time or classroom study. Under this format a student must attend seminars and lectures in classrooms.
• Distance learning. Internet based learning. Assignments and educational materials are posted online for self-study. Online consultations are upon request. Diploma projects defense is the higher educational institution intramural conducted.

The most important aspect of higher education development in the country is the creation of a culture of academic integrity. For this purpose, the League of Academic Integrity had been created in 2018 as an independent and self-established organization following the example of the Ivy League in the USA, the Russell Group in the UK and C9 in China.

Admission to universities

The citizens who have acquired general secondary or technical and vocational education or post-secondary education also have the opportunity to receive higher education. There is possibility to go through a shortened educational programs process with an accelerated study period for the persons with acquired technical and vocational, post-secondary or higher education with re-crediting the grades  and crediting the earlier grades of disciplines accomplished provided for the sufficiency of the scope of study and continuity of the educational program.

In Kazakhstan, admission to universities is based on the Unified National Testing (UNT) results. Since 2017, they have been passing overall school exams attestation to obtain a certificate of secondary education, “Altyn Belgi” (with honors) and UNT score for admission to universities and receiving government grants for studying at universities. Since 2019, there is a possibility for school graduates to take the UNT four (4) times a year.

The UNT in electronic format is carried out in the following terms:

• from January 10 to February 10 (one attempt);
• from March 1-31 (one attempt);
• from May 16 to July 5 (main UNT for receiving a government grant, two attempts);
• from August 10 to August 20 (one attempt).

Applications are accepted (online) on the website www.testcenter.kz of the National Testing Center within the following deadlines:

• from December 20 to January 6 of the calendar year for individuals;
• from February 20 to March 10 of the calendar year for individuals;
• from April 28 to May 14 of the calendar year for individuals;
• from July 20 to July 30 of the calendar year for persons.

Admission to the university after a re-test is done is possible only on a paid basis; and the government grants are distributed upon passing the main UNT (in May-July of the year).

At the end of a bachelor's program study a student receives in-depth knowledge of occupation. Studying in master programs is of advanced specialty. In Kazakhstan, students can study in one specialty at the bachelor's program, and continue their graduate studies at the master program in another specialty. At the end, the student has the opportunity to master two specialties and hold down the financial and time costs of receiving the second higher education.

Studying in higher educational institutions of Kazakhstan is organized both on the basis of government educational order and at the student’s own expense. The major of government educational grants is allocated for the study of technical specialists and teachers. Almost half of the total number of educational grant holders are representatives of a socially vulnerable group of the population. In addition to the government educational grants, the universities expand an access to receiving the higher education through corporate grants and tuition allowances.

Government scholarship

To encourage the school youth and provide the opportunity to obtain higher education at universities within the country, the Government will allocate scholarship to the students. The government scholarship is divided into:

• It is paid to the students who accomplished the session with “good” and “excellent” grades.
• Increased (+15% to the basic). It is assigned to the students who accomplished the session with “excellent” grades.
• Presidential (+100% to the basic). Students with special merits such as creative, scientific research, sports, social and cultural etc. could apply to receive a presidential scholarship.

The government also allocates increased scholarships for students with disabilities and those who are without parental custody.

What are the grants the one could receive for higher education programs study in Kazakhstan?

There are different higher education grant types in Kazakhstan:

Government general grants. The republican budget funds are allocated among the country's universities.

Grants for the youth from western, densely populated and newly created regions of the country . They are allocated according to the designated list of country’s universities and the republican budget funds are allocated.

Government target grants. They are allocated in advance to the country’s universities and can be implemented only in a particular educational institution.

Mayor office grants. These are the local executive body funds. The students study in specialties at the universities that are in short supply in the region.

Rector's grants and scholarships. They are special achievements and merits awarded at the university.

There are specific conditions for receiving the grants to study in each particular university. There are also grants and scholarships from public foundations and organizations. They can be awarded based on competitive arrangements in the separate universities or awarded to the high achieved students throughout the country.

