TORINO PROCESS 2016-17iac.kz/sites/default/files/trp_2016-17_kazakhstan_en.pdf · Vocational...

TORINO PROCESS 2016-17

KAZAKHSTAN

Self-assessment prepared in the framework of the Torino Process 2016–17 – peer reviewed by the ETF and validated by the relevant national authorities (neither copy edited nor formatted by the ETF). The contents of this paper are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the ETF or the EU institutions.

TORINO PROCESS 2016–17

KAZAKHSTAN

Contents 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................... 2

1.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 2

1.2 Main findings ................................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Recommendations for action .......................................................................................................... 7

2. RESPONSES TO ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK QUESTIONS ........................................................... 9

A. Overview and vision for VET ............................................................................................................ 9 B. Effectiveness and efficiency in addressing economic and labour market demand ....................... 14 C. Effectiveness and efficiency in addressing demographic, social and inclusion demand ............... 26

D. Internal efficiency of the VET system ............................................................................................. 38 E. Governance and policy practices in the VET system ..................................................................... 67

ACRONYMS ........................................................................................................................................... 76

REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................................... 77

ANNEXES .............................................................................................................................................. 80

Annex 1. Quantitative and qualitative evidence.................................................................................. 80 Annex 2. Benchmarking ...................................................................................................................... 91 Annex 3. Progress assessment report ............................................................................................... 92

TORINO PROCESS 2016–17: KAZAKHSTAN |02

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1.1 Introduction

Over the past two years the Vocational Education and Training system (VET) in Kazakhstan

has increasingly been seen as a key driver in socio-economic development. A new policy of VET has

determined the socio-economic integration of young people through the creation of conditions for

technical and vocational education

Support functions exist in VET for socially-vulnerable youths and youths with special needs,

and measures to counter regional labour imbalances.

Tools are being developed to ensure supply meet demand in the labour market through the

improvement of the National qualifications framework. Successful efforts were made to expand

responsibility for training and in the current round these obligations are enshrined in law.

VET system and employers could reach common understanding through the formation of a

coherent National qualifications system. Since the previous report on the Torino process, this has led

to a breakthrough in the systematization of what employers require from the graduates of VET and

their (the employers) readiness to proceed to the evaluation of professional qualifications.

Governance of the VET system has successfully transferred to the format of public-community

control.

1.2 Main findings

A. Overview and vision for VET

Since the last report on the Torino process, the economic situation in Kazakhstan saw a

downturn due to the continuing drop in world oil prices and weak external and domestic demand. GDP

growth declined over the year from 4.2% in 2014 to 1.2% in 2015 (Statistics Committee of the Ministry

of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan (SC MNE RK)).

The slowdown in economic growth did not affect unemployment, thanks to effective public

action through the Programme "Employment Roadmap 2020" and regional comprehensive plans to

promote employment throughout the population. The unemployment rate in 2011 was 5.4%, and in

2015 it was 5%. Youth unemployment has been reduced from 6.3% in 2011 to 4.3% in 2015 (SC MNE

RK).

In the period since the previous Torino process, Kazakhstan has launched a new project "Free

Vocational Education for All", according to which training in the first working profession will be

provided free of charge since 2017.

Significant progress has been made in the implementation of dual training, the legislative

framework and its basic concepts in the Law "About Education" and the Labour Code. The National

Chamber of Entrepreneurs "Atameken" (NCE) plays a key role in consolidating the efforts of the

Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development and other relevant

state and local Executive Bodies in the implementation of the roadmap for implementation of dual

education.

It is planned that by 2019, 80% of colleges will have introduced the basic principles of dual

training in technological, technical and agriculture fields. As at 2015, this figure stood at 60% (State

Programme of Education and Science Development (SPESD)).

With the support of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs dual training is actively forming in

Kazakhstan colleges.

Legislative changes made in 2014 increased the responsibility of employers in the training

process through the vesting of training for the enterprise, the development of professional standards,

etc.


Kazakhstan entered the international arena as a member of several working bodies (OECD,

WTO, Eurasian Economic Union).

Reforms in VET, identified in the new State Programme of Education and Science Development

for 2016-2019 (SPESD) demonstrate the changing approaches to understanding VET as a tool to

regulate the social-economic situation.

Despite the fact that a number of projects in Kazakhstan, including those run by the state, are

aimed at developing the skills of the population, their goals, objectives and performance indicators are

not connected and coordinated. Existing indicators of these projects are not necessarily relevant and

therefore their evaluation may not meet the changing approaches.

B. Effectiveness and efficiency in addressing economic and labour market demand

Despite the difficult economic situation, the indicators from the labour market in Kazakhstan

remain positive. One significant achievement of social policy was the reduction in the number of

unproductive self-employed with 1,010,900 people in 2013 to 521,300 people in 2015.

Over five years (from 2011) the unemployment rate (5.0%) decreased slightly (by 0.3%). The

reduction of unemployment has had a lasting effect and has continued for the last 14 years, thanks to

the effective state policy in the labour market and employment.

The economic activity rate aged 20-64 years in 2015 was equal to 84.6%, which is higher than

2014 (83.9%). At the same time, the level of employment in the same age group was 80.4%, which

again shows slight improvement compared with 2014 (79.6%).

These positive changes are attributed to deliberate action, planned in the framework of the

Employment Roadmap 2020. In 2011-2015, 123,000 people participated in training. Of these, 62,000

undertook vocational training. 88% (104,000 people) who completed training were employed.

The proportion of young people NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) is double

the youth unemployment figures (at 8.5 and 4.1%11, respectively) (SC MNE RK). As an indicator,

youth NEET characteristics show strong regional differences. For example, in the West Kazakhstan

region, it is equal to 3.4% and in Karaganda is four times higher.

Beyond statistical indicators, there are no data on youth NEET, in terms of its subgroups. The

lack of information makes it difficult to develop targeted Programmes for this audience.

Significant socio-economic differences continue to exist throughout the 16 regions of

Kazakhstan, between urban and rural areas. The "Serpin" Programme was developed to address

problems of regional imbalances of labour resources by bringing young people from regions with a

labour force surplus to deficit regions.

Continuous progress is accompanied by improving mechanisms for the study and forecasting of

labour market needs. To support graduates in 2014, the Ministry of Healthcare and Social

Development of Republic of Kazakhstan (MHSD RK) launched a web portal "Rabota" (www.enbek.kz),

containing a database of employers and job seekers throughout the country.

A large array of quantitative data on the current and medium-term needs of the labour market is

available at this stage. Much less information is available regarding quality aspects and employee

skills, necessary for the further development of competitiveness. There is little information available

about the transition of graduates from VET and higher education to the labour market and the extent

to which their skills meet labour market needs.

Thus, the collected data better reflects the situation in initial training. There is no systematic

data regarding retraining, advanced training of the workforce, including lifelong learning. The lack of

such information reflects the lack of fundamental approaches in this field.

Career guidance in Kazakhstan is largely maintained by education providers, including

colleges, as a tool of attracting students. Recently the NCE has stepped up efforts to coordinate the

activities of employers. MHSD RK has provided access to information on vacancies and the labour

1 For young people aged 15-24 years


market in general. These changes can, in the medium term, be used to develop a more integrated

approach to career management throughout life.

VET graduates do not see entrepreneurship as an alternative career development. The first

steps towards the development of entrepreneurial competences in educational institutions have

already been completed. According to the recommendations of the Torino process in 2014, SPESD for

2016-2019 scheduled optional learning in the basics of entrepreneurial activities in colleges.

It will take some serious work to overcome a number of preconceived ideas about barriers

related to the development of youth entrepreneurship. In this direction, an important role was

established under the NCE Council for the development of youth entrepreneurship.

С. Effectiveness and efficiency in addressing demographic, social and inclusion demand

To correct the imbalance of labour resources in Kazakhstan in 2014, the government

implemented a Programme of "Mangilik El Zhastary - Industriyaga".

Over the period from 2011 to 2015, there was a 13.2% increase in the number of citizens with

special needs (SC MNE RK). To support those Kazakhstan individuals with disabilities, the

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was ratified in 2015, stating a commitment to

provide them with equal labour opportunities.

Certification of facilities with access for people with special needs has been implemented. In

the SPESD for 2016-2019, measures were provided to ensure barrier-free access and the creation of

conditions for education in VET establishments. By 2019, the percentage of VET organizations that

have equal opportunities and disabled access for students will reach 40%.

More and more efforts are being made to raise the prestige of VET and to attract more

students to colleges. In 2014, Kazakhstan entered in World Skills International and held its first

national championship.

As in many other countries, VET graduates are pursuing higher education. The mechanism of

obtaining higher education on the VET basis means passing the national entrance exams

(comprehensive testing) on general subjects in addition to the final exams when the student graduates

from college. On receiving low scores in the national exam, college graduates are unable to continue

their education at a HEI. In 2015, only 22% of VET graduates were able to achieve the threshold score

for comprehensive testing and continue training in high school (National Testing Centre, 2015).

In connection with the existing barriers in 2016, The Ministry of Education and

Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (MES RK) amended the admission rules, which it simplified the

transition to higher education. According to the amendments, it is permissible to retake the

comprehensive test in August and then in January of the following year. From 2017 a new format of

entrance exams for college graduates will be implemented.

It is possible to enroll in Kazakhstan’s VET colleges upon completion of basic secondary

education on a competitive basis, through the results of entrance examinations and the Unified

National Examination or complex testing. The selection of applicants is conducted on the residual

knowledge of general subjects. System profiling and professional orientation for the selection of

applicants in VET does not take place. To ensure access to VET and a timely response to social

demand in the country, legislation has been enacted and Programmes developed regulating the

quota, and the provision of accommodation and scholarships.

There are quotas for admission to VET organizations for various social following groups:

people with disabilities is 1% of the total number of applicants, orphans is 1%, rural youths is 30%,

Kazakhs who are not citizens of the country - 2% (Government Decree of the Republic of Kazakhstan

№264, 2012). In 2015, the proportion of students falling into such categories was 8.1% (40,380

people) of the total amount received by the VET organization. Students from rural areas accounted for

90.5% of the total composition of this group.

However, the socially vulnerable groups are not always informed about the benefits and

preferences regarding admission and training in the VET organization. This work of informing can be


carried out in close cooperation between VET organizations and schools and social services of

akimats.

At the same time, the share of not in employment, education or training youth (NEET)

between the ages of 15-28 years was 8.5% in 2015 (SC MNE RK). In 2015 alone, more than 59,000

students dropped out from college, and more than 58,000 from the HEI.

The country has not developed a mechanism to identify NEET young people, the causes of

non-employment and non-education, defining its needs and returning back to society. Significant

regional imbalances between the lowest and highest share of NEET young people reach 4 times. The

largest share of NEET youth is in Zhambyl region (13.6%).

The "Free Vocational Education for All" project is aimed at socially vulnerable groups of the

country but there are still no clearly identified mechanisms and tools to identify categories of citizens

that make up these groups.

In addition, it requires a lot of information work on the study and understanding of the needs of

specific groups of the population, as in the future, the VET system will need more flexibility to meet the

needs of different groups of students. It is necessary to pay attention to the training of teachers on the

specifics of working with each group of students.

D. Internal efficiency of the VET system

Kazakhstan VET staff has more opportunities for training compared to other countries in the

Central Asian region (European Training Foundation (ETF), 2015). During the 2014-2015 academic

year, more than 30% of teaching staff underwent training.

External evaluation of VET teachers system is carried out in the form of certification based on

compliance with the qualification requirements. The current requirements do not provide guidance on

the competence which is really necessary in view of VET modernization trends in the country.

qualification requirements for teachers are not reviewed at employment.

Active development of the dual training college affects the need to strengthen industriall teacher

training on the basis of enterprises. In the 2014-2015 school year, only 10.7% of teachers completed

training courses in enterprises (National Educational Database (NED), 2016).

Another challenge for the system of vocational training of teachers is the lack of subjects

developed of inclusive education, teaching in a multicultural and polylingual environment. There are

indications of internal barriers to implementing change/innovation and a lack of support from

supervisors and colleagues in implementing the knowledge gained by teachers (ETF, 2015).

Conflicting data on staffing by teaching staff indicates a lack of industrial training professionals

in connection with a significant difference between the salaries for those working in education and in

industry.

As with the other levels of education, low teacher salaries and staff turnover are recognized as

long-term problem in VET, affecting the quality of education.

Teaching staff in colleges use a variety of approaches to improve the teaching process.

However, the absence of policy developed at the central and regional level in the field of teaching and

learning methods makes it impossible to evaluate the effectiveness of the work done.

Another issue to ensure internal quality of VET is to regularly update the facilities and resources

(F&R). Financing the F&R is implemented at the local and national levels. Comparative analysis of

indicators provided by F&R over the past few years shows an increase of ICT level of equipment and

laboratories in colleges. However, there is an imbalance in the provision of private and rural colleges,

which significantly affects the quality of the educational process.

Meanwhile, in the PISA study, Kazakh VET students showed 60% worth results than their peers

from OECD countries. Since the PISA measures the level of development of the basic skills of 15-

year-old college students coming from secondary school, the results indicate a low quality of

education in schools. In addition, the least trained young people come to VET system, thus confirming

the low prestige of the colleges.


One of the positive ways to increase the prestige of VET is an active introduction of dual training

(DT) in the framework of large-scale national projects. Today, five years after the launch of reforms,

DT is implemented in 60% of the country's colleges. However, due to lack of sufficient information on

the dual approach, VET providers and enterprises are conducting an experiment in accordance with

different levels of understanding of the "dual" training. There is still no interim analysis and monitoring

of dual Programmes undertaken in the regions.

Solving the problem of mentor training is still at an early stage and coordinated by the NCE.

A relatively new tool for quality assurance in VET is independent accreditation. According to the

Law "On Education" in 2020, the state will allocate the state order only to those colleges that have

been accredited by the accreditation agencies included in the National Register of MES RK. On 01

May 2016, the National Register consists of ten accrediting agencies, two of which are Kazakhstan's.

It should be noted that the accreditation procedure is not available to all colleges due to the

high cost.

On the subject of the quality of VET education, another of its tools must be mentioned. This is

an assessment of student learning outcomes after completing the vocational education Programme.

One of the essential steps is to successfully complete Assessment of Professional Qualifications Level

(hereafter - APQL), as well as obtaining a graduate certificate of proficiency.

Until 2016, APQL was held by the Republican Scientific-Methodical Centre (RSMC), which

was an organization under the jurisdiction of the MES. Thus, the evaluation of professional readiness

and assignment of qualification of the graduates were part of the final certification and, therefore, part

of the learning process with the formal participation of the employers. This approach is not consistent

with international practices in independent certification.

Large enterprises conduct their own certification, without recognizing, thereby, certificates of

APQL.

Within the framework of the SPESD, the establishment of independent industry centres of

certification qualifications of VET graduates has been laid down for 2016 - 2019. These activities will

be implemented in the framework of the MHSD project "Jobs and Sk ills." These independent centres

will be able to certify the qualifications obtained in non-formal or informal education.

All these activities are aimed at the further development of the National Qualification System

of and its basic elements, legislatively established in the country in 2012.

In 2016, the NQS has been reviewed at the level of definitions and level descriptors of

National Qualification Framework (NQF) creation, and there have also been revised guidelines for the

development of the Sectoral Qualification Framework (SQF). Today, SQF are updated taking into

consideration changes in the NQF and methodology. In 2012-2015, 449 occupational standards were

developed, and 147 educational programmes based on them.

Improvement of the NQS will be continued within the framework of the MHSD project "Jobs and

Skills." 550 professional standards, 160 educational modular Programmes and independent

certification system will be developed.

E. Governance and policy practices in the VET system

After completion of the previous round of the Torino Process, non-state actors are increasingly

taking part in vocational activities. An understanding was reached among all stakeholders as to the

role of VET systems as a tool for socio-economic development. More and more employers and

industry associations are involved in the management of the VET system.

A transparent vertical control process of the VET system has been built as a chain of "The

Government - MES RK - Education Management - Educational Service Providers." National policy is

supervised by the MES, at the regional level - by Board of Education, which is responsible for

compliance with the requirements of the public VET system and the needs relating to social and

economic development of the region.


National, regional and industry development councils of VET development continue the work of

professionals' preparation for the more active participation of employers, big business and the

involvement of representatives of small and medium enterprises as the main customers for highly

qualified professionals at all levels of the VET system management (national, regional and sectoral)

It should be noted that the NCE "Atameken" played a leading role in shaping policy and its

implementation in the VET, representing the interests of employers in the training of qualified

specialists in accordance with the requirements of employers. All regulations governing the activities

of VET organizations are agreed in the NCE. In 2016, there was a transfer of functions of the approval

of professional standards from government agencies to the NCE.

The most actively involved in training and improving the quality of VET participants are

employers and associations in the oil and gas, mining, tourism and construction sectors, where major

industrial giants or large enterprises are focused. Representatives of small and medium businesses

are still slightly less involved in the activities of VET.

The functioning of VET providers is governed by the Model Regulations of the organizations

activities of VET. More autonomy is given to colleges so as to change the content of the training

modules (50%) and to determine the nature and order of the ongoing and interim control of students'

progress.

As part of the SPESD, changes have been planned in the legal form of VET institutions, which

will provide colleges with the possibility of obtaining financial independence with the introduction of a

single transparent accounting function and corporate management.

For the first corporate governance skills in VET institutions, Boards of Trustees have been

established. However, there is still a need to clearly define the mechanisms by which the Board of

Trustees function, and the expected results.

In 2015, expenditures on VET amounted to 0.2% of GDP, which is 2.5 - 3 times lower than in

developed countries (for example, in the OECD countries - about 0.6%) (National Report 2015).

However, the resources allocated by the government and akimats in the regions to modernize the

college infrastructure are distributed in accordance with the strategic objectives and national VET

reform Programmes.

1.3 Recommendations for action

To achieve progress in the development of learning tools in the labour market’s needs for

qualified personnel, a reasonable balance must be reached between quantitative and qualitative

methods. This complex task involves the interaction of the education system and the labour market. It

is therefore important to coordinate the interaction between stakeholders (MHSD RK, MES RK, NCE,

sectoral councils) and to ensure better integration of existing and future tools. A coordinated approach,

as well as the joint development of tools are also needed in order to develop appropriate solutions for

the reintegration of NEET young people and other vulnerable groups into training and employment.

Qualification requirements for VET teachers require extensive discussion on by the National

Council for the preparation of professional and technical personnel and conceptual processing based

on leading European experiences. Instead of the outdated system of professional development of VET

personnel, there should be formed a system of continuous professional development (CPD) of

teachers with a wide range of forms and formats. It involves studying the needs of teachers in CPD for

comVETent distribution of resources at the national and regional levels.

The quality of teachers is crucial to solving the problem of low level of development of basic

skills of VET students. The first priority should be a review of the approaches taken to the

development of content and teaching at the high school level in college.

Dual training acquires increasing popularity in Kazakhstan colleges. The massive nature of its

implementation requires an assessment of the effectiveness of the dual training Programmes and

timely measures for the adjustment of action.

To increase the attractiveness of VET in Kazakhstan, there is need to explore the options for a

flexible transition of VET graduates to the level of tertiary education. All the more insistently in the


academic environment there are proposals on the revision of the existing VET graduates admission to

higher education.

The VET system within the best practices performs social functions for the integration of

NEET young people in society. In Kazakhstan, it is time to find mechanisms and instruments to

identify this category of citizens. The next steps in the strategy of working with NEET young people

can be preventive, reintegration and compensation measures. The totality of the application of these

mechanisms will allow the country to reduce the proportion of NEET young people and to ensure their

entry into the education system or the labour market.

The best international practices use accreditation as a tool to ensure the quality of VET. In the

context of updating the mission of VET in Kazakhstan and increasing the role of stakeholders

accreditation looks reasonable decision to go to the social forms of control training. It is necessary to

develop and adopt a more specific approach to the accreditation (standards, procedures and

mechanisms) which can be used for Kazakhstani colleges.

Since 2012 in the country, a national system of qualifications has been developed, along with

its basic elements. Nevertheless, there still exist general principles by which non-formal education is

recognized and therefore the potential for a credit-modular system.

As part of the emerging system, industry certification authorities will ensure that the

qualifications of VET graduates meet the requirements of employers and the national labour market.

Active involvement of stakeholders in the management of VET providers can be achieved

through the effective operation of the Board of Supervisors on the basis of accountability and

independence. The expansion will allow the autonomy of colleges to develop strategic approaches to

work in the new conditions.


2. RESPONSES TO ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK QUESTIONS

A. Overview and vision for VET

Vision and Progress

A.1 Please provide country information and a brief update on social, political and

economic developments since the preceding round of the Torino Process.

Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is located in the centre of the Eurasian

continent. Kazakhstan covers an area of 2,724,900 square km*. Kazakhstan is the 9th largest

country in the world, after Russia, China, USA, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, India and Australia. It

is the second largest territory among the CIS states. The territory of Kazakhstan is larger than

the territories of 12 countries of the European Union (Acorda, 2016).

Kazakhstan's population is 17.7 million people. Kazakhstan is a constitutional republic.

GDP per capita is 10.5 million US dollars (SC MNE RK). The economically active percentage of

the population aged between 15 and 64 is 78.3%.

Elections to the Majilis of the Kazakh Parliament took place on 20 March 2016.

The economic situation in 2015 was influenced by the continuing fall in world oil prices

and weak domestic and external demand. GDP growth fell to 1.2% in 2015 compared with 4.2%

in 2014.

The adult unemployment rate remained at the same level even with a slowdown in

growth. The official unemployment rate was 5% in 2014 and 2015.

In December 2015, Kazakhstan joined the WTO and became its 162nd member. It is

expected that accession to the WTO will promote international integration and competitiveness.

The Eurasian Economic Union, which includes the Republic of Kazakhstan as well as the

Russian Federation, Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Armenia and the Kyrgyz Republic

(acceded on 12 August 2015), began operating on 01 January 2015. Thus, the territory of the

Union began to operate four key economic freedoms: the freedom of movement of goods,

services, capital and labour. In addition, the member countries of the contract committed

themselves to carry out a coordinated policy in key sectors: energy, industry, agriculture and

transport.

Since 2013, Kazakhstan has been a member of the Committee of Industry, Innovation

and Entrepreneurship of the OECD. In 2016 it became a member of the Competition Committee

of the OECD. Now, work is underway on accession to the three committees (Investment

Committee, Committee on Education Policy, and the Committee on Agriculture) (Forbes

Kazakhstan. 2016). It is believed that joining the OECD will increase the investment

attractiveness of the country, will reduce the cost of overseas funding, improve the

macroeconomic indicators within the state, as well as open access to the best practices for

public administration.

807 colleges operate in Kazakhstan, including 462 state colleges (57%), 345 private

(43%). The contingent of students amounts to 499,500 people, 242,300 of whom were enrolled

by the government (48.5%), 257,200 thousand people - on a fee basis. (51.5%).

Over five years, the number of students in VET decreased from 600,300 people (in 2011)

to 499,500 (2015) (National Education Database, 2016).


A.2 Please provide an overview of more significant developments in the education VET

policy since the preceding round of the Torino Process. Have they been adjastments in the

medium to long-term vision for the development of the VET system since the preceding round

of the Torino Process?

Development of the National Qualifications Framework, the development of professional

standards, the introduction of dual training, participation in the World Skills International competition

are the modernization processes of VET continued in Kazakhstan in the period following the previous

Torino Process.

In the new Programme of institutional, social and economic reforms "100 specific steps, modern

state for all," step 77 envisages the development of 10 top colleges of the country for six key sectors

of the economy in view of the State Programme of industrial-innovative development in 2015-2019. It

provides for the development of new educational Programmes for leading colleges and dissemination

of this experience to other schools. For these purposes, the necessary funds from the republican

budget were additionally allocated to the holding "Kasipkor".

An important step was taken to improve the accessibility of VET to socially vulnerable youths. In

the Message of the President Nursultan Nazarbayev to people of Kazakhstan "Kazakhstan in the New

Global Reality: Growth, Reform and Development," it was announced that free VET would be provided

among working qualifications in 2017.

The implementation of the Employment Roadmap 2020 continues. It was adopted in order to

promote the welfare of the population through sustainable and productive employment and reducing

unemployment.

It should be noted that in the new State Programme of Education and Science Development

(SPESD) over the years 2016-2019, strategic goals and objectives of VET are formulated, taking into

account the socio-economic integration of young people.

According SPESD, in 2016, all schools in secondary education switched to the updated content

based on the formation of functional literacy among schoolchildren. In the 2017-2018 academic year,

starting from the 5th grade, a phased implementation of trilingual education will commence (SPESD for

2016-2019, 2016).

By 2025, colleges will receive the first graduates from the basic schools, trained in the updated

Programme. In 2016, the number of hours dedicated to study the state language was increased. In

2019, it is planned to start training in some subjects in English in high schools. This poses the task of

the appropriate training of college students, taking into account the new approaches of the VET

system in high schools. It requires not only training personnel in general subjects with a view of the

teaching taking place in English, but also developing new curricula and textbooks.

A.3 If the answer is yes

A.3.a What triggered these adjustments and what is their focus?

Adjustments to the medium- and long-term vision of the development of VET is associated with the

policy of raising competitiveness of the country and the economic situation which now undergoes new

changes (see. A1). The new complicated economic situation demanded additional measures for

young people to adapt to fast-changing conditions.

Launching of the project "Free Vocational Education for All" is related to the fact that every year in

the labour market there are more than 20 thousand graduates of grades 9 and 11 without qualification.

Therefore, the decision to undertake comprehensive measures to attract young people into working

specialities, enhance the prestige of VET, to train high school students to applied competences on the

basis of the industrial plants.


A.3.b To what extent are they coordinated with priorities in other sections, for example

investment or economic development, and with non-state actors?

Reforms in VET demonstrate a different approach to understanding the role of VET in

Kazakhstan. Now the VET system is one of the tools to regulate the social and economic situation.

Indeed, VET is included in the implementation of a number of important social and economic

goals - education of young people without qualifications for the labour market and social

integration, the Road-Map of Employment 2020, SPIID programme (The State Programme of

Industrial-Innovative Development) alignment of the regional labour imbalances on the project

"Serpin". VET, indeed, has great potential to create employment opportunities for youths and

adults. This is possible by practical orientation of the education sector, proximity to employers.

A.3.c Who is responsible for the implementation of the vision and what is the timeline

for implementation?

The following table presents data on the responsible state authorities of implemented reforms

in VET and specific terms.

Table A1 Ongoing reforms in the field of VET, and their performers

Ongoing reforms

Responsible

agencies

Coauthors

Terms of

realization

Free Vocational Education

for All

MES МHSD, Ministry of

Information and

Communications, LEB,

NCE

Since 2017

The Employment Roadmap

2020

МHSD MES 2015-2020

10 SPIID colleges

MES, Holding

“Kasipkor”

- 2016

«Serpin» («Impuls»)

project implementation

MES LEB 4th quarter

of 2016-2019

Dual training Roadmap

MES, МHSD,

NCE «Atameken»,

МNE, NWF

"Samruk-Kazyna" (as

agreed), akimats of

oblasts, Astana and

Almaty

2014-2016.

According to SPESD and other normative documents, the initiatives on realization of the

vision of VET are carried out by the Ministry of Education and Science together with the МHSD,

МNE, NCE, LEB.

It is necessary to clarify the performance indicators and outcomes to monitor and

evaluate progress in the implementation of projects. Pilot projects on dual training have not yet

been evaluated for achieving the stated objectives. Parties responsible for the implementation

of these projects have not identified the intentions of the interim analysis.

A good example of the development of the document, valid for the monitoring and

evaluation of the project, can be considered a passport of Employment Road-map 2020. There

is no evidence pointing to the integration of objectives and tasks, resources, and indicators of


the projects. At the same time it is obvious that the free provision of working specialities needs

coordination with the project on the introduction of dual training.

Legislation

A.5 Have there been adjastments in the legislative framework for VET? If yes, please

describe and explain what made them necessary?

In 2015 some amendments and additions were applied in four legislative acts of Kazakhstan in

the field of training. Changes have been made in connection with the necessity of conditions for

expanding and ensuring access to VET on working specialities, the integration of education and

production.

The concepts of "dual training" and “an agreement on dual training“ and a separate article

entitled “The dual training” were introduced into the Law “On Education” and the Labour Code. They

consolidated statutory obligation of employers to provide workplaces for practical training, the

responsibility of sectoral state agencies, national companies and companies for personnel training.

A rule on the free provision of VET on working specialities was introduced into the Law “On

Education”. The concept of "applied bachelor” was introduced for the first time as a designation of

practice-oriented training. The gap in the determination of the rules of the higher college activities was

filled. This is necessary to determine the type of educational institution which will prepare applied

bachelors.

The Law "On State Policy on Youth" included the definition of "young professional". In

accordance with the amendments to the Law "On State Property," colleges can change their

organizational and legal form in the republican state enterprise on the right of business. It allows you

to create a college Supervisory Board as a governing body, to set by yourself the size of salaries of

employees of colleges, etc. VET providers will be able to provide paid services to the population and

organizations that will strengthen their financial position and the funds received will make it possible to

improve the learning environment.

The mechanisms for improving the training of teachers and masters of industrial training on the

basis of the Holding "Kasipkor " were set in the new SPESD for 2016-2019.

A more careful study of the goals is shown in the task of updating the content of the VET. It will

change the NQF based on international requirements and the needs of the labour market through the

revision of the Classifier in professions and specialities of VET, the development of professional

standards in the priority fields.

Taking into account the recommendations of the 2014 Torino Process, the discipline

"Fundamentals of Business" is planned to be included into the curriculum. To ensure the accordance

of the NQF to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), training in applied

Baccalaureate is provided. The applied bachelor qualification (ISCED level 5B) was not previously

assigned in Kazakhstan.

It is supposed to enhance the prestige of VET with the help of the complex of legal, vocational,

career guidance and information measures, in the framework of the free provision of working

professions. The "Best in Profession" contest held among students, trainers and teachers of special

subjects, and Kazakhstan's participation in WorldSkills global championship will also enhance the

attractiveness of VET.

The matter of availability and quality of vocational training is considered by SPESD as a

separate task. SPESD plans to build a college in Astana 4 (2), Shymkent (1) and Kyzylorda (1), 3

dormitories in the East Kazakhstan, Mangystau and North Kazakhstan regions by 2019.

To provide guarantees by the Law "On Education", a series of measures have been scheduled

to introduce free VET on working specialities for everyone.

For the first time in front of the local executive bodies and VET providers a project has been

implemented to create equal conditions for students with special educational needs. These measures

include the provision of ramps, elevators, creating jobs for students, equipping libraries.


At the beginning of 2016, organizational rules were approved for dual training. They first

identified the participants of the dual education (colleges, companies and trainees), the

components required (contract, working curriculum, training and production centre and

mentors). The Regulation also stipulates the procedure for the organization and holding of dual

instruction, including the amount of compensation, assignment of professional qualifications.

The Rules regulate the functions of each participant in the process of organizing dual

training (MES, NCE "Atameken", the college, companies, local executive body).

The enhanced participation of employers in training is marked by the addition of the

functions of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs in the Labour Code. At NCE vested in the

development, introduction, replacement, revision of professional standards and their approval

(Labour Code, 2016).


B. Effectiveness and efficiency in addressing economic and labour market demand

Overview of economic and labour market factors that shape demand for skills.

B.1 What economic and demographic factors have influenced, influence or are expected to

influence the national economy and its demand for skills?

Four main factors can be highlighted that influenced the development of the national economy

and its demand for professional skills.

Firstly, global economic uncertainty, changes in the situation in world markets and the volatility

of oil prices from the 2nd half of 2014 led to a weakening of economic growth in the Republic. The

growth of Kazakhstan's economy in 2015 decreased by six times compared with 2011 and amounted

to 1.2% (2011 - 7.2%).

Table B1. Gross domestic product (GDP), 2011-2015,%

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

The index of physical volume in % to the previous year

107,.2 105,.2 105.7 104.1 101.2

Source: CS MNE RK

It should be noted that in comparison with 2011, in 2015 there was a gradual increase in the

share of services production (10.6%) and a decline in the production of goods (- 4.8%) of GDP.

Table B2. GDP by production method, 2011 - 2014,%

GDP Structure 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015*

Production of goods 40.5 39.2 37.2 36.6 35.7

Industry 29.6 29.2 27.0 26.6 24.8

Agriculture, forestry and fisheries 4.7 4.0 4.4 4.2 4.7

Construction 6.2 6.0 5.8 5.8 6.2

Services production 47.1 49.4 51.5 53.3 57.7

Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles

13.1 14.4 14.7 15.5 16.7

Real estate activities 8.2 8.3 8.1 8.1 8.8

Transportation and warehousing 6.6 7.1 7.4 7.7 8.5

Net taxes on products 12.4 11.4 11.3 10.1 6.6

Source: CS MNE

Secondly, despite the positive indicators of poverty reduction, there remains an urgent problem

of income inequality between the urban (1.3%) and rural population. In rural areas, the proportion of

households with incomes below the subsistence minimum (1.3%) is 3.4 times more than in urban

areas (4.4%) (in 2010, the city - 3.7%, countryside – 10.1%) (CS MNE, 2015). In 2015, the share of

the population with incomes below the subsistence level (SL) decreased by 3.8% compared to 2010

and decreased to 2.7%. In the regional aspect, the highest proportion of the population with incomes

below the minimum SL is observed in South Kazakhstan (5.3%), North Kazakhstan (3.7%), Kyzylorda

(3.5%) and Zhambyl (3.2%) regions (See more detail. Annex to Chapter B).

Third, the proportion of young people aged between 15 and 24 reduced. The share of young

population (15-24 years) was 23.8%, and decreased in comparison with 2012 and 2013 by 4.3% and


3.2% respectively. The main reason for a reduction in the share of young population - decline in

population growth rate in the 1990s. (See chart below).

Graph B1. Natural population increase per 1,000 people, %

Source: CS MNE

Fourth, since 2011 in Kazakhstan, there has been a negative migration balance of the

population with the greatest difference in 2015 (-13,466 people.). According to the Statistics

Committee of the Ministry of National Economy of Kazakhstan, the main reason for reduction in

the migration flow into the country is connected with the suspension of the quota issuance for

repatriates in 2012.

Table B3. Migration, 2011-2015, pers.

Year Immigrants Emigration The balance of

migration

2011 38,016 32,920 5,096

Into the CIS countries 30,996 31,303 - 307

To other countries 7,020 1,617 5,403

2012 28,296 29,722 - 1,426

Into the CIS countries 23,889 28,274 - 4,385


2013 24,105 24,384 - 279



2014 16,784 28,946 - 12,162

Into the CIS countries 14,833 26,098 -11,265

To other countries 1,951 2,848 - 897

2015 16,581 30,047 - 13,466


To other countries 2,615 3,055 - 440

Source: SC MNE RK

At the end of 2015, according to the regional aspect, the highest negative net migration

rate was observed in the South Kazakhstan region (-13,907) and this rate is higher than the

Republican indicator. Positive net migration is noticed in Almaty (40,742). For details, see

Appendix B.


According to SC MNE, the main stream of immigrants in 2015 was noticed from the CIS

countries, such as Uzbekistan (7,592 pers.), Russia (3,905 pers.) And Kyrgyzstan (695 pers.). 2,615

people arrived in the country from far abroad. However, it should be noted that Kazakhstan, like

Russia, constitutes one of the major migration corridors of the Central Asian region. The small size of

the annual immigration quotas and the geographical location of Kazakhstan lead to the fact that the

vast majority of external migration in the country is carried out in an illegal manner. According to

experts, in the coming years, the number of migrants from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and other Central

Asian countries will increase due to the reduction of the Russian economy and the Russian labour

market, as well as after the enforcement of the prohibition of re-entry to the Russian Federation

(Federal Law "On Amendments to Article 27 of the Federal law "On the Procedure of Exit from the

Russian Federation and Entry Into the Russian Federation", 2014).

Outside the Republic, in 2015, 26,992 people emigrated to the CIS countries, 3,055 people - to

the far abroad countries. Most people emigrated to Russia (25,682 pers.), Germany (2,196 pers.) and

Belarus (605 pers.).

B.2 What is the labour market situation in the country and what are the main challenges5 in

this respect? Have there been any particular developments since the preceding round of the

Torino Process that merit mentioning?

In 2015, the number of economically active population (15 years and older) in Kazakhstan

amounted to 9 million people. Since 2011, the rate of the economically-active population remains

unchanged.

Table B4. Key indicators of the labour market for 2011-2015 (aged 15-64 years ).

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Economically active population, thousand people.

8774.6 8981.9 9041.3 8961.9 9074.9

The level of economic activity, in%

71.6 71.7 71.7 70.7 71.1

Employed, thousand people. 8301.6 8507.1 8570.6 8510.1 8623.8

The employment share % 94.6 94.7 94.8 95.0 95.0

Wage-workers, thousand people

5581.4 5813.7 5949.7 6109.7 6294.9

Share of the employed population, in%

67.2 68.3 69.4 71.8 73.0

Self-employed workers, thousand people.

2720.2 2693.4 2621.0 2400.4 2328.9

Share of the employed population, in%

32.8 31.7 30.6 28.2 27.0

Productively self-employed registration was not carried out

registration was not carried out

1610.0 1691.5 1807.5

Unproductive self-employed registration was not carried out

registration was not carried out

1010.9 708.8 521.3

Unemployed population, thousand people.

473.0 474.8 470.7 451.9 451.1

The unemployed population in%

5.4 5.3 5.2 5.0 5.0

Source: SC MNE RK


In 2015, in the economy of the republic, 8.6 million people or 68.6% of the population

aged 15 years and older were employed. 6.3 million of these are wage-workers, 2.3 million -

self-employed. In 2015, the share of wage-workers in the employed population increased by

5.8% in comparison with the index of 2011 and amounted to 73% (6.2 million pers.). Most of

them are employed in organizations (companies) - 88.2%. 9.6% of the population worked for

some individuals. The remaining population (2.0%) in this category work on the peasant farms.

The greatest part of the self-employed population (2.3 million pers.) was the share of

productive self-employed (77.6%). A significant proportion of self-employed persons exercised

their activities in agriculture (46.9%), in trade (25.1%), transport services (9.4%) and

construction (8.5%). In comparison with indicators of 2010 there is a decline in the self-

employed in agriculture 15% and an increase of their share in trade by 3.1%, construction -

4.4%, and the provision of transport services - by 4.6%. It is worth noting that in 2013, the

number of unproductive, self-employed decreased by almost half.

In the first quarter of 2016, most of the employed population (73.1%) had higher and

secondary vocational (special) education (for details see mandatory reporting indicators 2016-

2017. TRP16.14 indicator). The share of employed women with higher education (41.5%) is

higher than men (32.2%) (SC MNE RK).

In 2015, the unemployment rate had reached 5.0% and decreased by 0.4% compared to

2010. Over the last 14 years, Kazakhstan has seen a positive trend in the decline of the

unemployment rate (see chart below Unemployment rates in 2001-2015.). The proportion of

unemployed women (56%) is higher than men by 12%.

B2 Graph. Unemployment rates in 2001-2015,%

Source: SC MNE RK

B3 Graph. Unemployed population by gender, age and place of residence in 2015,%

Source: SC MNE RK


The main reasons for non-employment of the unemployed population are voluntary

redundancies (22.7%), the lack of any work (22.1%) and housework (9.6%). According to official

statistics, such reasons as lack of any work and housekeeping, are more common among the rural

female population of the unemployed. Most of the unemployed population has higher and secondary

vocational education (62.4%). Compared with 2011, this figure rose to 11% (for details, see annex to

Chapter B).

B4 Graph. Distribution of unemployed by education, in%

Source: SC MNE RK

In 2015, the total number of unemployed proportion of young people between the ages of 15-24

was 11.9% or 53,800 people. At the age of 15-28 years - 23%, or 103,900 people. The level of youth

unemployment was at the level of 4.1% in the 15-24 age group (men - 3.6%, women - 4.7%). At the

age of 15-28, youth unemployment rate is 4.3% (SC MNE, 2016). In the regional aspect, the highest

level of youth unemployment in this age category is observed in the Karaganda region (5%), Astana

(5.8%) and Almaty (7.4%). The lowest rates are observed in Atyrau (2.4%) and Almaty (2.5%) regions.

B.3 How do you assess the nature and degree of mismatch in the country between skills

demand and supply?

To determine the nature of the mismatch between supply and demand for skills, you must have

an appropriate system in place. Short and medium projections are carried out to determine the staffing

requirements in Kazakhstan. In their basis - statistics on employment across sectors and regions over

the past 6 years; current structure of employment by groups of occupations, professions and positions

across sectors and regions; Programme development areas in each region for the period of 2016-

2020 years, and surveys of employers (Centre for Human Resources Development, 2016).