“Bolashak" program

Kazakhstanis have the opportunity to receive higher education abroad on a paid or free basis. Many European universities are welcoming to admit students from Kazakhstan. An international scholarship "Bolashak" has been established by government of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Kazakhstanis who have intention to receive a doctorate or master's degree abroad.

An international scholarship “Bolashak” has become a unique initiative that provides an access the talented youth to the world top universities. Over the 30 years of scholarship implementation a pool of more than 12.5 thousand highly qualified specialists has been formed in the country amongst the scientists, engineers, doctors, government managers and other professionals. The scholarship graduates have contributed to the building of international relations, Kazakhstan’s integration into international community and transfer of international knowledge and technology to the country.

The Program graduates have played a key role in the launch of the flagship of Kazakhstan’s higher education - Nazarbayev University, Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools, Astana International Financial Center, a number of National Medical Centers, AstanaHub, Astana IT University, International Center for Green Technologies and Investment Projects.

Today, the Kazakhstanis have a unique opportunity to gain advanced knowledge in more than 200 of the world top universities in 27 countries, including those included in the highly reputed Ivy League and Russell Group.

In its current implementation the “Bolashak” program has prepared highly qualified specialists for the economy of Kazakhstan in such current specialties as urban planning, energy systems, hydrology, nuclear industry, cybersecurity, robotics, virology, emergency prevention and response, etc.

To address the request of the Head of State to reorient the “Bolashak” program, in 2022, 60% of scholarships were allocated for the engineering and technical specialties study and internships. In 2023, to create high-quality competition environment among the engineering and technical workers through the increased number of applicants, a preferential category - “Engineering and technical workers for a master's degree” was introduced which provides for foreign language prerequisite study for up to 12 months.

Higher and postgraduate education

State compulsory education   standards

Beginning this year academic independence of state compulsory education standards (SCES) has been expanded. Currently, universities are authorsied to revise the content of a number of compulsory disciplines and independently regulate the number of credits for basic and profile disciplines.

The history of Kazakhstan will be studied from the ancient times to the modern period. Also, the universities may independently incorporate the amendments into the content of general education disciplines cycle with regard to the specifics of the directions.

It is provided to recognize the micro- qualifications learning outcomes, also such notions as "nano-credit" and "building the degree" have been introduced.

The "Mamandygym-bolashygym” project has been launched, which provides for strategic consolidation of efforts of the universities, mayor offices and business structures. In each region, basic universities had been determined, wherein foresight studies of the personnel requirements of the region have been conducted, and regional vocation maps have been developed.

The rules of dual study in the HEIs have been developed. Today, over 5 thousand employment agreements were concluded with the employers who provide production premises for vocational practice. More than 6 thousand students has been covered with dual study. Paid practice is also provided by the enterprises.

A number of measures has been taken to strengthen pedagogical education.

A law of the RK “About vocational qualifications” has been adopted for the certification system development . Now all the graduates who have completed vocational study under vocations that are included in the register of vocations of the MLSPP shall go through certification for the skills and qualifications.

A new form of study has been introduced that is online study . This form will allow to provide online study from the enrollment document receipt until the student graduation.

Digital ecosystem in the HEIs .

Digital ecosystem in the HEIs has been strengthened. All the universities were connected to the LMS platforms (Platonus, Univer, Moodle, etc.). There are DDoS attack protection systems, an electronic library, and electronic document circulation.

Virtual labs have been created. A model of digital universities has been developed, and this year it is planned to launch this model in the pilot mode in the premises of 2 universities: KazNRTU named after K. Satpaev and EKTU named after D. Serikbaev.

The digital university model covers 4 main aspects. This is: digital transformation of educational activity, campus and IT infrastructure, scientific activity, as well as single digital platform services development.

To develop cooperation and apply innovative education technologies, negotiations were held and Memorandums were signed with such large companies as Coursera, "Huawei Technologies Kazakhstan” LLP, Binance Kazakhstan.

Huawei ICT Academy on the basis of 26 universities to provide certified Huawei courses was created. It is planned to deploy this practice and create these Academies in 50 universities. Huawei has encouraged the students to obtain Huawei certificate and has developed the talents with practical skills for the ICT industry and society.