In 2016, the need for personnel is 134 thousand people. The greatest need for personnel is in

the southern and eastern regions of Kazakhstan, as well as the cities of national significance. More

than 60% of demand comes from five regions. Almost a third of demand comes from the "trade,

finance and real estate" sector. It is planned to expand the number of employees by 1.0%, so that the

number of new workers could reach 42 thousand people. 17% of demand (23 thousand people)

comes from agricultural enterprises, 12% of demand (16.3 thousand people) - from the field of

education; 10% (13,600 people) - from construction companies. Industry needs 12.2 thousand

workers, representing 9% of the demand. The main generator of demand for new workers is private

businesses - almost 80% of Republican demands.

In total, the Republic of Kazakhstan will require 986 thousand people for the period up to 2021,

142.2 thousand of which will be provided by a cross-flow of workers mainly from the agricultural

sector. The demand for specialists with higher and secondary qualifications is estimated at 390

thousand people. The greatest employment growth is projected in the group of employees involved

into accounts and services (Manpower Centre. 2016).

According to a survey of employers conducted by JSC "Information-Analytical Centre" in 2015,

only 14.2% of employers in Kazakhstan believe that the education system provides good conditions


for the acquisition of theoretical knowledge and a high level of professional skills. 52.7% believe

that the education system does not fully ensure the purchase of high-level skills. 28.3% of

employers believe that education does not provide conditions for the acquisition of a good

theoretical knowledge and a high level of professional skills.

Other sufficient data to determine the nature of the mismatch of supply and demand for

skills is not available. Therefore, structured forecasts of labour supply in view of the level of

education and qualifications are required.

Solutions for identifying demand for skills

B.4 What solutions are in place in your country to ensure that the skills demand is

reliably identified? For example, is there an adequate system of collecting and using

labour market information? Among the solutions listed, are there any that rely on, or

directly concern, VET and, if yes, how?

Since 2014, Kazakhstan has had mechanisms to identify the demand for skills in the form

of forecasting staffing requirements. It is conducted by the Centre Human Resources

Development (formerly - Information-Analytical Centre for Employment of the Ministry of Labour

and Social Protection of Kazakhstan) on a short-term (1 year) and medium term (5 years) basis

(see B2.).

Ministries also conduct forecast in staffing needs.

The results of these forecasts are used to target training, VET reforms are taken into

account in the design of active measures to promote employment and the development of

national and regional strategies. There is a need for effective use of data to update the

professional standards, the development of training programmes and apprenticeship

programmes, the implementation of training and retraining, as well as for the planning of tax

benefits for workers and collective bargaining.

Prediction results should lay down the basis of a professional orientation of students and

be used in informing parents and professionals about the prospects of development of the

various occupations in the labour market.

Since 2013, large and medium-sized enterprises filled the statistical form of nation-wide

statistical supervision "The Report on the Number and Staffing Needs of Large and Medium-

Sized Enterprises." As a result, the Committee of Statistics of the MNE prepared statements

about the number of job vacancies and the expected demand for workers by occupational

groups of secondary and higher levels of qualification of specialists.

However, forecasting tools are focused on quantitative data. These instruments are

insufficient to identify the necessary knowledge and skills in a particular industry. It is therefore

necessary to develop industry research to identify the necessary knowledge and skills in a

particular industry in the medium term.

Approaches to data collection focused on primary training. Not enough attention is paid to

retraining, advanced training of the working population, including education throughout life. It is

necessary to improve the existing data collection tools for the study of the labour force (LFS)

and the development of additional mechanisms.

Within the framework of SPESD for 2016-2019. МHSD of Kazakhstan, in conjunction

jointly with the relevant ministries, updates methods for determining the forecast in staffing

needs in the context of professions, industries and regions. On the basis of this, the long-term

staffing requirements will be determined, in view of all ongoing and planned projects and

production for the formation of the state educational order. However, to assess the quality of

educational services and the competence of conformity assessment requirements of employers

to graduates, as well as for timely adjustment of the educational policy in a systematic level, it is


necessary to carry out research among employers and employees of companies, students and

graduates of the VET system.

An example is the methodology of the European Training Foundation study "Education and

Business in Kazakhstan." ETF in 2015 was the first time a survey was conducted of VET graduates for

compliance with their qualifications and the practical application of acquired skills in the workplace. A

survey of graduates from 34 colleges in the Kyzylorda, Almaty and Pavlodar regions revealed that

49% of them do not work in their speciality. The main reasons were identified as follows: respondents

could not find a suitable job, a change in their interests, the temporary nature of the work. This type of

research is allowed on the example of selected regions to see the picture of employment of VET

graduates who have completed training 14-17 months ago and to evaluate the performance of VET

institutions in respect of their contribution to the employment of graduates.

Solutions for matching skills supply with demand

B.5 What solutions are in place to ensure that the skills and competence available, in

particular those supplied by the IVET and CVET systems, are matched to those required by the

economy and labour market2?

The main mechanism for ensuring conformity with the skills and competences of VET to labour

market needs is the National Qualifications Framework (NQF).

It plays a special role in the development and implementation of professional standards. In

2010-2015. within the framework of MES RK project "TVET Modernization" 147 occupational

standards were developed.

During the years 2013-2015, Kazakhstan state bodies developed 449 occupational standards,

183 have been approved by competent government bodies”.

In accordance with the changes introduced in the Labour Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan

from 01 January 2016, the development, replacement and revision of professional standards are

carried out by associations of employers and are approved by the NCE. On the basis of occupational

standards, VET educational programmes will be revised and updated.

One of the NQS element is to assess the professional preparedness and conformity

assessment specialist qualification. According to SPESD, graduates will be estimated by industry

associations from 2020.

From 2016, the project "Jobs and Skills" was implemented for the development of the NQS,

training highly qualified specialists, relevant to the labour market. It is planned to develop 550

occupational standards by sectoral associations. The expected outcome of the project is to create a

modern system of qualifications, which will take into account the prospects of economic development

and the specificity of high-tech industries.

In 2018, Kazakhstan will take part in the Programme of the International Assessment of Adult

Competencies (PIAAC), which will provide an independent international assessment of the basic skills

of the adult population to identify how well the education system prepares people for the labour

market.

2 MTD 3. Matching, for example through job placement and referral systems; career counselling and guidance systems;

workbased learning; tracer studies for VET graduates; school-to-work transition surveys of young people; active labour market

programmes based on identifi ed demand; job search assistance programmes; partnerships between schools and enterprises.


B.6 What are the challenges for labour market data generation and its use for the

planning of education and training? Please try to prioritise the factors that represent an

impediement. For example, iis information available on difficult-to-fill vacancies and, if so,

is it being usedin the development of qualifications and for skill delivery planning

processes?

For the planning of education and training in Kazakhstan from 2013, Methods of

Determining the Needs of Industries in Frames Across Sectors, Disciplines and Regions, which

contains recommendations for the definition of requirements for the 5-year period, is relevant.

Forecasting is based on employers' estimates and is based on information about the

prospective staffing requirements in the context of professions and occupations. The collection

of information is carried out by LEB among large, medium and small businesses, regardless of

ownership. Three main problems are distinguished when using forecasting results.

Firstly, there is no established system of forecasting demand. When forecasting, different

methods and forecasting tools cannot be combined. Centre workforce work on forecasting

staffing requirements only started in 2014. By the end of 2015, we have been prepared by the

short, medium and long-term forecasts. The sources of these predictions were surveys of

employers, information on the needs for personnel in all ongoing and planned projects and

information on the labour force (the graduates of educational institutions, migrants, those

released from prison, demobilized freed and others). However, such methods of forecasting as

conducting surveys among students and graduates, were not carried out.

Second, the predicted results are not used in full. In practice, the predicted results are

used only for the formation of the state order for training and the development of VET policy.

The education system of prediction could be used for professional orientation of students at all

levels of education, and the development of policies on training throughout life.

Thirdly, there is a weak interaction between the stakeholders in the transfer and

dissemination of information.

Access to work through better transition

B.7 Whatare the factors that facilitate and those that impede access to employment

graduates from IVET and CVET, and how exactly do they influence access?

In 2014, the share of employed graduates of the VET system has increased in

comparison with the indicator of 2011 by 7.8%, and amounted to 68.6%. However, in 2015, the

employment rate fell sharply, and equated to 52.1%. This was due to the fact that in 2015, the

monitoring of employment of VET graduates was carried out through the analysis of pension

contributions. In 2014, for monitoring in a pilot mode, the MES has indicated the difference in

performance - reporting (LEB) and by the State Centre for Pension Payments (hereinafter -

SCPP) (68.6% and 54.3%, including the state order 78.1% and 57.6%). In 2015 it carried out

the full integration of MES information systems with the SCCP database.

The Akmola, Aktobe, Pavlodar, Atyrau and East Kazakhstan oblasts celebrated the

largest share of employed graduates of the VET system. The lowest figures show Kyzylorda,

South Kazakhstan, Zhambyl and Almaty (Annex to Section B).


Chart B5. Employment of graduates of VET system for 2011-2015.,%

Source: MES RK

There exist the following barriers to employment of VET graduates. Firstly, the discrepancy level

of preparation of graduates of VET system to the requirements of employers. A survey conducted by

the Centre for Manpower on employment showed that about 90% of business leaders who have

difficulties in filling vacancies, explain it or the lack of personnel with the necessary qualifications, by

their low level of qualifications. Results of participation in the WorldSkills International competition

have shown that our graduates of the VET system lag behind their foreign peers. Kazakhstan took

50th place out of 55.

Secondly, educational VET programmes are not fully focused on the formation of students'

professional competences. This is due to a lack of occupational standards that establish labour market

requirements for future professionals. Until 2016, the development of occupationall standards was

carried out by line ministries (МHSD, MES, МID, ME, MJ) and the World Bank (hereinafter - WB).

Third, there is a regional imbalance in the labour force. Four regions observed a surplus of

personnel, five a shortage of manpower. According to the Centre, workforce population growth at the

regional level will be uneven. The stability of the current situation will intensify regional imbalances,

meaning that labour shortages will occur in areas such as North Kazakhstan, Kostanai and the East

Kazakhstan regions. The surplus manpower will be in the South Kazakhstan, Kyzylorda and

Mangystau regions.

Work to address these problems is not carried out in the first year. All the measures taken are

aimed at addressing the employment of VET graduates and higher VET prestige.

In order to ensure that VET graduates gain access to employment, dual training was introduced

and is gives practical direction in terms of the respective employers' needs.

Work on vocational guidance of high school students of secondary school and college

students.. On the basis of this, colleges and universities hold open days, featuring visiting lecturers

and presentations about future careers and employment prospects. Since 2016. Career Days have

been introduced, offering career counseling for students in years 9 - 12 of secondary schools. Career

Guidance Day takes place every second and fourth Saturday of each month for two academic hours.

Students in senior classes and their parents receive information about current professions and training

opportunities.

With the support of the business sector and the NCE, 809 vocational career guidance offices

and 73 professional guidance corners were opened in schools of Astana and Almaty and 563

information booths on the region's plants are located in the lobbies of the VET institutions. The NCE

prepares a schedule of excursions to companies in the region.

In order to address the regional imbalance of manpower for the second year, the project

"Mangilik ate Zhastary - Industriyaga" (hereafter – the Project) has been developed to train young

people from the southern regions of VET in schools of the northern regions. The Project provides

social support for students, including free accommodation and training, round trip, uniforms and

meals. In the 2015-2016 academic year, the state budget allocated a state order for 1,200 places

(2014-2015 academic year -. 1,000 seats). During the two years of the Project, the largest number of

students came from Kyzylorda (1,200 pers.) and the South Kazakhstan regions (707 pers.). Providing

project participants with manufacturing practice and guaranteeing the further employment of prisoners

provided the tripartite agreements.

In 2014, the information web-portal «Rabota» (www.enbek.kz) launched МHSD RK. The portal

contains a database with information about employers and job seekers across the country. The


database contains about 15,000 vacancies. Data relating to job vacancies from employers

arrives daily. For employers, private employment agencies presented an opportunity to publish

information about vacancies. Through online services, you can conduct text, voice and video

interviews.

B.8 Does VET play a role in facilitating transition to work from unemployment and

inactivity and, if yes, how?

Supporting the transition to work after a period of unemployment and economic inactivity

of the population carried out vocational institutions through training, retraining and advanced

training of personnel. Funds for training and retraining are allocated by the state through the

Employment Roadmap 2020 (hereinafter - the Programme). This Programme was adopted by

the Government in early 2015. The Programme is the logical continuation of the implementation

of the roadmaps for the years 2009 - 2014.

The Programme proved to be effective. In the framework of the Programme from 2011 to

2014, 462,000 people were involved in active employment assistance measures from the

category of low-income, unemployed and self-employed. The unemployment rate decreased by

0.8% compared to 2010 and amounted in 2014 to 5%.

Implementation of programmes of youth practice and social jobs creation helped prevent

the growth of youth unemployment. The level of unemployment among young people aged 15-

24 years decreased by 1.4% compared to 2010 and amounted to 3.8%, while the level of youth

unemployment in the 15-28 age range decreased by 2.4% during the same period and was

equal to 4.2% in 2014.

The Pprogramme participants are given the opportunity to use the services of

professional guidance and psychological adaptation, to consult on issues of education and

employment, undergo free training courses, training and retraining and to get help in finding

employment. In 2015, 136,000 individuals participated in the programme, including 50.1% of

men and 49.9% women. The share of young people's participation in the programme was

46.6%. Professional training 13,952 thousand (Continuing contingent 1,486 persons and 12,466

new intake) were enrolled. 13,323 people completed training, of whom 80.3% were employed.

The largest share of employed individuals was observed in the South Kazakhstan (97%),

Karaganda (95%), North Kazakhstan (93%), West Kazakhstan (92%), Pavlodar and Zhambyl

(91%) regions.

As part of the Employment Roadmap 2020 in 2011-2015, free courses were taken by

123,000 people, of whom 62,000 attended vocational training (50%). 50,000 people undertook

retraining (41%) and 11,000 took further training (9%). 118,000 people completed their training,

of whom 104,000 (88%) are now in employment (Workforce Center).

B.9 What career guidance provision is in place for VET students and graduates, for

workers, and for unemployed who, for whatever reasons, newish to reskills with the help of

VET?

In Kazakhstan there is no systematic approach to career guidance for young people.

Colleges and universities conduct vocational guidance for students in their final year of

secondary schools and students in the final year of college. Vocational guidance is conducted in

the form of special events ("Open Days", visiting lectures, presentations of future professions

and interviews with employers).

In accordance with the Law "On Employment," the Employment Centre provides free

vocational guidance to persons who are in search of work, unemployed, self-employed,

repatriates, as well as students and students in the senior classes of secondary schools.


Access to work through business creation and self-employment

B.10 Do the VET authorities track self-employment and business creation by those who

have followed VET courses and, if yes, are lessons learnt that are used to guide

improvements?

In Kazakhstan, the authorities responsible for VET do not collect data and information on

individual entrepreneurship and business creation by VET graduates. The mechanism for the

collection of such data could be the exploration of professional careers for VET graduates.

Research can be carried out at the national level and at the level of the individual institution. A

national survey of graduates is characterized by a centralized approach, where the research institute

(for example, a private consulting organizations, government research institute) is conducting a study

in accordance with the needs and requirements of the Ministry (Ministry of Education or Labour).

Educational institutions provide only technical assistance.

In most cases, graduate surveys are conducted two years after the completion of training.

Studies are carried out by completing an online or paper questionnaire. In some cases, interview /

phone interview is also performed.

The lack of legal status does not provide young entrepreneurs with the opportunities, incentives

and preferences to open and develop their own business. Statistics on the integration of young

businessmen are not conducted due to lack of appropriate legally-fixed categories and is very difficult

to assess their contribution to the development of entrepreneurship.

B.11 Is entrepreneurship as a key competence included in VET schools’ curriculum in

integrated learning outcomes?

In SPESD, it is stated that students will have the opportunity to develop entrepreneurial skills

through the introduction in VET schools and institutions of higher learning the courses "Basics of

Entrepreneurship". The Plan of Measures on realization of SPESD planned introduction of the course

"Basics of Business and Financial Management" at the expense of electives.

Along with the introduction of courses or subjects in the curriculum, is necessary to adopt a

national strategy for the development of entrepreneurial skills among students. It is advisable to

integrate all existing business development programmes (for example, the “Damu" Entrepreneurship

Fund). The strategy should include a vision, specific goals, measures and actions necessary to

achieve the objectives, information on the responsible authorities and the budget. It can be

implemented through various sponsored programmes and initiatives at all levels of education.

B.12 To the extent that career guidance is available, does it promote entrepreneurial career

choice and self-employment of VET graduates?

As noted in paragraph B9, in Kazakhstan, there is no systematic approach to career guidance.

Due to the lack of development of vocational guidance, entrepreneurship is not promoted as

one of the options for building the careers of young people. No mechanisms have been developed to

identify entrepreneurial inclinations among young people.

Moreover, in a society there is a stable view of the obstacles and barriers associated with the

development of youth entrepreneurship.

Firstly, the legal status of a young entrepreneur is not defined by law and the concept of "young

entrepreneur" and "youth entrepreneurship" is also not fixed. In the recently adopted the Law "On

Employment" and "On State Youth Policy" there was only provision to promote and support

entrepreneurial youth initiatives.

Secondly, the youth does not possess sufficient knowledge and skills of entrepreneurship.

Education institutions are provided with the necessary economic knowledge, but do not form stimuli

and behavioral competence. According to a study of the Soros Foundation in Kazakhstan (2015)


56.6% of the youth audience of "non-entrepreneurs" have stated that the lack of knowledge and

skills for doing business is a major barrier to opening their own business.

Thirdly, young people are poorly informed about the different instruments of state support

for small businesses. According to the survey conducted by Soros Fund, the greatest level of

awareness (30.7%) and reputation (49.8%) is found among the organizations providing support

to SMEs owned by the “Damu” Fund. However, it should be noted that support for youth

entrepreneurship in the country is at the level of the state and at the level of the different

business organizations, NGOs and public foundations / organizations.

In order to overcome these barriers in Kazakhstan, purposeful and comprehensive work

is underway. The Youth Entrepreneurship Development Council was created in 2014, at the

NCE of Kazakhstan. Youth Resource Centres are functioning. Entrepreneurs Service Centres

and mobile business support centres are functioning in all regions of the country.

State programmes on the support of small and medium-sized businesses have been

implemented. In the framework of the programme, entrepreneurs have an opportunity to receive

financial, outreach and logistical support. The programme is aimed at beginners and existing

entrepreneurs. Special attention is paid to female entrepreneurs, persons with disabilities and young

people aged 18 to 29 years.

In order to support entrepreneurial initiatives among young people, there are free of charge

seminars and training activities conducted to cover existing Bank tools that support SME and promote

initiatives in business creation. The training programme includes such topics as fundamentals of

entrepreneurship and marketing, competitiveness assessment of projects, analysis of strengths and

weaknesses of business ideas, step-by-step instructions for writing business plans, the intricacies of

accounting and the legal aspects of starting a business and effective business.

In support of the startup projects, the Republican contest "Startup Bolashak" was held from July

2015 to February 2016 among young people. Applications were accepted from all over Kazakhstan to

participate in the competition. When selecting projects, attention was focused on their social

importance, market demand, uniqueness and return on investment. The authors of the 20 best

business ideas were invited to participate in educational business training courses. The competition

was filmed in the format of a reality show. All finalists received cash awards of 500 thousand to 10

million tenge towards opening their business.

Along with action there is a need for an integrated approach to overcoming these obstacles. It is

necessary to develop the regulatory framework, improvement programmes and support tools,

information and propaganda in the media towards entrepreneurial activities and infrastructure

development for youth entrepreneurship.


C. Effectiveness and efficiency in addressing demographic, social and inclusion demand

Overview of sociodemographic factors that shape demand for VET provision

C.1 What factors have dominated the social inclusion agenda since the preceding round of

the Torino process, and did they have an impact on VET demand and provision3?

To relieve social tensions and increase the share of the economically active population of the

country, the government develops and implements Programmes for employment. The main target

groups is young people aged 15-28 years, persons with disabilities, women, the unemployed and low-

income families.

In 2010 in Kazakhstan, the level of youth unemployment (15-28 years) was 6.6% and in 2015 it

was 4.3%. The level of long-term youth unemployment (15-28 years) in 2010 was equal to 2.9% and

in 2015 was 2.6% (SC MNE RK).

The decrease in the level of youth unemployment occurred due to the implementation since

2011 of the state programme "Employment Road Map 2020" (hereinafter – ERM 2020) (see B8). In

2015, the Programme employed approximately 156 thousand people, of whom 142,300 were in

permanent employment.

In 2015, under the programme “Employment Road Map 2020 - Job Creation through

Entrepreneurship and Supporting Villages," 348 persons with disabilities were trained in the basics of

entrepreneurship and received microloans, of whom 199 people opened their own business for the

first time. Additionally, 865 persons with disabilities were employed in social jobs and youth practice

frameworks. A further 2,859 people with disabilities were employed without using measures of state

support.

For the development of internal migration and the labour force balance in 2014 in Kazakhstan,

the state programme "Serpin - 2050" "Mangilik El Zhastary - Industriyaga" was introduced. The

programme was developed pursuant to the "Plan of the Nation – 100 Concrete Steps Towards

Implementing Institutional Reforms". The goal of the programme is the training and employment of

youths from the southern regions (Almaty, South Kazakhstan, Zhambyl, Kyzylorda, Mangistau regions)

with a surplus of labour in the East, North and West Kazakhstan regions – in regions with shortage of

staff (see С6a).

Since 2011, the number of people with special needs has increased, especially in children

under the age of 18. This is due to programmes to reduce child mortality and improve technology in

nursing infants. The number of people with special needs registered in the social service and health

organizations in 2011 increased by 13.2%, children under 18 years – by 23.7% (SC MNE RK).

To support Kazakhstan’s special needs individuals in 2015, the Convention on the Rights of

Persons with Disabilities was ratified, and a commitment was made to providing equal labour

opportunities.

On 24 November 2015 the President of Kazakhstan signed the Law "On Amendments and

Additions to some Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Migration and Employment of the

Population," which provides for the establishment of a quota of jobs for disabled people in the amount

of between 2- 4%, depending on the total number of employees of the organization.

To increase the access of persons with disabilities to training in the VET system, the colleges

allocate a quota for admission of 1% of the total number of applicants. However, this quota is not fully

selected applicants (see C2, C5)

3 This may include inequality in social and economic development between regions or between town and village, division according to ethnical and/or religious attributes, weak representation of women in education and employment, as well as existence of vulnerable groups, people with special educational needs, migrants, refugees, passive population and individuals, who have been long unemployed.


The state supports businessmen to assume social responsibility. So, if more than 51% of the

employees are people with disabilities, the company is exempt from paying VAT and corporate income

tax, but also enjoys the benefits of land and property tax.

In 2015 alone, educational institutions at all levels (preschool, school,

VET, post-secondary, higher and postgraduate) enrolled 141,821 people with special needs (Graph

C1). In 2013, there was a decrease in the number of children with disabilities in educational institutions

due to the development of the total number of children with psychological disorders.

C1 Graph. The number of children with development disabilities for 2010- 2015,

people*

* Reduction in the number of children due to the development in 2012 of children with

psychological disorders (early alcoholism, addiction, substance abuse, etc.)

Source: SC MNE RK

SPESD for 2016-2019 provides measures to ensure barrier-free access and the creation of

conditions for education in VET organizations. By 2017, the share of organizations of VET that created

equal opportunities and disability access for students, will reach 25% and by 2019 will reach 40%.

However, retraining and advanced training of teachers for work with students with special needs is not

provided in SPESD.

Additionally, the project "Free Vocational Education for All" will be implemented in 2017 for the

socialization of excluded youths.

The government responds to demographic, social and inclusive challenges by developing

measures and mechanisms to increase access to the VET system.

Access, participation, progression

C.2 What arrangements are in place for promoting and facilitating the access of learners to the

system of formal VET provision (including CVET)4?

On 01 October 2015, educational activities were underway in the field of technical and

vocational education in 807 colleges in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

4MCR 3. Such measures could include flexible ways to receive a higher level of education and/or labour market, as well as to the formal VET system, with the recognition of informal learning; incentives to learning for the adult population; adequate support for students at risk and those who encounter learning problems, etc.


The number of students in the 2015-2016 academic year was 499,400 people. From 2011 to

2015, the number of students in the

VET system has decreased by 16.9% due to demographic factors, optimization of the colleges

in 2012 and the abolition of social support for students of professional lyceums.

In 2015, 111.0 billion tenge (about 320 million USD) was allocated from the budget for the VET

system where 21.1% was allocated from the Republican budget and 78.9% was from the local

budget.

С2 Graph. Students in VET, in the form of ownership, thousand people.

Source: national report on the condition and development of education, 2016

In connection with the reform of the VET system in 2012 (optimization of the colleges, the

introduction of a comprehensive exam for admission to the University after College), the number

wishing to study at colleges decreased by 12.4% from 2013 to 2015. Over this period of time, the

number of incoming female college students decreased by 13.9%. The most popular destinations for

girls in education are the specialities of economics and services, medicine, pharmacy and education.

The lowest number of girls enrolled was in training course 100000 "Metallurgy and mechanical

engineering" (253 girls).

Table C1. Admission of students in the organisation of VET, 2013-2015, people

Academic

year

The admission of students The number of students

Total number Women, % Total number Women, %

2013-2014 185,930 47.6 561,184 48.0

2014-2015 174,558 47.4 532,910 48.1

2015-2016 162,931 46.8 498,965 47.7

*for 1.10.2015

Source: SC MNE RK

In the 2015-2016 academic year, the highest student intake was in the area of "Medicine and

Pharmaceuticals" (table C2).


Table C2. Admission of students in the organisation of VET, in areas of training, 2015-2016

academic year, people.

Field of study Total number women, %

050000 "Service, Economics and

management"

24,314 69.7

030000 "Medicine and pharmaceuticals" 23,738 77.3

010000 «Education» 22,266 74.7

Source: SC MNE RK

According to statistics (table C3) in the organization of VET for obtaining a formal education, a

large part of the contingent arrived after the main school, which is 64.4% of all applicants in 2015.

State grant only colleges enrolled 48.5% of all students, from them on the basis of the primary school

is 38.6% of all admitted to colleges. Over the past 5 years, the proportion of students at the state's

expense increased by 9.5% (from 39% in 2011 to 48.5% in 2015).

Table С3. The number of students studying in VET organizations in 2015-2016

academic year

The number of students Total According to the state order, %

in VET organizations 499,477 48.5

On the basis of 11 years education 177,587 27.7

On the basis of 9 years education 321,890 60.0

Source: SC MNE RK

Table С4. The distribution of students in the organisations of VET, 2011-2015

Year Total According to the state order, % On a paid bases, %

2011 603,831 39.0 61.0

2012 600,751 41.6 58.4

2013 587,310 41.2 58.8

2014 561,940 43.5 56.5

2015 499,477 48.5 51.5

Source: SC MNE RK

In the 2015 – 2016 school year, the state educational order, financed by the Republican budget

for training of specialists with technical and vocational education, made up 2,016 people, and from the

local budget – 242,302 people, on the bases of 9 and 11 years of education (National report, 2015).

To support students with special needs, MES approved admission quota for admission to study

in the VET organization from the approved state educational order for: 1) citizens from among

disabled persons of I and II groups, disabled from childhood, disabled children is 1%; 3) citizens from

among aul (rural) youth on the specialities defining social and economic development of the aul

(village) is 30%; 4) persons of Kazakh nationality who are not citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan is

2 %; 5) orphans and children left without parental care is 1 % (Government Decree # 264, 2012).

Incentives and scholarships are available to ensure participation of disabled students in higher

educational institutions, students of secondary vocational schools and students in organizations of

education under state order or grant.

In the framework of the project "Free Vocationall Education for All," there are plans for an

annual increase in the state educational order for training of personnel working in qualifications at the


expense of the local budget. According to the information of Almaty and Astana regional akimats, by

2020, the state order for speciality workers will increase to 51% (2017 – 78,500 places, 2018 to

81,200 places, 2019 – 84,000 places, 2020 –86,900 people.). This will increase the training of workers

to 40% (SPESD, 2016).

One of the factors of accessibility of VET is the provision of hostels for students. In the

dynamics of the last three years, there has been a slight increase of places in hostels (2015 – 73%,

2014 – 72%, 2013 – 70%). There remains an issue regarding the full provision of hostel

accommodation for students from rural areas. To date, only 70% of nonresident students have the

opportunity to get seats in the hostels. To eliminate the shortage of places in hostels, MES approved a

Road Map providing college students with places in hostels for 2015-2020.

According to the roadmap measures, MES and the local authority will monitor the security of

College students with places in hostels, will develop a plan of action to increase places in hostels, will

consider the construction of new and reconstruction of existing residences in the regions will be

equipped with F&R of dormitories etc

It is planned that one of the categories of students for the project "Free Vocational Education for

All" will be for not in education, employment or training youth (NEET).

Thus, the state develops and implements various measures to ensure that students have

access to the system of formal VET in the form of quotas for different groups of the population,

increasing the state order for training in work skills and providing hostel places.

C.3 Are there measures to increase the attractiveness of VET, and if yes, what is their impact?

To increase the prestige of VET and according to the Action Plan, the implementation of priority

aims to develop technical and vocational education for 2014-2016 MES (Task 2, the Mechanism 5) in

2014, with the planned accession of Kazakhstan to Word Skills International (WSI). Parties with

responsibility for the execution of this event were identified by the NJSC "Holding "Kasipkor". One of

the reasons for Kazakhstan's accession to WSI – raising the image and prestige of working

professions.

On 10 June 2014, a decision by the Board of Directors of WorldSkills endorsed the accession of

the Republic of Kazakhstan as the 70th member of WorldSkills.

In 2015 the first national WorldSkills Kazakhstan competition was hosted in Astana. It is

planned that this will increase the number of people willing to be trained according to worker

qualifications. Today, at work qualifications, there are only 19.4% of students enrolled in organizations

of VET, and the rest (81.6%) are enrolled in Programmes aimed at mid-career professionals.

The Republican professional skills competition "Best in Profession" is held annually among the

students of educational institutions of technical and vocational education to increase the prestige of

working professions.

Another project to attract young people from socially vulnerable layers of the population and

inclusive of groups in VET will be the project "Free Vocational Education for All". Appropriate changes

and additions were made to the Law "On education" which was signed by the President. A working

group was established to develop an action plan for the implementation of this project.

As an additional mechanism for the involvement of young people from low-income families in

training for working professions deals with the provision of hot meals.

Today, according to Local Executive Bodies, the number of students enrolled in the trades is

95,589 people. These comprise 51% of hot meals from the local budget. In order to address this issue,

the deputies of the Mazhilis initiated the inclusion of this provision in the Law RK "On Education," in

terms of additions to the categories of citizens who are eligible to receive free hot meals in the period

of the educational process.

Another solution to attract more students and adults for VET organizations can be a constant

awareness about the benefits of training in VET and obtaining a working profession in a variety of

formats (public service announcements, guest lectures, excursions, etc) and for different age and

social groups. Today, such events are held periodically.


Thus, in MES there is a plan of measures for the realization of priority aims in the development

of technical and vocational education which are implemented by the Ministry in cooperation with

subordinate organizations. Measures are constantly under development to increase the attractiveness

of VET to young people in the form of open-door days, competitions for the title of Best in the

Profession, international events. On a systematic basis, the mass of continuous professional

orientation of students is not carried out.

MES, in cooperation with the MHSD RK and other interested organizations (e.g., the NCE

"Atameken") needs to develop a system of measures and mechanisms to inform and to attract more

students into the VET system.

C.4 How would you assess transition from general education to VET (entry requirements, entry

tests, tracking, etc), and the opportunities for horizontal transfer within VET and from VET to

higher education ? Are there constraints that affect access to higher levels of education or

training, in general or for specific groups of participation in VET ?

In educational institutions of technical and vocational education, it is possible to act on the basis

of 9 years of education or 11 years of education on a competitive basis by results of entrance

examinations or of the results of passing the Unified National Test (UNT) or Complex Testing (CT) for

the applicants.

While UNT is for high school graduates of the current year, CT applies to the previous year’s

graduates, when they attained insufficient points for admission to the universities in the country. Also,

persons who have technical and professional, postsecondary and/or higher education can apply for

college.

During the organization and performance of admissions the college under the order of the

Director creates a Commission for admission exams and develops exam materials on General

subjects. It evaluates residual knowledge, entering on general subjects. The selection of applicants

based on professional inclination to a particular profession or group of professions, or the results of

the professional selection is not carried out.

Colleges accept citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan, foreign citizens and persons without

citizenship.

Transferring from course to course within college, from one college to another, from one form of

training to another, from one language of instruction to another, from one speciality to another, from

training on a paid basis to training on educational order is not allowed when the difference between

the curriculum and studied subjects not more than four academic subjects (MES, 2015).

Any student wishing to transfer to another organization of education shall submit a written

application in free form about the transfer, giving the name of the head of the educational organization

where he trained and providing written consent for the transfer, containing the seal from the head of

the concerned educational institution.

For a college graduate to transfer from VET to higher education in related specialities for

training in reduced terms on a paid basis, it is necessary to pass CT. The list of related specialities is

approved by the MES RK.

The CT results are the basis for participation of VET graduates in the competition to receive

state educational order in higher educational institutions of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

CT takes place according to the materials of general subjects that students study in the first and

second courses of college or in high school.

College graduates obtaining the lowest score are unable to continue their education at a higher

education institution.

Thus, college graduates who decide to continue their education in higher education on the

speciality profile, are almost experts in a particular industry, but are put to a disadvantage against

graduates of schools in the delivery of CT.


High school graduates have two years preparing for their UNT examinations in general

subjects. However, College graduates took courses of general studies more than 1.5 - 3 years before.

Thus, they had not only studied but also passed the state exams in general studies.

The implications of the situation can affect the results of CT. In 2015, 78 of 248 people took part

in complex testing, of whom 69.67% did not attain the minimum number of points (50) for passing the

University acceptance criteria Graph C3 shows the GPA of delivery of CT in the context of

city/countryside.

C3 Graph. The average CT score /city/village, 2011-

2015

Source: NTC

In this regard, in 2016 the Ministry has amended the rules for admission and for the first time,

candidates were allowed to resit CT in August and then in January of the following year. The

universities have the right to enroll a college graduate as a conditional student, to prepare him or her

from September to January for CT within the university. If the student passes the CT, he will receive

loan credits and will be enrolled for one year.

Also, graduates who have not obtained the threshold level are given the opportunity to retake

the test in August of the same year in basic schools, located in all regional centres and cities of Astana

and Almaty. The cost of the repeated delivery of integrated testing of applicants in Kazakhstan would

amount to 2,242 tenge. This amount is available for graduates and their families.

CT format for college graduates will change from September 2017. According to the new

format, the CT will consist of 60 questions, including 20 questions on general subjects and 40

questions on professional subjects in case the graduate study is in its field.

If graduate changes the field of the study it is necessary to take the entrance exams in the

format of the Unified National Test (MES website, news, http://edu.gov.kz/ru/news/).

Thus, the mentioned measures will significantly reduce tensions on the issue of transition from VET to

higher education.

C.5 Do data provide specific information on vulnerable sub-groups so that education and

training policies can be shapedformation, education and training, aim at addressing the root

causes of the exclusion of such groups from training and access to labour market?

Currently, at the state level, measures are taken to ensure the rights of young people with special

needs to receive technical and vocational, post-secondary education.

In order to support socially vulnerable categories of the population for admission to the educational

institutions of VET quota admission (see C2).

Today in schools, VET trained 4,455 people with special needs and disabilities. The largest number

of students with special needs in SKR are 563 persons, in Almaty 565 persons, in Karaganda region

460 persons and in Astana 253 persons.


The total number of students recived in VET organizations in 2015 was 163,099, of whom 531

were repatraits.

Table С5. Number of students in VET by category, 2014-2015

Category of students 2014 2015

Total

number,people

female of

whom,

%

Total

number

female of

whom,

%

The number of persons equated

on privileges and guarantees to

participants of war and invalids of

war (Law of Kazakhstan "On

Benefits...", 1995)

7

14.3

258 37.2

The number of persons with

disabilities groups 1 and 2 over the

age of 18

815

40.4

723 43.6

The number of disabled from

childhood and disabled children up

to 18 years

1,764

48.2

1,741 41.6

The enrolment of orphans and

those left without parental care

8,590

48.2 7,730 45.6

The number of students from

among aul (rural) youth

134,634

48.5 115,464 47.5

The number of students of Kazakh

nationality who are not citizens of

Kazakhstan

925

47.2

659 51.3

Source: SC MNE RK

Thus, for young people with special needs, the conditions are in place for their inclusion in

social life and to acquire a profession or speciality.

However, quotas in admission for these groups are often not completely filled. For example, the

proportion of students from rural youth accounted for 23.9% of the total amount received in 2014 and

23.1% in 2015. The proportion of students with special needs (persons with disabilities 1 and 2

groups, disabled from childhood) amounted to 0.46% in 2014 and in 2015 – 0.54%.

From the tables we can see that the proposed government group quotas for socially vulnerable

groups were not fully used in the last two years. The exception is the quota for students – orphans and

those left without parental care. There is no data, for some reason, these quotas are not fully utilized.

At the same time, there is insufficient data about the number of young people from vulnerable

groups (e.g., families with income below the poverty line, disadvantaged families) and tracking these

young people.

One of the tools to prevent marginalization of young people from socially vulnerable segments

of the population is the project "Free Vocational Education for all".


Response to socio-economic and inclusive demand and objectives5

C.6 How successful has the VET system been in providing learning opportunities for young

people and adults:

C.6.a from the regions that are officially categirised as disadvantaged (economically,

socially, politically, or otherwise) ?

In 2014 in Kazakhstan, the programme "Serpin-2050" set up a Coordinating Council (MES,

2014) and approved the procedure to calculate the cost of training one specialist in technical and

vocational education in the state educational order among the young people from the southern regions

and the Action Plan for the 2015-2016 academic year.

1,200 college study places were allocated from the Republican budget according to the state

educational order for training under the programme "Serpin" in the 2015-2016 academic year (in the

2014-2015 academic year: 1,000 persons) (see B7).

Upon receiving the results of the project over two years, colleges received: from Kyzylorda –

1,200 people, SKR – 707 people, Zhambyl – 136 people, Almaty – 84 people, Mangistau – 73 people.

Average cost of education per student in College is 493,000 tenge.

The cost of training includes additional social costs for accommodation, transfers, three meals

per day, clothing (outerwear).

Currently, the project has trained 2,132 people.

Support rural young people in VET through the allocation of quotas (see C2) in professions and

occupations that are a priority or in demand for the development of the rural area.

In 2015, 17,836 students from rural areas were accepted for training in the specialities of

technical and vocational education, of whom 34.5% were girls. The largest number of students from

rural areas were enrolled for training in the speciality "Farm" – 4,224 inhabitants, of whom 31.3% were

girls (SC MNE RK).

From the statistics it is seen that the percentage of female applicants for training in VET

organizations is lower than boys. The question is whether this is due to the lack of prestige of College

education or if there are hidden barriers to the admission of girls, not clarified yet.

5 MTR 3.


C4 Graph. The admission of students from rural areas in the organisation of VET, 2013-

2015.

Source: SC MNE RK

C.6.b from socioeconomically disadvantaged groups ?

The state supports socially vulnerable groups of the population (see S2, S5).

When studying under the state order, the state pays a stipend to students from socially

vulnerable population groups. Currently the stipend awarded for VET student is 16 759 tenge.

Children with special needs snd disabilities (vision, hearing), children – orphans and children

without parental care and under guardianship studied under the state order receive a state stipend in

the absence of academic debt.

Those students with the "excellent" examination results will receive a larger stipend at 30-75%

more depending on their social group.

2,572 children with special needs study in the Republic’s VET colleges, including 1,759 with

special needs from childhood, 813 disabled of 1 or 2 group. In 2015 the admission of children with

special needs was 980 people, including 653 with special needs from childhood, 327 of 1,2 groups

disabled. 963 people graduated, including 402 people with special needs since childhood, 561 of 1 or2

disabled group.

All high performing students from among children with special needs enrolled in the state order

receive a monthly stipend and winter and summer vacations, compensation paid for travel twice a

year (amount of 2 monthly calculated index). Children with special needs and students on a paid basis

receive a tuition discount from 10 to 50 %.

The state is beginning to create conditions for the education of children with special needs and

their socialization in the form of quotas for admission and support while training. However, the

question of preparation of the infrastructure of VET organizations and teachers to teach children with

special needs is not yet resolved.

At the same time, in the allocation of grants for training in VET organizations, the financial

situation of average income family students is not taken into consideration. This is due to the fact that

the Model rules of admission in VET organizations specify only certain social groups.

Taking into account the international experience, it is recommended to consider the financial

situation of students (income below the subsistence level) in the allocation of study grants and social

assistance.