In 2023, for the purpose of implementing educational programs on block-chain technologies in universities, a Memorandum on partnership on the provision of materials was signed between the Ministry and the company BN KZ Technologies Ltd.

Under the support of Binance Kazakhstan, about 350 teachers of ICT faculties of 22 universities passed the blockchain technology training. It is planned to train more than 40 thousand specialists in blockchain technology.

To develop cooperation and expand access of the Kazakhstani citizens to the courses of lead foreign professors, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Coursera Company .

Today, about 100 Coursera courses have been translated into Kazakh and Russian. A real students' online study re-crediting mechanism has been implemented. More than 20 thousand students of 25 universities were trained under the unique Coursera courses.

A Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and Amazon was signed to involve the IT students in the OpenSearch project and gain industry-level experience .

This is the first pilot, which is aimed at creating the basis for the future programs. On the part of Amazon employees OpenSearch provides support in the form of documentation, tools, processes, knowledge sharing sessions, etc. There are 100 best students taking part in the OpenSearch project.

The internalization is expanding . The number of foreign students has been increased for 3 years (in 2020 - 28,169 people, in 2021 - 28,968 people, in 2023 - 27,756).

International cooperation

Branches of National Research Nuclear University MEPI in the premises of KazNU named after al- Farabi, Russian University of Oil and Gas named after Gubkin in the premises of Atyrau University of Oil and Gas named after S. Utebayev, University of Economics in Bydgoszcz (Poland) in the premises of Shakarim University, Herriot-Watt University (Scotland) in the premises of Aktyubinsk Regional University named after K. Zhubanov, Marke Polytechnic University in the premises of Zhetysu University named after I. Zhansugurov.

A strategic partnership model between the North Kazakhstan University named after M. Kozybaev and the University of Arizona by concluding an agreement for consulting services in academic, scientific and financial activities, as well as implementation of joint educational programs and double degree programs has been implemented.

During the visit of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, an agreement was signed on the establishment of the Kazakh-German Institute of Sustainable Engineering (a consortium of German universities) in the premises of Yessenov University.

There are about 243 joint educational programs and double-diploma programs implemented by universities.

Since 2019, 550 educational grants for foreigners are provided as part of the scholarship program .

Annually, 200 foreign scientists and 570 students funded from the RB are sent to study as part of academic mobility.

Since 2021, the opportunity to take the UNT twice to participate in the competition for the award of an educational grant has been provided . For the qualitative selection of applicants for teacher training, the UNT threshold score has been increased from 60 to 75 points.

For the first time since September of this year, orphans and students left without parental care, as well as persons with disabilities of groups I and II will be reimbursed by the state for the cost of living in dormitories in the amount of 29 times the MCI or 100,050 tenge. The cost of living in dormitories will be compensated which is a significant financial support for the specified student categories.

To determine the degree of student participation in the public life of higher and post-graduate institutions and volunteer activities, it is planned to introduce an integrated social performance average score (Great point average, GPA). In addition to the academic achievements of students, also social activity, research skills and participation in the volunteer movement at the regional, republican level will be taken into account.

Read our research on: Gun Policy | International Conflict | Election 2024

Regions & Countries

About half of americans say public k-12 education is going in the wrong direction.

About half of U.S. adults (51%) say the country’s public K-12 education system is generally going in the wrong direction. A far smaller share (16%) say it’s going in the right direction, and about a third (32%) are not sure, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in November 2023.

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to understand how Americans view the K-12 public education system. We surveyed 5,029 U.S. adults from Nov. 9 to Nov. 16, 2023.

The survey was conducted by Ipsos for Pew Research Center on the Ipsos KnowledgePanel Omnibus. The KnowledgePanel is a probability-based web panel recruited primarily through national, random sampling of residential addresses. The survey is weighted by gender, age, race, ethnicity, education, income and other categories.

Here are the questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and the survey methodology .

A majority of those who say it’s headed in the wrong direction say a major reason is that schools are not spending enough time on core academic subjects.

These findings come amid debates about what is taught in schools , as well as concerns about school budget cuts and students falling behind academically.

Related: Race and LGBTQ Issues in K-12 Schools

Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say the public K-12 education system is going in the wrong direction. About two-thirds of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (65%) say this, compared with 40% of Democrats and Democratic leaners. In turn, 23% of Democrats and 10% of Republicans say it’s headed in the right direction.

Among Republicans, conservatives are the most likely to say public education is headed in the wrong direction: 75% say this, compared with 52% of moderate or liberal Republicans. There are no significant differences among Democrats by ideology.

Similar shares of K-12 parents and adults who don’t have a child in K-12 schools say the system is going in the wrong direction.

A separate Center survey of public K-12 teachers found that 82% think the overall state of public K-12 education has gotten worse in the past five years. And many teachers are pessimistic about the future.

Related: What’s It Like To Be A Teacher in America Today?

Why do Americans think public K-12 education is going in the wrong direction?

We asked adults who say the public education system is going in the wrong direction why that might be. About half or more say the following are major reasons:

• Schools not spending enough time on core academic subjects, like reading, math, science and social studies (69%)
• Teachers bringing their personal political and social views into the classroom (54%)
• Schools not having the funding and resources they need (52%)

About a quarter (26%) say a major reason is that parents have too much influence in decisions about what schools are teaching.

How views vary by party

Americans in each party point to different reasons why public education is headed in the wrong direction.

Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say major reasons are:

• A lack of focus on core academic subjects (79% vs. 55%)
• Teachers bringing their personal views into the classroom (76% vs. 23%)

In turn, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to point to:

• Insufficient school funding and resources (78% vs. 33%)
• Parents having too much say in what schools are teaching (46% vs. 13%)

Views also vary within each party by ideology.

Among Republicans, conservatives are particularly likely to cite a lack of focus on core academic subjects and teachers bringing their personal views into the classroom.

Among Democrats, liberals are especially likely to cite schools lacking resources and parents having too much say in the curriculum.

Note: Here are the questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and the survey methodology .

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‘Back to school’ means anytime from late July to after Labor Day, depending on where in the U.S. you live

Among many u.s. children, reading for fun has become less common, federal data shows, most european students learn english in school, for u.s. teens today, summer means more schooling and less leisure time than in the past, about one-in-six u.s. teachers work second jobs – and not just in the summer, most popular.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

America has legislated itself into competing red, blue versions of education

American states passed a blizzard of education laws and policies over the past six years that aim to reshape how K-12 schools and colleges teach and present issues of race, sex and gender to the majority of the nation’s students — with instruction differing sharply by states’ political leanings, according to a Washington Post analysis .

See which states are restricting, requiring education on race and sex

Three-fourths of the nation’s school-aged students are now educated under state-level measures that either require more teaching on issues like race, racism, history, sex and gender, or which sharply limit or fully forbid such lessons, according to a sweeping Post review of thousands of state laws, gubernatorial directives and state school board policies. The restrictive laws alone affect almost half of all Americans aged 5 to 19.

How The Post is tracking education bills

Since 2017, 38 states have adopted 114 such laws, rules or orders, The Post found. The majority of policies are restrictive in nature: 66 percent circumscribe or ban lessons and discussions on some of society’s most sensitive topics, while 34 percent require or expand them. In one example, a 2023 Kentucky law forbids lessons on human sexuality before fifth grade and outlaws all instruction “exploring gender identity.” On the other hand, a 2021 Rhode Island law requires that all students learn “African Heritage and History” before high school graduation.

The Post included in its analysis only measures that could directly affect what students learn. Thus, 100 of the laws in The Post’s database apply only to K-12 campuses, where states have much greater power to shape curriculums. At public institutions of higher education — where courts have held that the First Amendment protects professors’ right to teach what they want — the laws instead target programs like student or faculty trainings or welcome sessions.

Tell The Post: How are education laws, restrictions affecting your school?

The divide is sharply partisan. The vast majority of restrictive laws and policies, close to 9o percent, were enacted in states that voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, The Post found. Meanwhile, almost 80 percent of expansive laws and policies were enacted in states that voted for Joe Biden in 2020.