C.6.c with an immigrant background?

From 1991 to the beginning of 2016, 261 thousand 104 families returned to Kazakhstan and

obtained the status of repatriates, or 957 772 ethnic Kazakhs, accounting for 5.5% of the total

population of the country.

In the framework of the programme "On the Establishment of a Regional Quota for the

Admission of Repatriates and IDPs in 2016," 1,259 families of repatriates are scheduled to relocate

from labour-surplus regions of the country in deficit. Regional quotas for the resettlement of ethnic

Kazakhs returning to their historical homeland are distributed as follows: in Pavlodar region are 690

families, in East Kazakhstan are 260 families, Akmola are 123 families, North Kazakhstan are 108

families, West Kazakhstan are 29 families, Atyrau are 28 families, Kostanay are 21 families.

In addition, internal migration provides for the resettlement of citizens who wish to move to

regions where there is the greatest need in the workforce. Hence the allocated quota for admission of

463 displaced families: in the Pavlodar region are 300 families, in North Kazakhstan are 101 families,

in East Kazakhstan are 40 families, Kostanay are 22 families.

A quota of 2% has been set for college admission for persons of Kazakh nationality, who are

not citizens of Kazakhstan.

Thus, a state support of internal migration has been developed and implemented in deficit

regions. Regional quotas have been provided for the resettlement of ethnic Kazakhs – repatriates -

and the necessary public support for more rapid socialization (training and access to the labour

market).

C.6.d who are young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) ?

According to the statistics Committee, the share of not in education, employment or training youth

aged 15-28 years in 2015, was 8.5%. This equates to the average population of a major regional

centre of the Republic. In 2015 alone, 59,702 people dropped out from colleges and 59,946 people

dropped out of the higher education system for various reasons (academic failure, there is no way to

pay for training, etc.). Thus, about 480,000 people were not educated and not employed. There are no

mechanisms for identifying such individuals, determining the causes of unemployment and non-

enrolment, the needs of these youth groups and the return of such youths into society.

C5 Graph. The distribution of the proportion of NEET young people and youth

unemployment by regions, 2015, %

Source: SC MNE RK


It is necessary to take measures for the socialization of such youths into society and to avoid

marginalization. The predominant vulnerable youths are those with special needs; young people

whose parents are divorced or were unemployed; young people from families with low income; young

people living in remote areas (ETF, 2014).

One of the tasks of Kazakhstan's social policy is investment in human capital development,

including socialization of such youths and returning them to the labour market (see C5). In the

framework of the project "Free Professional Education for All," an annual increase is planned in the

state educational order for the training of personnel working in the qualifications with government

support. For this target audience, it is necessary to revise the training format to proceed from the

traditional system to a more flexible modular system of training with the accumulation of credits and

the possibility of entering the labour market upon completion of the modules and returning to continue

training at any time.

Another tool is the introduction in 2015 in Astana of a practice whereby students obtain the

senior classes of workers. School-based teachers teaching theoretical disciplines, and workshops for

colleges is the consolidation of practical skills.

The problem of NEET young people is closely linked to youths who were expelled or who left

school.

Thus, to relieve social tension and reducing the number of NEET young people and to prevent

social tension in the country, effective mechanisms must be developed and implemented.

First, it is necessary to determine the mechanism and tools for definition of the categories of

citizens that make up such young people.

Implementation of preventive measures aimed at the formation and implementation of

educational policy, showing the importance of learning, open career centres and early career guidance

of students. This will reduce the likelihood of the student falling into the category of NEET. It is

recommended to conduct staff training colleges to identify those with the potential to drop out of youth

education and tools to retain them in the education system.

Secondly, the mechanism of reintegration of the youth by re-engaging with education or the

labour market, as well as certification of informal learning.

Thirdly, it is the use of various compensatory mechanisms in the form of various social support.

By applying this combination of mechanisms, the country will be able to reduce the proportion of

NEET young people and ensure a smooth transition from education to the labour market.

C.7 What particular action is being undertaken to remedy policy shortcomingsfor any of

these groups of potential learners?

To provide access for youth from socially vulnerable groups to training in the organizations of

VET, a variety of mechanisms were developed, implemented and maintained (quotas, provision of

hostel and scholarships) and programme (e.g., "Serpin").

However, in none of the current programmes were monitoring mechanisms performed on the

implementation of programmes. In this regard, it was not possible to identify possible policy

deficiencies in VET in a timely fashion, or to assess the achievement of the programme’s target

indicators.

For defects and taking into account international experience, it is recommended to develop tools

to identify the programme’s target groups and their support needs, as well as the monitoring

methodology. It is recommended to conduct monitoring of state programmes to determine their

effectiveness and to identify deficiencies and develop measures to eliminate them.

Such activities should be carried out effectively by the joint efforts of state bodies (MES and

MHSD), which provides training and jobs.


D. Internal efficiency of the VET system

Teaching and learning

D.1 Please describe the mechanism for evaluation and appraisal of teachers and trainers in

VET and the link to their career.

External evaluation of VET teachers in Kazakhstan is carried out through certification. The

frequency of attestation is every five years.

Certification assesses compliance with the qualification requirements for engineering and

pedagogical workers in accordance with the order of the Minister of Education and Science of the

Republic of Kazakhstan No. 338, dated 13 July 2009. Requirements engineering-pedagogical workers

include, besides availability of education competence in teaching, organization of educational process,

quality assurance, training and professional interaction. The instructor of vocational training (instructor)

is responsible for practical training and curricular work for apprenticeship training, organizing

internship, and preparation equipment.

The teacher of proffesional disciplines focuses on training according to the state standard of

education (standard curriculum). Teacher is also involved in the development of educational

programmes, is responsible for the quality of education and prepares students to apply their

knowledge in practical activities based on an individual approach.

The appraisal procedure for teachers and trainers is carried out in the form of complex analytic

generalization of the results of their activities. Means of certification are determined by three important

aspects: implementation of state standards VET, compliance with the requirements for qualification of

the teacher and the implementation of other regulations.

To analyse the outcomes of the apraisee’s activities, expert groups of different levels are

created, depending on the category (on the level of education, district (city) and oblast (region).

Members of the expert groups are assigned in addition to experienced teachers, methodologists,

representatives of professional development, production, public organizations, trade unions, parents.

The Rules and Conditions of Certification (Para. 3 SubPara.19) indicate that certification is the

basis for the calculation of the corresponding surcharges to teaching staff (Order of the Acting Minister

of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 07 August 2013 No. 323).

However, under the new Legal Act on the wage system, such allowance is not specified. VET

teachers receive additional payments except in the following cases:

1. For superintendence of classrooms

2. For classroom management

3. For checking written work in mathematics and sciences

4. For the organization of industrial training (Government Decision of the Republic of

Kazakhstan from 31 December 2015 No. 1193).

Thus, an increase in the qualification level in Kazakhstan is not associated with any subsequent

change in the salaries of VET teachers.

For positions of Director or Vice Director of the College, candidates need at least five years

higher education work experience in a college or in senior positions in the organizations with a

corresponding profile (Order of the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan

from 13 July 2009 № 338). For the posts of Head of Department, Methodologist or Head of Teaching –

only higher education and at least three years experience in education organizations.

According to the websites of colleges, teachers are often evaluated through the annual rating of

their activities. However, this order is not fixed at the national level. There is no evidence of the

regulatory process at the provider level. Therefore, undeveloped procedures for the internal evaluation

of individual education plans (IEIEP) remains a weak point.

As a result of rating, teachers are encouraged by material and moral incentives (Akseitova

2015).


Traditionally, teachers and instructorss are seen as the main actors of the education system

reform. Therefore, the VET staff requirements should be worked out taking into account the most

important directions of VET modernization in Kazakhstan. Among the priority areas - new approaches

to qualifications, providing free labour profession, inclusion and new methodological approaches.

In more detail, the trilingual education initiatives unfolding in the country require college

teachers to have the necessary language skills. At the high school level, the teaching of certain

subjects in English will commence in 2019. This means that the college preparatory work should be

carried out - from the development of programmes, textbooks to training “general subjects” teachers.

This is especially the case because Kazakhstan embarked on the equalization of the quality of

education at the level of the senior classes in schools and colleges.

Thus, the analysis of existing qualifications on which to base an assessment and

characterization of VET teachers shows that these requirements do not reflect the realities of modern

operations VET staff. Qualifications require conceptual recycling.

Designed in European countries, the framework of competencies for VET staff (see. Fig.D.1))

has been adapted to the change in approach. It takes into account the need for teachers to interact

with the external environment and enterprises in the organization of practical training. In Kazakhstan,

according to ETF's research in the three regions, 39% of public and 75% of private colleges’

interaction with companies is low (ETF, forthcoming). According to focus groups conducted by the

IAC, college teachers are insufficiently prepared to cooperate with enterprises in the learning process

(IAC, 2016).

The leading role of the European practice of teachers as knowledge translators changed the

role of the organizer of the learning process, which should also be reflected in the new requirements.

Figure D1. Framework of competencies for TVE staff offered by the European Centre for

the Development of Vocational Training CEDEFOP (CEDEFOP, 2009)

There is a need to update the requirements for teachers and trainers to affect the

implementation of the dual training system. Now, a teacher, as well as an instructor, is responsible for

external cooperation - with enterprises, regional authorities - to ensure the relevance of educational

programmes.

Given the current format of cooperation of colleges with a wide range of stakeholders, it is

advisable to start the process of a broad discussion of updated qualification requirements at the site of

the National Council for the preparation of professional and technical personnel.

We must not forget the importance of training teachers in enterprises for the dual system.

Mentors are not employees of colleges, but they play an important role in the success of programmes.

It is necessary to develop approaches for the preparation of teachers through tools developed by the

National Chamber of Entrepreneurs. Today, the NCE has trained over 50 mentors at enterprises in

nine regions (NCE, 2016).

D.2 What are the opportunities and incentives for continuing professional development for

teachers and trainers, and how do you assess their effectiveness?

Creating opportunities and incentives for professional development VET teachers is

implemented at the country level and within educational institutions.


Further training of VET teachers in Kazakhstan is guaranteed at the level of the Law "On

Education". In accordance with the Law, training is carried out every five years.

According to the ETF study on the improvement of professional skills (PS), of those VET

teachers in the three countries of Central Asia (Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan), Kazakhstan

showed the highest level of participation in the PC programme (see Figure 4). As can be seen from

the chart, in Kazakhstan 84% of the ETF survey participants were trained in the courses over the last

four years (Tajikistan - 48%, Kyrgyzstan - 56%; data are not represented).

D1 Graph. The results of the survey participants in the ETF study on personnel training

(ETF, the question "When was the last time you attended advanced training courses?), %

Source: ETF

With the general decline in the share of staff development conducted in the 2014-2015 school

year (32.5%, compared to 42.5% in the 2013-2014), 14,043 teaching staff attended the training

courses. Of these, 6,196 (45%) are on the basis of NCE"Orleu" 1,557 (14%) are in foreign centres and

international projects, 1469 (10.7%) are have been trained on the basis of enterprises, 942 (1.2 %) are

in the Holding "Kasіpkor".

The vast majority of the student contingent (46.1%) were trained on the basis of other

organizations who may find themselves colleges, according to national plans for the professional

development of teachers. It is not possible to obtain more accurate data on these organizations, the

subject of training courses and their effectiveness. Orleu accounts for slightly fewer trained teachers

(45%).

Until


D2 Graph. Information about the professional development IEIEP (2013-2014, 2014-2015

academic year)% of the total number of passed courses6

Source: NED

The largest share of past training - teachers of special subjects, then the general subjects and

masters of industrial training that corresponds to the job structure and administration of VET teachers

in Kazakhstan.

D3 Graph. Information about the qualitative composition of IEP, held training courses in

the 2014-2015 academic year for posts, %.

Source: NED

From the data charts shown below one can see that in absolute terms, the largest number of

VET staff held training courses are in Almaty, the lowest are in the North-Kazakhstan region. In

relative terms, the results are very different. The minimum share of the country’s teachers and college

leaders were trained in Karaganda oblast (only 2.9%). Almost half of the staff of VET Kyzylorda region

6 Earlier data is not available in the present format.


to improve their skills in the last academic year (45.9%) and is 16 times more than the lowest rate in

the country.

D4 Graph. Information about the professional development IEP by region, 2014-2015

academic year, people.

Source: NED

D5 Graph. Information about the professional development IEP by region, 2014-2015

academic year, %.

Source: NED

Due to the increase by 24% the number of colleges that have implemented elements of dual

training (for the year, compared with the 2014-2015 academic year), one would expect an adequate

increase in the number of teachers trained in service partner enterprises to occur. However, in the

2014-2015 academic year, this figure increased slightly, by 2.7% (see Chart 4) and was equal to

10.7% of the total. This is 2.5 times less than the European indicators. It still remains very low both in

the country and by region (Chart 7).

It is necessary to "embed" in the formation of the system of continuing professional

development (see about this in more detail below) of VET teachers training at enterprises and for them

to develop generally accepted criteria.


D6 Graph. Information about the passage of IEP training in enterprises by region, in

2014-2015 academic year, %.

Source: NED

Another provider of training courses - Holding "Kasіpkor" - continues to work on training for

world-class colleges in Astana and Almaty cities, and creating a network of partner colleges7. In 2015,

177 people were trained on 12 training programmes with the involvement of vocational training of the

Republican Institute (Minsk, Belarus), of GIZ (Germany), the TAFE (technical vocational education

provider, Australia), JAMK (Finland), St Francis Xavier College (UK).

Two major providers are National Centre of Excellence "Orleu" and Holding "Kasіpkor" are

training for different groups of IEP. "Orleu" aims at IEP for all the colleges, "Kasіpkor" is for

partnerships.

According to SPESD, a tiered model of training programmes will be introduced for engineering

and pedagogical staff between now and 2019, which includes a 4-tier programme for the professional

development of teachers and trainers through holding HAE "Kasіpkor" in accordance with international

requirements.

At the same time, teachers of special subjects and masters of industrial training will be provided

with training to update knowledge and advanced technology enterprises, including training by social

partners.

As you can see, the overall picture of the professional development of VET personnel seems

positive.

However, compared with the previous year, there was a significant decrease in the proportion of

staff who undertook training courses. At the regional level, the situation is quite different than at the

national level. The reasons for such striking differences in regional indicators are explained by the

percentage of people who undertook further training and require additional study.

Evaluation of the results and effectiveness of the training courses by the teachers showed that

the courses are not always of good quality, there is low efficiency of obtained knowledge when it

comes to inclusive education, teaching in a multicultural environment and polylingual or approaches to

the development of integrated competencies for the future work of the students.

The interviewed teachers point out the lack of resources to implement changes / innovations,

and sometimes - the lack of support from supervisors and colleagues in the implementation of the

acquired knowledge (ETF, 2015).

There are no complete data sets on the subject of training courses, and therefore there is no

way to conclude the extent to which their content and format complies with the requirements of the

7 In Uralsk, Aktobe, Kyzylorda, Aktau, Taldykorgan, Taraz, Kokshetau, Karaganda, Petropavlovsk, Kostanai


modernization of VET, the colleges themselves, the administration and the teachers. Undoubtedly, the

system of training in the formation of its content must comply with all these requirements.

It should be added that in South-Eastern Europe on average, about 27% of VET personnel

annually undergo training in enterprises (see Table D.1.).

The table above shows that besides training courses, the European practice successfully

operates other forms of professional development (conferences, seminars, visits to colleges). In

Kazakhstan, these forms are not included in the monitoring. It is important that the world's leading

practice to replace the format of training brings a system of continuous professional development,

which is much wider than the previous strictly regulated system.

Table D1. Data on participation of VET staff in various forms of continuing professional

development, the countries of South-Eastern Europe, 2015, data are not representative %

Country СРD Professional

development

for VET

Conferenc

e /

workshops

Visiting

colleges

Internshi

ps at the

enterpris

e

Do not

pass the

PC

Albania 56 23 17 31 29 35

Bosnia and Herzegovina

54 32 13 15 32 40

Kosovo 56 36 27 18 16 35

Macedonia 65 34 35 24 24 27

Montenegro 76 40 37 19 27 21

Serbia 92 54 35 38 31 4

Total 71 40 30 26 27 22

Source: ETF

Another important question - this will change in many European countries’ approaches to staff

development. They are more flexible and adapted to the rapidly-changing environment. Given the

rapid change there is no need to adhere to a strict time frame for training (one every five years). This

provision is likely to be effective for the planned development of the economy.

In the current circumstances, it is necessary to focus efforts on the creation of a continuous

professional development system with its wide range of forms and formats. Currently recognized

formats of such systems are considered species of "face-to-face," remote, mixed, self-paced, hands-

on research, exchange of experience. In most cases, the range of "line" providers is extended. Public

and private agencies are acting on the basis of educational organizations and enterprises with

obligatory control of the state of quality.

Of course, the CPD should be as close as possible to real teaching and learning. Changes

should occur on the basis of pedagogical leadership of college leaders, not only in terms of

understanding the teacher and acquiring new professional knowledge.

In the short term, taking into account the need to update the CPD motion in Kazakhstan should

examine general and regional needs in the CPD of teachers for literacy resource allocation.

To improve the quality of the professional development system needs a system of post course

support teachers with feedback mechanisms for determining the overall performance.


In secondary education, it proved successful to link surcharges to teachers with their completion

of training courses at various levels (advanced, primary, basic). Between now and 2020, proposals for

the introduction of a similar training system will be developed for the engineering staff of teacher

training colleges. This system can be a mechanism to stimulate the professional development of IEP.

D.3 Are there shortages of VET teachers or trainers in the VET system in your country, and, if

so, what are the underlying reasons? What is the social status of VET teachers?

According to departmental data, the need for VET teachers in Kazakhstan amounted to about

1% in the past three years (see. Table D2) Thus, there is no indication of a lack of teachers and

masters of industrial training in the VET system.

Table D2. Information about RK colleges needs for teachers and trainers,

2013-2014 - 2015-2016 academic year

academic year The need for teaching staff,

persons.

The need for teaching staff, %

2015-2016 422 0.9

2014-2015 474 1.1

2013-2014 327 0.8

Source: NED

Analysis of existing norms ratio of trainers and trainees shows that taking into account the

contingent enrolled in technical, technological, agricultural specialities (Decree of the Government of

Kazakhstan on 30 January 2008 № 77) (189,779 persons (NED, 2016) the number of masters of

inservice training should be 15,184. The available number of VET instructors (5,623) is 2.7 times lower

than necessary. Recall that in college full-time unit of the position of industrial training masters is set at

the rate of 1 to 12-15 students.

The main reason for the lack of VET instructors can be defined as a significant difference in

the rate of wage formation and production workers.

The social status of VET teachers can characterize the level of their salaries. As at the 2nd

quarter of 2016, the average salary of education workers is 104,400 tenge (SC MNE RK, 2016).

This is 72.7% of the average salary in the country (143,600 tenge).

VET teachers, along with secondary school teachers, may be awarded republican awards for

professional achievements. Every year, VET teachers are awarded the title "Best Teacher" with a

monetary award of about US$6,000. In 2016, out of 48 people awarded, 16 were VET employees.

At the same time, a total of 200 grants are allocated to the best teachers of higher educational

institutions, taking into account the total number of teachers in the country to 38,000 people

(compared to an average of 325,000 education, VET – 42,000 people). Thus, the number of

promoted teachers by level of education is uneven.

The low prestige of VET teaching as a profession can be characterized indirectly by turnover.

According to educational statistics, over the past two years, this figure is more than 8% per year of

the total number of teachers (2013-2014 academic year - 8.5%, the 2014-2015 academic year -

8.2%).

On the basis of these problems, there is a need to consider the increase of salaries of VET

teachers VETbased on their professional achievements. To acquire the skills of production, VET

teachers’ salary size should not be lower than the average for the region.


D.4 Describe the methods of teaching and learning in VET. Are there any planned or actual

improvements in this area, such as student – centred pedagogy, digital and online learning,

group work, project work, collaboration between teachers, practical skills workshops ,

modeling, problem solving, coaching, application of theoretical knowledge, etc?

At the national level there are no well-formed policies on development of various methodological

approaches in training.

In Kazakhstan, the methods of teaching and learning in colleges are governed by the relevant

rules (Order of the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 29

November 2007 № 583).

At the college level, organized teacher mentoring, mutual attend classes, conducted open

lessons, discussion all form part of the practice of embedded advanced teaching experiences.

Based on materials from the site of college, it can be concluded that in Kazakhstan work is

conducted in the use of information technologies, critical thinking, interactive forms of training, project

activities of students and the competence approach.

The colleges have a methodical association by group of disciplines that coordinate work to

improve teaching methods. As part of the association, studies are conducted of the experience of the

best teachers, and classes are held in open discussion of them. Teachers’ colleges are working on

complex methodological topics. Among these is the indicated use of information and communication

technologies (ICT) in education, development of professional competence in the implementation of the

dual modular learning, etc.

Teachers recognize that the use of ICT in the teaching process significantly improves the quality

of mastering of special disciplines (Videlgold 2015).

Regional Offices of Education organized workshops to share the best teaching experience of

IEP, and contests of pedagogical skills among young teachers.

We believe that in some cases, the colleges only declare the use of modern teaching methods.

This finding is related to the lack of information on the results and effectiveness of the use of new

teaching methods.

Thus, the absence of a clear national strategy, indicators, monitoring and evaluation methods of

teaching process makes it impossible to analyze this area and make recommendations.

At the national level should start discussions on teaching methods that are desirable to

implement, in order to make the learning process more effective, and analysis thereof.

Learning conditions

D.5 What have providers and the authorities done to improve the teaching and training

environment of VET providers? Please list factors that affect it, whetherpositively or

negatively. Examples of factors that can include discipline issues, outdated teaching and

learning methods, teacher and trainer shortages, class size, shortage or quality of

teaching/learning materials , quality of students intake, poor physical infrastructure, etc. In

cases where improvement is needed, what have providers and authorities done in this

respect?

Facilities and resources

The question of regularly updating the facilities and resources (F&R) in Kazakhstani colleges

still remains relevant. Funding for equipment of the facilities and resources is carried out therough the

local and republican budget. In the dynamics of the last three years of funding from national funds,

F&R expenses ($ 54 million.) exceeded the funding of the local budget by 47%. Within the framework

of the State Industrial and Innovation Development Programme (SIIDP) funds of $ 974 thousand


(333,246 tenge)8 were allocated from the national and $ 383 thousand. (131 026 tenge) from the local

budget for the ten basic colleges to strengthen F&R (MES RK, 2016).

Comparative analysis of the data on the F&R is a positive trend of increasing the number of

laboratories ( (2014.-10%; 2015.-6%), sets of interactive equipment (2012.-4%; 2013.-43%;

2014.-23%; 2015.-17%), computers used in the educational process (2013.- 45%; 2014.-8%;

2015.-4%) and Internet access (2013.-53%; 2014.-15%; 2015.-7%) (Chart D.7).

D7 Graph. Information about the level of equipment of facilities and resources of the

colleges of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 2011-2015, units

Source: SC MNE RK

There has been variance in the number of classrooms, workshops and computer classes in

recent years due to the process of optimization of VET institutions in the country. In the dynamics of

the last three years, it halved the number of students per computer, which shows a positive trend of

computerization in VET institutions (D8 Graph).

8 Dollar exchange rate at 342 per tenge as at 22.07.2016


D8 Graph. Information on the number of students per computer , 2013-2015, students

Source: NED

In order to improve the quality of training, VET colleges are adopting ICT learning process. This

influenced the intense increase in the number of sets of interactive equipment in the country over the

past five years. Also, due to the increasing demand for ICT skills, teacher training component

"Methodology of ICT Competence of Teachers" is a compulsory part of the programme of short

courses of 4 hours. However, the status and quality of training, using ICT in the learning process is not

tracked. Thus, it is necessary to develop a specific programme to improve the ICT skills of teachers in

different forms (short courses, distance learning, webinars) and increase the amount of (re) training.

D9 Graph. Information about the level of F&R RK colleges, town / village, 2011-2015,%

Source: SC MNE RK


In turn, the issue of retraining of instructions, which teaches the use of equipment in

workshops / laboratories, has not been resolved. In the dynamics of the last two years, 43% of MIT

had the opportunity to improve their skills (2014-2015 -. 11,320 MIT). However, we do not consider the

question of the quality of the courses, as it is likely duplication or inconsistency subjects MPO needs.

According to the college staff, there a shortage of highly skilled professionals with skills to work on

existing production facilities.

"There is a shortage of teachers who are able to manage different machines."

Source: focus groups9, IAC

D10 Graph. College computer information and access to the Internet, urban / rural, 2011-

2015, units

Source: SC MNE RK

According to statistics, 43% of Kazakh students are studying in private colleges (NED, 2016).

The level of equipment of F&R in private colleges do not provide the needs of the educational

process. This is evidenced by the percentage of the level of security in the F&R section of public and

private colleges (D11 Graph). Only one-third of private colleges are equipped with sets of interactive

equipment that cannot provide a sufficient level of ICT skills of both as teachers as students.

Only one in five private college has a studio and only one in three private college - laboratory.

This means that graduates of private schools do not receive sufficient practical skills in comparison to

their peers in public institutions.

The number of urban colleges with access to the internet has increased one and a half times

(2015 - 74%) over the last five years. In rural colleges, more than half of the available computers still

do not have access to the internet (54%) (D10 Graph).

9 In the framework of TT-2016, the IAC project team conducted a focus group (FG) for the detailed investigation of issues regarging DE. FG involved academic head teachers, division superintendents, teachers in special disciplines and masters of vocational training.


D11 Graph. Information about the level of F&R, public/private colleges for 2011-2015, %

Source: SC MNE RK

The update also involved F&R enterprise. It is more typical for large companies. For example, in

order to modernize the college, LLP "Pavlodar Petrochemical Plant" has allocated funds to Pavlodar

Chemical and Mechanical College.

In addition, substantial support has been provided to 68 colleges under the MES project "TVET

Modernization." Overall, $ 33.2 million was provided for the project. As a result of the loan, modern

equipment was acquired for the educational process in 33 specialities. The amount of procurement of

equipment at one college averaged $114,000 (39.2 million tenge)10. Also, on the initiative of the

"strategic alliance in dual training in Kazakhstan” GIZ, since 2015, training workshops at colleges in

three regions have been equipped according to the requirements of the educational standard and

practical training.

In general, it is necessary to encourage public-private partnerships to equip colleges. In

addition, the introduction of a full format of the dual training based on social partnership with

companies in technical, technological and agricultural areas would facilitate the improvement of F&R.

The dual training provides students with access to modern equipment used in the workplace.

According to SPESD, between now and 2020, the share of training and production workshops,

laboratories and classrooms of special disciplines of public colleges, equipped with modern training

equipment will be increased at a rate of 10% (2015 - 40.7%).

10 Dollar exchange at 342 per tenge as at 22.07.2016


Textbooks

Kazakhstan colleges are provided with textbooks at a sufficient level in general educational,

general professional and special disciplines. In the years 2009-2013, 1,560 titles of educational

literature across 13 areas of VET were created and published (46% of them in the state language).

Update of the content of textbooks in the VET system is also carried out through the implementation of

private publishing projects. During 2013-2014, 147 titles of educational literature were developed.

However, there are a number of issues in ensuring the quality of textbooks available to

students. Not enough attention is paid to the improvement of the concept of preparing textbooks for

VET. The textbooks structure remains traditional. Together with the presence of a huge layer of

plagiarism there is a problem of translating terminology into the Kazakh language (national report,

2016). It is necessary to form a complete system of training and re-training authors and groups of

authors, which also requires funding. While there is some data on the number of publications, there is

no feedback on the quality of textbooks in VET.

Also, there is an insufficient level of resources allocated to financing expertise. The approbation

of the textbooks does not fund colleges in Kazakhstan. This entails a reduction in the quality of

textbooks.

Access to the library fund

Widespread access to the library fund is an important component of the quality of educational

services in VET institutions. To implement educational VET programmes requires a number of

normative textbooks and teaching aids, including electronic textbooks, audio and video materials,

visual aids and methodological recommendations on discipline, professional practices, writing and

qualification works, diploma projects (JI, 2016).

The process optimization of colleges in the country has led to a decrease in the number of

libraries (year to 2013 - 791; 2014 - 780; 2015 - 772). At the same time, the funds closing colleges

supplement neighboring colleges for use in the educational process.

The knowledge, competencies and skills required of VET graduates change regularly in the light

of globalization. There is an acknowledged need to create the country's online library site. This

electronic platform can include an electronic catalogue of resources, video tutorials with enterprises,

training in the proper use of different tools and machines, and others. It is also necessary to consider

the option of free and remote access to the catalogue of electronic resources in national and

international libraries.

The system and learning content

According to the Law "On Education," training is provided on credit technology in technical and

vocational education organizations. Despite this, lesson in all colleges are only carried out using a

linear system of education.

If the Kazakh universities since 2006 started mass introduction of credit technology, only two

colleges in the VET system are now using credit-modular technology in a pilot mode (colleges Kazakh

Head Architecture and Construction Academy, the Kazakh-American University, colleges of

construction and management). According to SPESD between now and 2020 a gradual transition will

be implemented in the VET system towards credit technology, which will integrate VET levels, post-

secondary and higher education.

When forming the content of their educational programme, colleges have the right to:

1) change up to 30% of the training time devoted to the development of educational material

for the cycle, up to 30% in each subject (module) and up to 50% of the production of learning and

professional practice while maintaining the total number of hours for compulsory education;


2) select various training techniques, forms, methods of organization and control of the

educational process;

3) in accordance with the needs of employers, change the content of training programmes up

to 30% for general education and 50% for special and general professional disciplines (modules),

apprenticeship training and professional practice. Introducing additional disciplines (modules) in a

cycle of general and special disciplines on employers’ demand while maintaining the total number of

hours for compulsory education;

4) select form, procedure and frequency of ongoing monitoring of progress and intermediate

certification of students enrolled (SCSE RK, 2016).

However, the provision of engineering and freedom to teachers requires them to undertake

appropriate training and awareness. That is, the teaching staff must be adapted to the self-

development of the curriculum, its implementation and monitoring.

15 Resource Training Centres (hereinafter - RTCs) have been established in the ten regions

of RK as part of the project "Modernization of Technical and Vocational Education". RTC - a structural

unit of the VET organization of education, on the basis of which is the concentration of industrial

material-technical, informational, and financial resources for the implementation of educational

curricula of training of qualified personnel.

The main activities of the RTC will be of secondary schools, VET educational institutions and

HPE, enterprises.

Later, RTCs provide empowerment for timely and flexible response to the labour market needs

for skilled workers in terms of innovative development of Kazakhstan.

The results of Kazakh students in the PISA study

An important question is about the participation of Kazakhstan’s 15-year-old students in the

PISA international study, which also involved college students. The results of Kazakh students in

PISA-2012 improved significantly compared with 2009. In each three-year cycle increases were

observed in the proportion of VET students (PISA-2009 - 6,9%; PISA-2012 - 8%; PISA-2015 - 10.9%)

and colleges (PISA-2009 – 16; PISA-2012-2; PISA-2015-9) (IAC, 2016).

In general, compared to PISA-2009, Kazakhstan's position in the PISA-2012 it rose to 4-level

mathematical (27 points) and 6 levels for scientific literacy (25 points). However, Kazakhstan's

position on reading fell by 4 levels (NCEQA, 2010; NCESA, 2013).

Comparative analysis of the PISA-2009 and 2012 results shows a reduction in the proportion

of underachieving 15-year-olds enrolled in all three subjects. However, a number of underachieving

indicators are still very high (Table.D3).

Table D3. Share of low achievers Kazakhstan students in the PISA, 2009 and 2012, %

Programme 2009 2012 Mathematics 59.2 45.2

Reading 58.6 57.1

Science 55.4 42.0

Source: IAC

PISA results show that VET students lag behind their peers enrolled in high school, more than

1.5 years in reading and one year in mathematics (World Bank, 2013), considering that Kazakh

students are lagging behind the OECD average for student reading by 2.5 years and 1.5 years in

mathematics, it turns out that Kazakhstan college students lag behind them by 4 years in reading and

2.5 years in mathematics in total.

Indicators of poorly achieving students in PISA-2012 also show a bleak picture separately for

college students. More than half of Kazakhstan's college students have not reached the threshold

level in the PISA-2012, an average of 60%.


D12 Graph. Share risk students VET Kazakhstan, PISA-

2012%

3126 27

53 53

mathematics natural Sciences reading

Source: IAC

The results in the context of the language of instruction show that the performance of students

in Russian higher is by about one year in reading and 1.5 years of study in mathematics compared

with students in the Kazakh language (Schedule D13). Nevertheless, the results of students with

Russian and Kazakh language of instruction do not have large differences. In the PISA-2009, there is

no data specifically related to the language in which training was conducted.

D13 Graph. The mean values of completed tasks in the PISA-2012 for mathematics,

science, reading and studying VET Kazakhstan, by language of instruction, %

Source: IAC

In comparison with the cycles of the study in 2009 and 2012, the number of participants in

PISA-2015 increased by 2,253 and 2,035 people respectively. The proportion of participants enrolled

in the programme of basic and general education amounted to 89.1% (6,992); VET - 10.9% (851

pers.) of the total sample. International results of the PISA-2015 study will be known in December

2016 (IAC, 2016).

Low achievement on the PISA results necessitates the development of target indicators and

measures to reduce the proportion of those at-risk in the regions and in the whole country. Also, given

the huge risk that the low level of basic skills of college students will adversely affect their future, it is


necessary to provide for the development of educational programmes to enhance the development of

basic skills in students.

Causes of poor performance may be due not only to the students themselves. The teaching quality

also plays an important role in the performance of college students. In 2018, Kazakhstan will

participate in the TALIS survey11. VET teachers should be considered for inclusion in this survey for

the correct alignment of the policy with them.

D.6 How do you assess the policy and provision in terns of the learning opportunities in

place in VET within a working environment (work-based learning) for both young people and

adults? What are the main driving factors and obstacles for work-based learning/

In European countries, policies in relation to training in the workplace (WBL) take various forms.

In the EU, on the job training through apprenticeships (including dual training), training, is short-term

training courses, which are held at different times and suggest the priority of a practical component. As

world practice shows, a clearly established system of WBL in turn gives the opportunity for the (-re)

integration of the socially vulnerable and unemployed population in the country (Figure D.2).

In Kazakhstan, there are two main fixed types of workplace learning, this dual training and

manufacturing practices (Figure D2).

Figure D2. Classification of WBL in Kazakhstan and EU

Kazakhstan EU

Professional Dual

practice training

at least 40% at least 60%

of practical experience of practical work

Professional practice includes educational practice (laboratory and practical exercises,

general professional and special disciplines), professional practice in the workplace, course and

diploma design. According to SCSE, industry practice should be at least 40% of the total training time

in compulsory education. Timing and content of professional practice should be defined in the working

curriculum and working training programmes.

Job training is carried out in training workshops, laboratories, testing areas and training farms

of educational institutions, on student places offered by employers on the basis of a contract.

Workshops are planned in accordance with the curriculum. Study groups are divided into subgroups of

no more than 13 people. Learning groups are divided into subgroups of no more than eight people for

medical and pharmaceutical education organizations for clinical disciplines.

For the purposes of professional training, colleges on a contractual basis select organizations

that provide a basis for practical training. They agree training programmes and schedule practical

training with them.

11 TALIS – large-scale international study, aimed at the asessment of teachers' working conditions and learning environment in schools (http://iac.kz/ru/events/pervaya-vstrecha-nacionalnyh-proektnyh-menedzherov-issledovaniya-oesr-talis).

WBL


Training should provide job training:

1) a combination of theoretical training along with production work;

2) receiving students' professional skills in accordance with the educational plans and

programmes;

3) organization of output, production workshop tools and devices, visual aids and equipment

for offices and laboratories, as well as the repair of equipment and machinery;

4) the provision of paid services to enterprises, organizations and the public.

The list of contents and requirements for training and production activities are determined

directly by colleges in consultation with employers.

The concept of dual training (DT) first appeared in Kazakhstan in 2012. For the development

of the dual training in the new Labour Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the concept of "dual

training", "agreement on dual training" a new article "The dual training" were introduced. VET

educational programmes using dual training include theoretical training in educational institutions, and

not less than 60% of industrial training, practical work on the basis of the enterprise.

Currently, training is conducted in DT in three main areas: technical, technological and

agricultural. To date, 348 colleges (43% of the total) use elements of dual training based on 27,200

contracts from 1,715 enterprises.

Despite the fact that elements of the dual training colleges are being introduced in 2012, for

several years there were no established rules on their organization. In January this year, the MES RK

adopted new rules of organization for dual training in technical and vocational organizations, post-

secondary education. The dual training has four mandatory components (FigureD3).

D3 Figure. Mandatory components of dual training

Source: Rules of organization of dual training, MES RK

Component 1: DT contract. Education is based on the agreement of the dual training.

Nevertheless, in some colleges, there is a problem with the responsible person in charge of the

practice in the workplace. Different colleges have different persons overseeing the practical

component. On the one hand it shows that the responsibility is not fixed among employees in VET

institutions. On the other hand, it may be indicative of a flexible system of colleges and the

involvement of employees.

Р_2-1: «We (Department Supervisor) control students so they attend. There is a Practice Leader. We

make unannounced visits to see whether the students are really working. "

R_2-4: "Being subject specialists, we try to control, of course. We do not attend every day, of course,

but if we come, we check. There are cases when our cooks were forced to wash the pans. And our specialist

subject teachers went there, arguing with employers that it was not right. They were trying to defend their points

of view and asked them to train them properly."

R_2-1: "We have a Practice Leader. First, they must identify and monitor students, including instruction,

and making sure the students attend every day. "

R_2-3: "We (the masters) also go on production, but we are mostly assisting on production safety. Still,

many of the students are under 18».

Source: information of focus groups, IAC

It should be noted that the rules for dual training organizations are adjusted to a greater extent

than the activities of colleges, but this does not regulate the responsibilities of enterprises. Adoption of

the rules is under a normative act that is only binding on educational organizations, as approved by


the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Thus, for effective implementation, it is further

necessary to reconsider the possibility of securing the rights at the legislative level, which regulates

the more detailed obligations of the parties involved.

Component 2. DT Curriculum agreed with enterprises. The educational process in dual

training is carried out in accordance with the operational educational plans approved by the school

and agreed companies. The curricula and educational programmes of VET, post-secondary education

with the use of dual training include theoretical training in schools and at least 60% of the production

of learning based on the company in turn. Despite this, in some cases there is a formality or training

programmes are not finalized in detail with employers.

Р_1-4: «At the end, we approve of the curricula. Of course, we confirm it with employers too, but we

bring the ready-made curricula to them. They give it their seal."

R_1-4: "Employers say that they need to train more in the use of manual machine tools, and not

automatic equipment. Because they are used more. But there are only a few of them, two out of 10 maybe».


One of the important points to regulations is this accounting apprenticeship in seniority

student. The first industrial practice of students is not considered as length of service. Moreover,

according to the rules set, at the discretion of the company, compensation payment can be made in an

amount not less than one minimum wage per month ($ 60).12

Component 3. Training places and jobs at enterprises for VET. Study jobs in the

enterprises for VET colleges. One of the main functions of these enterprises in dual training is

providing students and students with jobs in accordance with safety procedures. Carrying out all types

of briefings provided by the legislation on labour protection, safety measures and internal documents

of the enterprise is also included under the employer's responsibilities.

Component 4: The Mentor is one of the key implementers. During the practical training of

students, the company establishes a mentor. Mentor is also a member of the examination board

during the entrance and intermediate certification assessment training of students. However, not all

companies provide supplements to wages for mentoring (NCE, 2016). In spite of this, the Chamber of

Entrepreneurs is taking steps to train mentors in DT. So, in May 2015, NCE signed an agreement on

the implementation of the partnership project on vocational training with the Chamber of Crafts in Trier

(Germany). Under the agreement, 50 Kazakhstani mentors have been trained in Germany on

"Professional and Labour Pedagogy. The Attestation of Teachers". It is planned that these instructors

will train mentoring staff in industries in their regions.

Within the framework of DT, the student will pass an intermediate certification in school (after

2-3 courses). As a result, the student is assigned to the current level of professional qualification in a

specific speciality, and a certificate (MES RK, 2007). After a full course of study, the student takes the

final examination at school and on the basis of enterprises. In both cases, the examination committee

is formed with the involvement of teachers and specialists of the enterprise involved in DT.

The introduction of dual training is being successfully implemented in a number of regions.