The explosion of laws regulating school curriculums is unprecedented in U.S. history for its volume and scope, said Jonathan Zimmerman, a University of Pennsylvania professor who studies education history and policy. Controversy and debate over classroom lessons is nothing new, Zimmermann said, but states have never before stepped in so aggressively to set rules for local schools. School districts have traditionally had wide latitude to shape their lessons.

He said it remains an open question whether all laws will translate to curriculum changes, predicting some schools and teachers may refuse to alter their pedagogy. Still, a nationally representative study from the Rand Corp. released this year found that 65 percent of K-12 teachers report they are limiting instruction on “political and social issues.”

“What the laws show is that we have extremely significant differences over how we imagine America,” Zimmerman said. “State legislatures have now used the power of law to try to inscribe one view, and to prevent another. And so we’re deeply divided in America.”

In practice, these divisions mean that what a child learns about, say, the role slavery played in the nation’s founding — or the possibility of a person identifying as nonbinary — may come to depend on whether they live in a red or blue state.

Legislators advancing restrictive education laws argue they are offering a corrective to what they call a recent left-wing takeover of education. They contend that, in the past decade or so, teachers and professors alike began forcing students to adopt liberal viewpoints on topics ranging from police brutality to whether gender is a binary or a spectrum.

Tennessee state Rep. John Ragan (R), who sponsored or co-sponsored several laws in his state that limit or ban instruction and trainings dealing with race, bias, sexual orientation and gender identity on both K-12 and college campuses, said the legislation he helped pass does not restrict education.

“It is restricting indoctrination,” Ragan said. Under his state’s laws, he said, “the information presented is factually accurate and is in fact something worth knowing.”

Those advancing expansive legislation, by contrast, argue they are fostering conditions in which students from all backgrounds will see themselves reflected in lessons. This will make it easier for every student to learn and be successful, while teaching peers to be tolerant of one another’s differences, said Washington state Sen. Marko Liias (D).

Liias was the architect of a law his state passed last month that requires schools to adopt “inclusive curricula” featuring the histories, contributions and perspectives of the “historically marginalized,” including “people from various racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds, people with differing learning needs, people with disabilities [and] LGBTQ people.” He was inspired to propose the bill after hearing from educators who wanted to create more welcoming classrooms and by memories of his own experiences as a queer student in the 1980s and 1990s, when, he said, there were no LGBTQ role models taught or accepted in schools.

“When schools are inclusive broadly of all the identities brought to the classroom, then everybody thrives and does better,” Liias said.

To construct its database of education laws, The Post analyzed more than 2,200 bills, policies, gubernatorial directives and state school board rules introduced since 2017. The Post identified regulations for review by examining state legislative databases, education law trackers maintained by national bipartisan nonprofits and the websites of various advocacy groups that monitor curriculum legislation.

How curriculum policies took hold

Some blue states began enacting expansive education laws in the late 2010s. From 2017 to 2020, 10 states passed legislation or rules that required schools to start teaching about the history of underrepresented groups such as Black Americans, Pacific Islanders or LGBTQ Americans, The Post found .

State and school leaders were drawing on more than a dozen studies published from the 1990s to 2017 that found student performance, attendance and graduate rates rise when children see people like them included in curriculum, said Jennifer Berkshire , a Yale lecturer on education studies.

“They were thinking, ‘You know, our curriculums aren’t representative enough,’” Berkshire said. “The argument was, if we’re going to realize the goal of full rights and civil participation for kids, we need to do things differently.”

Fourteen of these laws, or 36 percent, came in a rush in 2021, the year after the police killing of George Floyd sparked massive demonstrations and a national reckoning over racism. At the time, activists, teachers, parents and high school students across America were urging schools teach more Black history and feature more Black authors.

Of the expansive laws and policies The Post analyzed, the majority — 69 percent — require or expand education on race or racial issues, especially on Black history and ethnic studies. About a quarter add or enhance education on both LGBTQ and racial issues. Just 8 percent focus solely on LGBTQ lives and topics.