As of 2016, 45 colleges in the Pavlodar region are implementing dual training in 76 specialities

on the basis of 887 enterprises. Students spend most of their time (60%) working in production. In the

colleges, enterprises of the region and the regional Chamber of Entrepreneurs signed more than 700

agreements. The framework of these agreements provides for the organization of practical training of

students with their further employment, internship for ETS and instructors. Employers participate in

12 The amount of one minimum wage equates to 19,966 tenge ($60 as at 05.10.2016). Approved by the Law of RK from 03 December 2013 «On the Republican Budget for 2014-2016»


the final certification of graduates, to support the strengthening of F&R and employers' participation in

curriculum development. The company provides financial support to students. Over the past three

years, 958 students have been provided with special grants for training and more than 1,500 students

have been paid for work experience (Department of Education of Pavlodar Region, 2016).

In the Akmola region, 59% of organizations are adopting dual training systems. The number of

colleges successfully implementing this technology in the past three years increased to 16 by seven

sectors of the economy (metallurgy, engineering, service, transport (by industry), construction, mining,

agriculture, medicine). The dual training covered 791 students in 15 specialities and 17 qualifications.

Between VET institutions, enterprises and the Chamber of Entrepreneurs in the area 44 tripartite

agreements were signed relating to dual training and two agreements on patronage (Department of

Education, Akmola region, 2016).

In order to develop dual learning, national and international institutions are undertaking large-

scale events.

Since 2013, MES RK together with RSMC initiated a pilot project "Introduction of the Dual

Training " for 2013-2016. The project involved 25 colleges (3% of the total) and 30 companies in the

country. In the framework of the Project 243 ETS (70% of them are the teachers of professional

subjects and 30% are instructors) have been trained on the dual training at the enterprises of social

partners. Also starting in 2015, NCE RK implemented a partnership project on vocational training with

the Chamber of Crafts from the city Of Trier, which will be designed for a dual training site (NCE,

2016). This interactive platform will facilitate improvements of the dual training system for users in turn.

Nevertheless, ongoing projects aimed at the introduction of dual training are not linked to the

level of objectives and performance indicators. No evidence is found of a holistic approach to the

implementation of dual training between government, interagency and international bodies, and NCE.

It is necessary to carry out an interim analysis, which will be develop the map previously realized and

to implement national and international projects.

Another of the major problems today is the issue of an employment contract with college

students who have not reached the age of eighteen. Conclusion of an employment contract is not

permitted with a student under the age of eighteen years, if it relates to the performance of work which

may harm their health in the workplace. For practical training, formal parental approval is needed in

most cases. But despite this, employers do not allow them to undertake hard labour in the workplace.

In other cases, students are trained in training centres or college workshops.

Р_1-6: «Company A, only accepted 6 of 24 people who were 18. And now, Vice President of the company

says not to bring children under 18 years "

R_1-2: "They (the students) work and earn. They perform some construction work. Workload. Again, YES

if he is18. "

R_1-2: "It turns out, in the dual system, we must take only on the basis of Year 11 students. We cannot

accept Year-9. Because, in the 3rd year, they will not be 18 "

R_2-3: "The plants are allowed. But they do all kinds of work that are not allowed. There are special

instructions. There are tasks that are allocated only to 18 year olds. Even with parental permission, certain types

of work are not allowed».


The conceptual framework for the effective implementation of dual training is a five-level

implementation process (Figure D4a). Despite the fact that DT has been implemented in 43% of the

country’s colleges over the last five years, interim analysis and monitoring in regions has not been

conducted (Figure D4b). In order to achieve a holistic approach, it is necessary to analyze the current

situation and monitoring of the implementation of dual training in Kazakhstan. In particular, to

determine whether the implemented activities achieved the planned targets and indicators, and to

identify the factors and difficulties affecting the successful implementation of dual training. In turn,

untimely analysis and monitoring can lead to the failure of the reform.


Figure D4a. Conceptual frame for Figure D4b. The process of

implementation in Kazakhstan

the introduction of dual training

Another key problem is the lack of an evaluation framework for the implementation of dual

training in system-level colleges. Indeed, the start of the reform was not accompanied by clearly

defined goals and objectives, indicators and indices. Colleges are implementing without a specific

vision of the end results. This complicates the implementation of reform. Perhaps the concept paper

should be developed up till now, given the long-term nature of the reform process. Development of

evaluation indicators will provide an opportunity to see the level of implementation in the regions and

make appropriate recommendations for further development.

D.7 Which are the main policy options for work-based learning in VET? What types of work-

based learnings are most appropriate in the country context, and why13?

The main policy options for WBL in the Kazakh VET are primarily associated with the

industrial-innovative development of the country. Today, three large-scale programmes are in place,

like the Roadmap of Dual Education System, and the project SPIID and MES RK together with the

National Welfare Fund (NWF) 'Samruk-Kazyna ".

Roadmap of Dual Education System (RDES) is a key strategic document for the

implementation of dual training in Kazakhstan. This programme is designed by NCE RK

"Atameken", together with the MES RK in the 2014-2016 biennium. The main executors of the project

are MES RK, MHSD RK, NCE “Atameken”, MNE, Regional Chamber of Enterpreneures, akimats of

oblasts, Astana and Almaty cities. RDES provides for the establishment of training centres, training

and retraining at industrial enterprises and their participation in preparing the universities and colleges

of professionals. The project covers 11 industries14, 95 specialities and 180 qualifications. Currently,

1,120 companies and 409 colleges have become RDES parties in training 17,371 professionals. 1,236

contracts have been agreed, according to which, 96.4% (16,747) have already been identified as

production sites in enterprises for practical training (NCE, 2016).

The State Programme of Industrial-Innovative Development (SPIID), adopted in 2010, is

aimed at the modernization and diversification of the national economy. One of SPIID’s main tasks is

training in the dual system of training which is carried out in the 10 priority areas: oil and gas;

13 (1) The student is an employee (formal or informal training, alternative practices, workplace training); (2) the student is an employee (short-term training, continuous practice); (3) borderline cases (WBL simulation, training / virtual firms, real firms / companies in an educational institution).

14 Sectors: agriculture, ecology, metallurgy, engineering, medicine, energy, mining industry, construction, public services, services, administration and transport


chemical; metallurgy; agriculture; energy; construction; transport; mechanical engineering; education;

mining.

Within the framework of the MES RK project with the NWF signed agreements between nine

NWF companies and 41 colleges, covering 1,400 students in 32 specialities (MES RK, 2016).

Compared to the small and medium enterprises WBL in Kazakhstan is more characteristic for

large companies. It is also associated with the presence of training centres with enterprise. Major

partners in the implementation of DT today are such enterprises as JSC "Kazakhmys", JSC "Donsk

Mining Processing Plant", JSC "NC Kazakhstan Temir Zholy" JSC, "Kazakhstan Electrolysis Plant",

JSC "Kentau Transformer Plant" and others.

Quality assurance 15

D.8 How do you assess the availability and adequacy of quality assurance arrangements,

measures and practices at central and provider level in the areas of :

D.8.a the qualifications system:

The State guarantees the quality of formal education in VET institutions using the following

tools: licensing, certification, accreditation.

Educational orgaanizations, implementing educational programmes of technical and vocational

education (formal education), carry out their activities on the basis of a licence issued in accordance

with the current legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan (MES RK, 2016). The licence is issued for

each qualification for which the college plans to train students. All possible qualifications are recorded

in the classifier of professions and specialities of technical and vocational, post-secondary education

(State Classifier RK 05-2008).

College guarantees the quality of formal education by the minimum requirements for a licence

to conduct educational activities.

For convenience, a licence application takes place through the e-government portal

(http://egov.kz/). One of the main qualification requirements to obtain a licence is to have a training

college building in the ownership or right of economic management and the availability of

infrastructure (assembly hall, sports hall, dining room, medical office and laboratory training area, etc.).

Certain colleges are experiencing difficulties due to the necessity of obtaining a licence for each

qualification in the same speciality, which also indicates the period of study.

Obtaining a licence for each qualification requires additional time and cost, and in some

specialities may include up to 15 or more qualifications. The college pays a licence fee when issuing a

license, which is 10 monthly calculation indices, or about $60 for a license for a speciality and

qualification.

Certification is determined by the matching of educational services provided by the college and

the requirements of state educational standards of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Certification is carried

out in the whole college and across all professions (specialities) of technical and vocational, post-

secondary education, for which the College has the right to conduct educational activities in

accordance with the state licence. A schedule for certification of colleges is developed and approved

by the Regional Department of Education Control for each area separately for the three months prior

to certification.

One of the stages of attestation of a college is to assess the knowledge of final year students

(senior courses) through comprehensive testing and other types of control sections of knowledge and

skills of graduate courses.

The decision "certify" the education organization is taken if the educational activity is fully

consistent with the requirements of the state obligatory standards, including the results of the

assessment of knowledge and skills of students, when at least 70% of students provided the

Attestation Commission with the correct answer.

15 MTR 2.


The state certification of a college is routinely conducted once in five years (Government

Decree # 635, 2013). The licence to conduct educational activities and passing certification gives the

college the right to issue state diplomas for professions / qualifications.

According to the Law "On Education," in 2020, the government will allocate money to study only

to those colleges that have passed institutional and specialized accreditation in the accreditation

agencies included in the National Register of 1 MES RK. On 01 May 2016, the National Register

includes ten accrediting agencies, two of which are from Kazakhstan (MES RK, 2016).

In the standards of institutional and specialized accreditation of colleges, one of the main

indicators of the adequacy of the accreditation is the issued qualifications. In developing the course

content on a particular qualification, care should be taken that the training programme is directed to

the formation of basic and professional competencies of future professionals, the relevant industry

qualifications framework and professional standards. In 2015, the Independent Kazakhstan Quality

Assurance Agency for Education (IQAA) issued ratings of the Republic of Kazakhstan’s colleges for

the first time.

Colleges that have passed institutional and specialized accreditation of accreditation agencies

listed in the National Register, are exempt from the procedure for state certification by an accredited

body of educational training programmes (specialities) for the period of accreditation, but for not more

than five years.

Thus, the procedure of licensing and certification is available for colleges and is adequate to

meet the minimum requirements of the educational standard. The accreditation procedure is not

available to all colleges because of the high cost. Colleges do not always have a clear understanding

of the necessity of the procedure of accreditation.

Based on international best practice, it is recommended to review the quality assurance

procedures and abolish the attestation procedure, moving from rigid state control to on-site control of

accreditation bodies.

D.8.b teacher and trainer quality against national standards:

When hiring teaching staff and persons equated to them (teachers of general subjects and

teachers of special subjects, masters of industrial training), the organization of VET is governed by

order of the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan № 338 dated 13 July

2009. This order spelled out all the qualification requirements for the positions of each sample in

college.

However, in the qualifications for a teacher of special disciplines and masters of industrial

training, the availability of work experience is not required. This leads to the fact that the college

trainers and teachers of special subjects are working people with no work experience and do not know

the peculiarities of production. In some colleges, training courses and a / or internships in enterprises

in the profile of the subjects taught can be arranged for teachers who do not have work experience in

the workplace.

Also, the quality of teaching staff is one of the main indicators (education, awards, professional

development, work experience, etc.) for a licence to conduct educational activities at the technical and

vocational education level. During the institutional and / or specialized accreditation in VET, institutions

take into account relevant experience and qualifications of the teacher qualification requirements and

the specifics of ongoing educational programmes, the level of personal and professional development

of teachers, ICT expertise of the teacher, the teacher’s use of innovative approaches to teaching

students. Thus, the quality of teachers is estimated by the licensing standards, certification and

accreditation procedures.

In May of 2016, NCE "Atameken", together with partners from Germany in the framework of the

project on vocational training, held a 3-week training course and passed the exam in business

mentors. This is the first experience of training of teachers enterprises in Kazakhstan with the support

of international experts from Germany.


Kazakhstan needs to create business mentors and training programmes to prepare trainers who

could conduct training and improve the skills of enterprise mentors.

Considering the term "quality of teachers and masters of industrial training", we note that in

Kazakhstan, an annual contest is held entitled "The Best Teacher of Special Disciplines Among

Technical and Vocational Schools" in the cities and regions of Kazakhstan. The purpose of the

organization of competitions is to identify prospective teachers and to increase the prestige of

engineering-pedagogical college workers.

At the same time, there are no clear criteria for determining the "outstanding teacher", enshrined

in law.

Thus, it is recommended to define the concept of "outstanding teacher" using clear criteria and

to fix it legislatively.

In addition to improving the quality of teaching staff, it is necessary to strengthen the selection

of candidates for the position of teacher and vocational training masters.

It is recommended to examine the state of the system of continuing professional education on

the basis of analysis to optimize the structure and improve the management of the national and

regional system of training and retraining of pedagogical VET professionals (creation of national and

regional centres of excellence in areas of training, as well as the categories of teachers), improving

the content of educational programmes (modular and demand-driven), identification of incentives to

increase the prestige of the teaching staff (morale and financial) security, constant growth of the level

of their skills and improve the management quality of teacher education.

D.8.c VET provision (including by private providers) ?

In Kazakhstan, technical and vocational education is provided in 807 schools, of which 345 are

non-governmental organizations, VET. As of 01 October 2015, the country's VET institutions enrolled

499,477 students, of which 257,175 students - on a fee basis (NED). In full-time training are trained

256,341 students in public colleges and 166,279 students - in private colleges (NED data). On the

basis of Year 9, trained Education 321,890 students on the basis of Year 11 – 177,587 students.

Table D4. The age structure of students in VET institutions

Age Range Amount

14-24 453,099

25-29 16,568

30-34 12,185

35-39 8,634

40 and older 8,443

Source: SC MNE RK

Compliance of the content of a college’s educational programmes with state educational

standards is monitored by the MES RK. To improve the quality of education and competitiveness of

Kazakhstani colleges in the country and at the international level, it was decided to conduct an

independent accreditation.

From August 2014 to present, inclusive of 18 colleges (including 4 private of college) passed

institutional accreditation, and 30 received specialized accreditation of educational programmes.

In 2015, for the first time, IQAA organized and performed ranking of colleges in Kazakhstan.

IQAA posted the college ratings on its website Ratings are formed in accordance with the profile of

college training (multidisciplinary, polytechnic, medical, agricultural, educational and artistic).

Carrying out the rating used statistical data provided by the colleges. The academic activities of

the colleges was assessed according to five indicators: number of students, the quality of engineering

- teaching staff, the presence of the passage of accreditation (the quality of the organization of the

TVE), cooperation with employers and providing information on the Internet. It is worth noting that in


the rating among IQAA versatile colleges, the first place in large isolation was a private college -

College of Innovative University of Eurasia in Pavlodar.

As part of SPESD, there are plans to ensure the availability of technical and vocational

education for the population, including for those with special educational needs. It is planned that by

2019, 40% of VET institutions will create conditions and access to the profession for persons with

special needs.

An additional part of the SPESD plans is improving the quality of technical and vocational

education through renewing the content of educational programmes that will be developed on the

basis of approved professional standards and with the involvement of employers.

By 2020, the proportion of VET specialities providing educational programmes designed on the

basis of professional standards, will reach 58%.

Thus, the country has created the conditions for providing formal vocational education in

colleges (public and private). All colleges, regardless of their form of ownership, are working to

national standards, they are subject to the same requirements to ensure the quality of training

(licensing, certification and accreditation).

However, we must accept that the standards and the mechanisms of accreditation in

Kazakhstan are not designed for small and tightly-regulated educational organizations like colleges.

Therefore it is recommended to develop more specific approaches to accreditation (including financial

and accessible to all VET organizations) on the basis of leading European approaches and the real

conditions of the functioning colleges in RK.

Learning Outcomes

D.9 Please outline the ways in which the quality of learning outcomes of VET students, in

particular key competences as defined in national regulations and strategies, are being

evaluated and assessed, in both IVET and CVET.16 Is there scope for improvement of

assessment arrangements and practices? Where available, what do the results of these

evaluations and assessments suggest about the quality of outcomes currently produced by the

VET system17?

As approved by MES RK, model curricula prescribe the knowledge, skills and comVETencies

that a college graduate should acquire for training. In 2016, changes were made to the state obligatory

standard of VET education, where the concept of a module and credit legislation was introduced. The

VET system approaches knowledge from the linear system of education. This means that the focus is

on knowledge as a result of education, rather than on the student’s ability to perform certain types of

work.

The introduction of the National Qualifications Framework (see D10, D11) brings inevitable

changes and assesses the quality of learning outcomes, ie, the transition from knowledge-based to

competency models

However, to date, final examination (FE) is carried out to assess student learning outcomes at

the end of the quality level of development of the professional education programme. FE of graduate

students in technical and vocational education institutions includes:

Assessment of students in educational institutions;

Assessment of the level of professional training and qualification.

Colleges independently determine the form of FE for students in the form of a comprehensive

examination or examinations on special subjects, implementation and protection of the degree project,

or implementation and defence of a thesis with the delivery of IA examination in one of the special

disciplines.

FE of students in college is carried out to determine the level of educational development on the

basis of a full course of training programmes, which include integrated knowledge and skills in general

16 MTD 4. 17 MTD 4.


education, humanities, economic sciences; knowledge, abilities and skills in general and special

disciplines.

The form of the final assessment of students in educational institutions and the amount of

training time for its implementation is determined by no more than two weeks.

Each speciality / qualification in the College Examination Examining Board is created by the

order of the head. At the same time, the rules stipulate that the certification examination committee of

representatives of the employers should be 65% and 35% of the representatives of the organization of

technical and vocational, post-secondary education. Employer representatives should have

professional experience / qualifications for which FE is carried out.

The Chairman of the Certification Examination Commission is appointed by a representative of

employers.

The second mandatory stage of final examination is an Assessment of of Professional

Qualification Level (hereafter - APQL).

Up to 2016 RSMC conducted APQL, which consisted of two parts: a test of theoretical

knowledge for confirming the qualification and practical assignments. In 2016, due to changes in the

legal status of RSMC, some colleges was conducted APQL independently together with employers

with a certificate of qualification assignment.

So, college graduates pass through the dual control, along with the double burden and issue:

pass the state exams or defence of diploma project, as well as rent (written test) qualification exam

and a practical test (qualification test work), ie they are twice awarded the qualification, the

corresponding qualification in the speciality.

Despite the fact that the Commission works with APQL representatives of employers, the

majority of businesses in hiring college graduates and appointment do not take into account the

assignment of qualification certificates issued by RSMC.

It is recommended to improve the assessment of the quality of education through the

introduction of independent certification of VET graduates wishing to recognize and certify as

education. It is possible to introduce through the creation of independent certification centres in the

industry associations.

D.10 Is there a national qualifications framework (NQF) in place, and if yes, is it focused on

lifelong learning18?

In Kazakhstan, the NQF has been approved by the joint order of the MES RK and MLSP in

2012. The NQF has eight levels of qualifications and complies with the European Qualifications

Framework and the levels of education defined by the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On

Education".

The education system in the country is based on the principles of continuity and succession

programmes, and includes the following levels: pre-school education and training; elementary

education; basic secondary education; secondary education (general secondary education, technical

and vocational education); post-secondary education; higher education; post-graduate education

(Master and Doctorate).

On 16 March 2016, changes were made to the National Qualifications Framework in connection

with the amendments to Chapter 9 of the Labour Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. This concerned

the responsible organization for the introduction and replacement of a national qualifications

framework, a sectoral qualifications framework and professional standards.

Today in Kazakhstan colleges, it is not possible to study individual modules to obtain the

certificate of course completion with the content and the number of hours/credits. It is necessary to

take entrance exams in colleges and be enrolled in a course to obtain a level of education.

18 MTD3


In Kazakhstan training courses do not require a licence. NQF accounts for learning throughout

life at the education level (degree of education). Non-formal education and further education is not

included in the NQF RK.

For the recognition of non-formal and informal education in the country, it is necessary to define

the general principles of recognition based on the international experience of European countries.

Recognition of non-formal education need to be focused on identifying learning outcomes,

documenting learning outcomes, assessment based on standards and certification of learning

outcomes.

Information on procedures and opportunities for recognition need to be freely available

(especially for socially vulnerable groups of the population) and affordable. It is necessary to create

transparent mechanisms for quality assurance applicable to the recognition systems (methods, tools,

evaluators) and evaluation of its results (approved standard).

Another element of the recognition of non-formal learning will be the use of a credit system

(credit units). In VET, Kazakhstan has just begun the introduction of credit-modular system that allows

students to accumulate credits for the recognition of qualifications.

In recognition of the non-formal education system, it will be recommended to include the

following elements:

-Support citizens in identifying the learning outcomes achieved;

- Assistance in documenting their learning outcomes;

- Evaluating learning outcomes achieved;

- Certification of learning outcomes achieved in the form of qualifications or credits which lead to

a qualification.

The Government need to provide citizens with the opportunity to confirm the knowledge gained

outside the institution, use of knowledge and skills in their future professional life and to ensure co-

ordination between education, training, employment and services for the population and young people.

D.11 Are qualifications defined by learning outcomes, and if yes, are they placed in the

NQF?

Currently, with the successful completion of a full course of training for the specialty in college

student receives a diploma (education level) and a recognized qualification. Level of education is

reflected to the NQF as a result of reaching the level of qualifications framework.

However, according to the Rules of state certification of educational institutions, curricula should

be developed in accordance with the SCSE RK and other legal acts.

To date, there has not approved the concept of transition from the model curricula for the

development of educational programs on the basis of professional standards.

It is recommended to introduce and legally adopt the concept of "key competencies" in the NQF

and to determine the mechanism of the development of educational programs based on core

competencies. In addition, there is no concept of the transition from standard curricula developed by

the education sector to educational programs designed on the basis of professional standards.

D.12 Which institutions govern the NQF? Is industry among them? How strong is the

involvement of social partners in NQF implementation?

The National Qualification System of RK consists of the following elements:

- National Qualifications Framework, developed jointly by MES RK and MHSD RK (see D11);

- Sectoral Qualifications Framework (SQF), classifying the requirements for professional

qualifications in the industry through the levels, depending on the complexity of work;

- Occupational standards;

- Certification.

Development and revision of the SQF is performed in conjunction with line ministries and

employers' associations in the relevant fields of activity and approved by the Committees on social

partnership and regulation of social and labour relations.


Due to changes in the Labour Code to change the order of approval and reapproval of SQF

NQF, all designed SQF is no longer in force from a legal point of view.

Until January 2016 the professional standards were consistent with the NCE and approved by

the state bodies of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

From 2012 up to 2015 the 449 occupational standards were developed including the 147

occupational standards under the MES project "TVET modernization".

On 01 January 2016, the Labour Code of Kazakhstan gave approval for the occupational

standards function to be transferred to the NCE "Atameken". Thus, today, the task is to harmonize the

use of occupational standards and educational standards in the planning of the curriculum and the

educational process.

The creation of the last element of the NQS an independent certification of professionals and

college graduates has not been completed. Since 2012, the certification of graduates of vocational

institutions engaged "RSMC". Within the framework of the MHSD project "Jobs and Skills" there are

plans that by 2019 a professional assessment of qualifications and assignment system for quantitative

(vacancies) and qualitative (required competences) optional (employers or industry associations) will

exist, through the introduction of testing centres and professional certification skills.

Since its formation, NCE "Atameken" participation has played an important role in the training of

technical personnel for the VET organizations; in cooperation with MES a Roadmap of dual training

was developed. More and more employers and industry associations are involved in the training

process.

Thus, in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the identified institutions that control the elements of the

National Qualifications Framework are as follows: line ministries, the NCE "Atameken" and industry

associations who actively participate in the development of the national qualifications system in the

Republic.

D.13 Is there a mechanism to ensure that the qualification are relevant/credible for

employers19?

According to the Law of RK "On Education", there are several mechanisms to ensure employer

compliance and reliability of graduate qualifications through accreditation mechanisms (see D8 -9) in

the development of educational programmes (for compliance with professional standards and the

requirements of employers) and the implementation of educational programmes in the institution (total

certification).

After the completion of training and successfully passing the final certification in educational

institutions implementing educational programmes of technical and vocational, post-secondary

education, the student receives a diploma of education and a recognized qualification (see. D9).

The Rules assess the level of professional readiness and assignment of qualification by

professions (specialities) of technical and service labour. In January 2016, changes were made in

order to MES RK (MES RK, 2016).

According to the Order 594 of the Minister of Education and Science dated 25 December 2009,

RNMTS is a government body whose function is to carry out the assignment and confirmation of

qualification procedures.

In accordance with paragraphs 37 item 3 of the Model Regulations for the ongoing monitoring of

progress by interim and final assessment of students, the decision to grant a diploma is accepted on

the basis of the results of final examinations on special subjects, protection of degree projects, as well

as assessing the level of professional training and qualifications. From 2009 to 2015, inclusive

assessment of level of professional readiness and assignment of qualification conducted in colleges of

JSC "RSMC", which was under the jurisdiction of the organization MES RK.

19 MTR2 and MTR3


In 2015, 136,487 graduates participated in an assessment on the level of professional training

(APQL), including students on a budgetary basis - 66,594:

- With Kazakh language instruction – 71,103 (52%);

- With Russian language instruction – 65,384 (47%);

- For technical specialities – 87,244 (63%);

- For humanitarian specialities – 49,243 (36%).

A total of APQL in 2015 involved 705 schools, of which: State - 414, private - 291. APQL

reached only 159 specialities, including humanitarian - 29, technical - 130.

Of the 136,487 graduate students who passed APQL the first time – 112,296 (83%) of them

were on the basis of the budget – 58,379.

Graph D14 shows the proportion of VET graduates from 2009 to 2014, who passed the APQL

first time and received a certificate.

D14 Graph. The proportion of graduates who received certificates, 2009-2014, %

Source: RSMC

In the years 2013 – 2015, pilot work was conducted on the methodological support and the

creation of independent centres for the certification of qualifications based on industry

«KAZENERGY» Association, the Association of Mining and Metallurgical Enterprises of Kazakhstan

tourist association.

As part of the planned operation, SPESD branch centres proficiency of graduates of Vocational

Education and Training based on industry associations.

In view of the foregoing, we can say that there is a mechanism and employers involved in

conformity assessment are awarded the qualification.

However, it is not always the case that assigned qualifications are authentic, as for many

employers when applying for graduate work, account qualifications specified in the certificates issued

after the date of APQL are not taken into consideration. And this is despite the fact that the

composition of the Qualification Commission on APQL consists of representatives of employers and

industry associations.

It is recommended that a sectoral certification authority be established for recognition by

employers of graduates of VET qualifications for the establishment of an independent mechanism

proficiency, guaranteeing employer compliance and reliability of qualifications. The MHSD project

(2016-2020) planned to develop mechanisms and instruments for independent certification authorities.


E. Governance and policy practices in the VET system

Update on governance arrangements

E.1 Has there been any changes in the distribution of functions and responsibilities for

governing the VET system since the preceding round of the Torino Process ? ? If yes, what are

the changes and why were they necessary?

There have been no radical changes in the distribution of functions and VET system of

govermamce responsibility since the last report on the Torino Process.

Non-state actors are increasingly taking part in VET. This includes the Colleges’ association,

NCE "Atameken" and sectoral employers' associations.

The new edition (2016) of the Labour Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan has led to the

development, replacement and revision of occupational standards and the approval of employers'

associations on the basis of the sectoral qualifications frameworks. Occupational standards have been

approved by the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan.

Established in October 2013, the Association of Colleges of the Republic of Kazakhstan is

involved in discussing and agreeing on changes in the regulatory legal acts in the Republic of

Kazakhstan. In 2015, the Republic of Kazakhstan jointly with the Association of Colleges NCE

"Atameken" and Holding "Kasіpkor" organized and conducted a National Championship of

WorldSkillsKazahstan. The Association of Colleges is responsible for the work of the Expert Council

and the training of experts to work on the national and international championships of WorldSkills.

Some of the functions of RSMC (updated model curricula, development of educational

programmes, preparation of draft acts, ETS training) transferred to the Holding "Kasіpkor". This is due

to a change in legal status of RSMC. However, the main activity of RSMC will be retained for five

years under the contract.

In accordance with the SPESD for 2016-2019, MES is developing mechanisms to change the

legal form of VET institutions in order to expand the range of services provided by educational

institutions on a paid basis. After changing the legal form of educational organizations, they will

consider the granting of financial autonomy for the introduction of a single transparent system of

accounting and corporate management.

It should be concluded that there is a gradual transition to VET governance through state-public

participation. Businesses and public organizations are beginning to actively participate in the colleges

life. To transition colleges from the strict regulation MES RK develops corporate governance

mechanisms to change the legal status of the college and plans to amend the statutes and

regulations.

E.2 How do you assess the level of autonomy at provider level? For example, are providers free

to shape the curriculum, take funding decisions, decide on the allocation of funding, design

assessments, and take staffing decisions?

Activities within colleges (public and private) are determined in accordance with the Model

Rules of the organizations of VET institutions.

Colleges are independent in the organization of the educational process, extra curriculum

activities with students, selection and placement, educational, financial and economic activities within

the framework of the Law "On Education", the Model Regulations and the charter of the organization

of education.

When curriculum for specialities developing, colleges are governed by the State Compulsory

Standards of Educational (SCSE), the model curricula in the field and the list of professions and

specialities in terms of training and levels of education for technical and vocational, post-secondary

education, in accordance with the Classifier of professions and specialities of technical and

professional, post-secondary education (MES of RK, 2016).

If the college is planning to introduce new educational programmes or modules, they must be

developed in accordance with the SCSE RK, and the need to obtain a permit as an experiment in


accordance with the design rules, testing and implementation of educational programmes in

experimental mode in Education (MES RK, 2015). Thus, the autonomy of the colleges in the discovery

and development of new educational programmes is limited and delegated to local education

authorities. The Education Department gives permission to experiment and monitors the results of the

experiment.

Since September 2016, a new SCSE was enacted, which allows colleges to independently

change up to 30% of the content of educational material modules/disciplines, and 50% of industrial

training and professional practice in accordance with the needs of employers with obligatory

preservation of the total number of hours for compulsory education. In addition, the college has the

right to independently determine the form, procedure and frequency of the current and intermediate

control of student performance.

Heads of VET institutions are prescribed depending on the form of ownership. Usually, the

director of State College is appointed by local authorities and private colleges leaders is by founder.

In the formation of the staff of the college, the director is guided by standard qualification

characteristics regarding the positions of teachers, a list of posts of teachers and typical staffing.

It can be noted that the state provides all colleges greater autonomy regarding the content of

the training modules and practical training. This is due to increasing the activity of cooperation

between colleges and enterprises, industry associations and regional Chambers of Entrepreneurs.

Nevertheless, the activities of the colleges are still regulated by the normative documents in the

hiring of teaching staff, the organization of the educational process (the amount of instructional time

devoted to the study of individual disciplines, the sequence of disciplines) and ownership. In many

organizations, VET reach high standards and have extensive experience in international projects and

innovations. However, there are colleges that operate less successfully. The overall attractiveness of

the VET system will depend on the ability of the entire VET system to apply innovations in the

management of the college (staff changes, formation and implementation of the educational process,

etc.).

Assessment of governance arrangements

Governmental institutions

E.3 How do you assess the coordination of state actors in defining and implementing VET

vision and policy, ensuring VET relevance and effectiveness? Please provide examples.

The main state actors in the formulation and implementation of VET policy are the Department

of the Vocational and Post-Secondary Education MES RK and MHSD RK. MHSD RK determines the

need for industry personnel and MES creates and implements policies in the field of VET, identifies

educational grants for training and ensures the quality of educational services.

When implementing reforms under the banner "free vocational education for all," the

responsible implementer is the MES RK and MHSD Kazakhstan and Akimat provide the support in

terms of methods for determining forecast staffing needs in the context of professions, industries,

regions and definitions in the long term staffing requirements and the formation of the state order.

By 2019, 80% of colleges planned to introduce dual training in agricultural and technological

specialities. MHSD RK, MES RK and NCE "Atameken" are actively involved in the implementation of

this project. In 2015, KMG launched a pilot dual-based project on for third year students at the APEC

Petrotechnic (Atyrau). According to the results of the pilot, the motivation of the students from the pilot

group is higher than that of students with the traditional system of education.

Industry Certification Authorities and proficiency for college graduates and employees of

industrial enterprises will be created in MHSD RK project implementation.

To place an order for training of specialists for the national economy in accordance with the

labour market needs and the expectations of employers in VET organizations, a working group was

created, comprising members of the sectoral ministries (the Ministry of Health and Social

Development, Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Investment and Development, and others).


Involvement of non-state actors

E.4 How do you assess the participation and contribution of non-state actors (social partners,

employers, civil society, and teacher and student organizations) in and to the governance of

the VET system and the shaping of VET policy? For example, is the participation regular and

formalized, for instance through sector/regional skill council or other coordination

mechanisms? Alternatively, is it informal and ad hoc in specific thematic areas /projects?

Overall, whether financial or otherwise, there are incentives to attract the participation of non-

state actors?

At the national level in Kazakhstan VET policy has been formed by functions of the National

Council for the development of vocational and professional training, which takes key decisions on a

national scale.

One of the active members of the National Council is NCE "Atameken", which works closely

with the MES RK in the formation of policy and management of the VET system.

At the regional level, 16 regional councils were created at akimats to address the issues of

training. They contribute to the management of the VET system in areas such as the definition of

staffing requirements, development of employer qualifications, upgrades to educational standards, the

development of professional standards, validation and awarding qualifications.

Regional Councils for the development of VET and training are advisory bodies coordinating

efforts to ensure the region's sectors of the economy are equipped with qualified personnel. The main

tasks of the Council are to develop proposals for the evaluation of regional balance by occupation (the

results of surveys of enterprises and available statistical and administrative data); the

recommendations of the National Council for VET makes annual plans, set in accordance with the

balance of the labour market, the structure of VET provision in the region, activity in the field of

learning throughout life for the unemployed, job seekers and vulnerable groups and ensures the

quality of VET in the regions.

The Association of Colleges of Kazakhstan is actively involved in the formation of VET policy

in terms of the content of educational programmes and VET national governance,. One of the most

active non-governmental organizations in shaping VET policy and management at the regional level is

the association of organizations of technical and vocational education in the face of college directors.

Questions regarding the content of educational programmes, college development through public

procurement, employment of graduates and participation in adult education are solved with the active

participation of associations in the regions.

For the more active involvement of employers in the management of colleges of education,

management areas cooperate with the Regional Chamber of Entrepreneurs (RCE) or large

enterprises in terms of formation and approval of state orders for training personnel for the region.

VET students unions, working in close collaboration with the departments of education and

colleges, provide social support to students through union activities.

Thus, the private sector (employers, students and graduates) begins to take an active part in

the life of the regions and the country as a whole, particularly with regard to the content of education

and the formation of college development strategy and support to students. Participation of employer

representatives at the national level is regular and formalized. Nevertheless, it is recommended to

strengthen the interaction with the RCE education departments.


E5 How do you assess the distribution of functions and responsibilities for shaping and

implementing VET between state and non-state actors? Is it adequate, transparent and clear to

all involved, without overlaps or gaps in responsibilities? In particular, is the distribution of

responsibilities adequate to meet the expectations of VET as laid down in the strategic

documents referred to in Building Block A?

Control functions are distributed between government entities as follows:

At the national level

The competence of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan includes the development

and implementation of state policy on the development of education and constant monitoring of

current and future labour market needs in personnel; ensuring the participation the social partners in

addressing VET with labour market needs; approval of regulations and state standards in the field of

VET.

The Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Department of the

Vocational and Post-Secondary Education (DVPE), which is responsible for the development and

implementation of a unified state policy in the field of technical and vocational, post-secondary

education. It creates normative conditions for the enforcement of constitutional rights and freedoms of

citizens in the field of technical and vocational, post-secondary education, etc. At the national level,

funds are allocated from the national budget on a competitive basis of state educational order for

training of personnel in demand.

The Department operates within the jurisdiction of the organization of Holding "Kasipkor ".

The Ministry cooperates with other industry-government bodies in the implementation strategy

for the formation of state policy in the sphere of education and science, in particular with regard to the

functioning of an efficient system of technical and vocational, and higher and postgraduate education,

integrated into the world educational space, to improve the quality of training and competitive staff,

development of social partnership, and others.

In addition, MES RK interacts with MHSD Kazakhstan in the development of the National

qualifications framework, sectoral qualification framework, occupational standards (NQF, SQF, OS,

respectively), as well as in matters of employment and to determine the need for qualified personnel.

It is noteworthy that in 2012, non-state actors are increasingly involved in VET training.

The association of Kazakhstan colleges actively makes proposals and participates in the

discussion and coordination of normative legal acts, representing colleges - members of the

Association.

NCE "Atameken" represents employers in the preparation of professional personnel. NCE

"Atameken" was created by the Youth Entrepreneurship Development Council for the development of

effective modern mechanisms of support and development of youth entrepreneurship. NCE co-

ordinates the implementation of the Roadmap of dual training with the involvement of large industrial

enterprises and college regions.

At the regional level

Local executive bodies (akimats regions) are responsible for strategic, medium-term

economic, budgetary planning activities. They argue the programme of development of education in

the region, decide on the reduced fares on public transport for students, develop and submit

educational development programmes for approval of Maslikhat.

At the Department of Education, there are vocational departments with an average staff of 3-4

to ensure the effective functioning of the education system in the region. They coordinate the work of

vocational education institutions.

At the regional level is the Association of Colleges, which represents the interests of the VET

system in maslikhats and management departments, such as the Association of the Organizations of

Technical and Vocational Education in Astana.

The VET organization level.

VET organizations are to ensure the quality of training of qualified personnel in accordance

with state educational standards and the requirements of the labour market in the region.


Regional Chambers of Entrepreneurs are increasingly working closely with colleges in the

country.

Thus, the distribution of functions and responsibilities between public entities are adequate

and transparent for all participants. Non-state actors are also involved in performing liability training in

VET.

E.6 Can you identify which sectors of the economy are most active in the shaping of and

participation inthe planning and implementation of skills provision through VET?

NCE "Atameken," as a representative of employers, plays a leading role in shaping policy and its implementation in the VET (see. D8, D12, and E1).

However, some industry associations, representing such sectors as oil and gas, mining and

tourist, are the most active in the development and implementation of the VET graduates certification

process.

From 2013 to 2015, Holding "Kasіpkor" was carried out to establish the foundations of the

methodology for the independent certification of the qualification system based on industry

associations.

A unified methodological was developed as a basis for the functioning of the centres created,

along with development methods of test materials based on international experience.

Another direction of the active participation of employers' in the learning process is a dual

training (see D6).

As part of the implementation of the Road Map on dual training with the assistance of NCE,

regional Chambers of Entrepreneurs and MES RK signed 1,236 contracts with companies for practical

training. More than 400 colleges (out of 807) have become parties to the Roadmap.

Representatives of the construction industry participate particularly actively in the

implementation of dual training and conclude agreements on mutually beneficial cooperation with

colleges. For example, JSC «Alageum Electric», LLP "KazMunaiKurylys", LLP "ZhambylZholKurylys",

LLP "Kazphosphat" and other companies have agreed to offer places to students of industrial practice

and further employment. More and more companies in the country and the industry are involved in the

training process.

To improve the quality of education and the assistance of NCE "Atameken," two consortia

were created: 1) between the Association of Entrepreneurs service sector and services and Kyzylorda

industrial and technical colleges and 2) between "Kazphosphate" LLP and Taraz Chemical-

Technological College for improving the quality in practical training of student skills.

The most active cooperation is between colleges and employers’ associations of the oil and

gas industry, mining, tourism and construction industries.

We can say that big business and companies are more interested in the training and

education of college students in practical skills, rather than medium and small businesses.

Therefore it is recommended to develop mechanisms to attract small and medium-sized

businesses to participate in the preparation of technical employees.

Relations between national and sub-national levels of government

Arrangements between national and sub-national levels of governance E.7 How do you assess the distribution of roles and responsibilities for the implementation of

VET across governance levels? Is the cooperation between national, regional, sectoral and

provider level of governance effective? For example, does it lead to result-oriented dialogue

and coordination between levels?

The country has built a management system in the VET implementation.

At the state (national) level, MES RK makes policies on the development of education,

according to regulations and state educational standards in VET, and performs monitoring.

MES RK, the Department of the Vocational and Post-Secondary Education (DVPE), which is

responsible for the development and implementation of a unified state policy in the field of technical


and vocational, post-secondary education (see E5). Also, the Ministry of Education is a working body

of the National Council on the training of professional and technical personnel.

At the regional level, vocational education management ensures the provision of technical and

vocational and post-secondary education in the region (oblast). They also establish, reorganize and

liquidate in accordance with the law of VET organization, and organize the order and ensuring

colleges.

College is a provider of VET in the region. Colleges are located directly under the local

government offices (except colleges of Republican status).

For active participation and employer engagement as the main customers for highly qualified

specialists in all VET levels of government (national, regional and sectoral), and coordinating the

interests of public authorities, employers and educational institutions in Kazakhstan have been

established by national, regional and industry development councils, VET and training .

The VET Council takes key decisions on personnel matters across the country.

At the level of sectors and regions, 16 regional councils at akimats and 15 sectoral councils at

the central state organs were created to address issues of training. They contribute to the definition of

staffing requirements, development of qualifications by employers, updating educational standards