But the onslaught of restrictive legislation in red states began in 2021, too, also inspired in many cases by parent concerns over curriculums.

Anxiety first stirred due to coronavirus pandemic-era school shutdowns as some mothers and fathers — granted an unprecedented glimpse into lessons during the era of school-by-laptop — found they did not like or trust what their children were learning.

Soon, some parents were complaining that lessons were biased toward left-leaning views and too focused on what they saw as irrelevant discussions of race, gender and sexuality — laments taken up by conservative pundits and politicians. National groups like Moms for Liberty formed to call out and combat left-leaning teaching in public schools.

Their fears became legislation with speed: Mostly red states passed 26 restrictive education laws and policies in 2021; 19 such laws or policies the next year and 25 more the year after that.

“If you’ve got parents upset at what they’re seeing, they’re going to go to school board meetings and take it up with their legislators,” said Robert Pondiscio , a senior fellow studying education at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. “And legislators will do what they do: pass laws.”

How the restrictions and expansions work

The plurality of restrictive laws, 47 percent, target both education on race and sex. About a third solely affect education on gender identity and sexuality, while 21 percent solely affect education on race.

Almost 40 percent of these laws work by granting parents greater control of the curriculum — stipulating that they must be able to review, object to or remove lesson material, as well as opt out of instruction. Schools have long permitted parents to weigh in on education, often informally; but under many of the new laws, parental input has more weight and is mandatory.

Another almost 40 percent of the laws forbid schools from teaching a long list of often-vague concepts related to race, sex or gender.

These outlawed concepts usually include the notion that certain merits, values, beliefs, status or privileges are tied to race or sex; or the theory that students should feel ashamed or guilty due to their race, sex or racial past. One such law, passed in Georgia in 2022, forbids teaching that “an individual, solely by virtue of his or her race, bears individual responsibility for actions committed in the past by other individuals of the same race.”

At the college level, among the measures passed in recent years is a 2021 Oklahoma law that prohibits institutions of higher education from holding “mandatory gender or sexual diversity training or counseling,” as well as any “orientation or requirement that presents any form of race or sex stereotyping.”

By contrast, a 2023 California measure says state community college faculty must employ “teaching, learning and professional practices” that reflect “anti-racist principles.”

Some experts predicted the politically divergent instruction will lead to a more divided society.

“When children are being taught very different stories of what America is, that will lead to adults who have a harder time talking to each other,” said Rachel Rosenberg, a Hartwick College assistant professor of education.

But Pondiscio said there is always tension in American society between the public interest in education and parents’ interest in determining the values transmitted to their children. The conflict veers from acute to chronic, he said, and currently it’s in an acute phase. “But I don’t find it inappropriate. I think it is a natural part of democratic governance and oversight,” Pondiscio said.

He added, “One man’s ‘chilling effect’ is another man’s appropriate circumspections.”

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The number of high school seniors who have filled out FAFSA is down from last year

Michel Martin

Elissa Nadworny

High school seniors aren't filling out a federal student aid application. This year's form is supposed to be simpler, but it's had problems. What does this mean for who goes to college and where?

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Could fewer high school seniors end up in college next fall because of a form?

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Apparently - the federal student aid form for college, known as the FAFSA. The Department of Education launched a new process to apply for financial aid this year, which should be simpler, except for all the delays and errors.

MARTIN: NPR higher education correspondent Elissa Nadworny is here to bring us up to date on how it's going. Good morning, Elissa.

ELISSA NADWORNY, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.

MARTIN: So I take it it's going badly.

NADWORNY: Yes. It has been a very bumpy road for this new FAFSA. So the form didn't come out until about three months after it usually comes out. So essentially the starting line got pushed way back. And then there were the Education Department's miscalculations and missteps. Some students in mixed immigration status families are still having trouble filling out the online form, and it is April. The Education Department says they are working hard and fast to get this fixed and get that data out to colleges.

MARTIN: I understand in the meantime, though, that FAFSA submissions are down. How far down?

NADWORNY: Twenty-seven percent, Michel. That's for high school seniors. And that comes out to about half a million fewer students than the class of 2023. That's all according to the National College Attainment Network, which is using Department of Education data.

MARTIN: And what are the high schools - you know, there are also nonprofits that help students apply for college. What are they saying about all this?

NADWORNY: Well, they're in emergency mode. They are sounding the alarm. Here's Bill DeBaun with the National College Attainment Network.

BILL DEBAUN: In some parts of the country, we're less than 10 weeks from high school graduation. It's not that students can't complete the FAFSA after high school graduation. It's just that in general, they have less support to do so.

NADWORNY: So I've talked with some families who are planning on filling out the FAFSA. They were just kind of waiting until the chaos was over. And there have been steady gains over the last couple of weeks as more and more high school seniors fill it out. But we are, you know, a long way away from getting back up to the levels of the class of 2023.

MARTIN: Well, say more about what the experts think the implications are for all this. I mean, does this have implications for where people go to college or even if they go to college?

NADWORNY: Absolutely. I mean, that - high FAFSA completion numbers have historically meant higher college enrollment numbers come fall. The data shows that high schools with more resources have higher completion numbers. So it is an early indicator that college going rates might be in trouble, especially for students from more poorly funded schools.

MARTIN: And I understand that college enrollment has been declining, too.

NADWORNY: Exactly. Yes. So the pandemic saw about a million fewer students choose college. Now, last fall, the data showed the beginning of a recovery, but now this.

MARTIN: Is there still time to fill the FAFSA out?

NADWORNY: Absolutely. And high schools and college access nonprofits, even colleges, are trying to do whatever they can to get students to fill it out. I've seen pizza parties. You know, they're throwing these big community events after school, on weekends, offering students one-on-one help. Rocio Zamora runs a college access program at a high school in San Diego, and her staff has been putting on weekend FAFSA events.

ROCIO ZAMORA: The support is there, and the messages to complete it are there, but it's more of the fact that the application wasn't ready for them and that leading to frustrations and disappointment and discouragement and just really questioning their plans.

NADWORNY: And the thing is, low-income students need that financial aid offer to make a decision about if they can afford college. I've talked with students who have been accepted to college already, but it's not real until they get that financial aid document, which in many cases hasn't happened yet. And without the full financial picture, students may make preemptive decisions about where to go - to stay closer to home, to go to a less expensive community college, or to say, maybe I'm not going to go to college at all.

MARTIN: That's NPR's Elissa Nadworny. Elissa, thank you.

NADWORNY: You bet.

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The FAFSA blunders haven’t let up. Now the Education Department has a credibility issue.

In the thick of a calamitous financial aid season, the biden administration is trying to regain the confidence of colleges and the students they serve. but is the damage already done.

Early this year the Education Department shared what appeared to be objectively good news.  

Millions of college financial aid forms – commonly referred to as FAFSAs, or Free Applications for Federal Student Aid – had been successfully submitted, the agency said in an announcement on Jan. 30. Federal officials had also updated their aid calculations to make it “as simple and easy as possible for families to get help paying for college,” according to the agency.

But tucked into the fifth paragraph of that bulletin was a troubling tidbit: Colleges and universities would not receive students’ financial aid data until the first half of March, more than a month later than the government had promised. 

It was the first time the agency acknowledged the setback, another wrench thrown in the financial aid process for colleges and students. Many schools, it turned out, did not get a critical mass of the records they needed until the end of March. 

What’s more, the “update” the department touted as a victory was more of a correction to a massive problem. In crunching the numbers for how much millions of families could afford to pay for college in the next school year, the agency failed to account for inflation. Amid mounting scrutiny, officials course corrected . The January announcement was part of that reset.

Yet the dissonance between the department's seemingly rosy missives and the realities students have been facing prompted some to accuse officials of spreading a “ false positive narrative. ” Critics argue the federal government’s less-than-transparent messaging cast a pall over one of the most important higher education reforms in recent decades.

“It’s hard to trust anything by now that the department is saying,” said David Sheridan, the director of financial aid at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. 

Read more: Colleges to Education Department: We don't have enough time to process FAFSA information

Widespread frustration with the information coming out of the Education Department has only grown in recent months, eroding Washington’s relationships with colleges, high school guidance counselors and the students they serve. 

Even some staffers at the Office of Federal Student Aid, the branch of the Education Department that administers the FAFSA, were miffed at their bosses’ handling of the rollout, two agency officials not authorized to speak publicly told USA TODAY.

And the problems haven't let up. On Monday, the agency revealed it botched another set of applications, shortchanging hundreds of thousands of students on financial aid. Officials promised they would reprocess those applications by mid-April, practically guaranteeing more delays for some.

The department also underestimated how much money roughly half a million students could put toward their college bills next fall. Whether some penny-pinching schools will ask the government to recalculate those numbers remains to be seen. 

In the meantime, FAFSA applications are down by about a third from last year, which means colleges across the country may be on the cusp of an enrollment nightmare. 

Among college officials, the mood is grim.

“The rollout of the new FAFSA has been plagued by issues of broken trust, data integrity, and missed deadlines,” Justin Draeger, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, said in a statement Tuesday. 

Read more: Millions of students may have just weeks to compare college financial aid offers

When the government gives students money to help pay for college, it isn't just handed over. The financial aid process is full of obstacles. Special employees at colleges and high schools are specifically tasked with helping students navigate those barriers. In this fraught year, it's plainer than ever that a vast array of people stands between students and the government officials shaping their lives.

The chaos has only increased students' reliance on all those people in the middle. Yet even for the really plugged-in wonks like Ryan Dulude, the director of financial aid at the Community College of Vermont, keeping up with the Education Department’s curveballs hasn’t been easy. 

“In a successful partnership, you need clear transparency and communication,” he said. “They have some work to do to be able to reestablish that trust.” 

This week the department revamped its website and said it would issue daily updates over the next month. In statements posted Monday and Tuesday, Rich Cordray, the chief operating officer for the Office of Federal Student Aid, said the agency is eager to develop more of a direct line of communication with schools. 

“Our top priority is to make sure schools, families, scholarship organizations, and states have the information they need to bring higher education in reach for more students and families,” he said. 

The government estimates the new, shortened version of the FAFSA – which is now much easier to complete for most people – will open the door to college for hundreds of thousands more low-income students. But the blunders of the last few months have prompted some to ask: At what cost? 

'Tell it to them straight'

Sara Miller isn’t sleeping enough. 

She’s the executive director of Green Halo Scholars, a nonprofit in the Chicago suburbs that helps low-income and first-generation students navigate the transition to college. Coaching a few dozen students through the FAFSA glitches in January and February, she watched as some of them became disheartened. 

“You just see the discouragement in their eyes,” she said. 

Immigrant families had some of the worst trouble. Ismaray Govea, a freshman at Florida International University, didn’t submit her FAFSA until the end of February because of complications with proving her dad’s identity. She's one of millions of students waiting for an aid offer to come through later than usual.

“If the leadership isn’t working, it slowly trickles down to the students,” she said. 

The Education Department says the glitches in the form have been largely resolved. Yet internally, staffers say the blame for at least some of the problems lies with private contractors , who received millions from the federal government to prop up the new financial aid system. 

Republican lawmakers and some agency staffers put the onus on leadership. They say the top brass at the Education Department became too preoccupied with canceling billions in student loan debt while the new FAFSA, they argue, fell by the wayside. 

“I am incredibly sad,” said Arthur Wayne Johnson, who oversaw the Office of Federal Student Aid for the Trump administration. He resigned in 2019 and became an advocate for broad student loan forgiveness.  

As millions of students wait for aid offers, the Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog, is investigating concerns with the FAFSA rollout. It has opened several probes at the urging of congressional Republicans, though both sides of the aisle have found a rare source of agreement in criticizing the errors with the new form.

In the end, students may not care who’s to blame for the mess.

“Students just want you to tell it to them straight,” Miller said. “That’s what I want from whoever’s in charge.”

Zachary Schermele covers education and breaking news for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele.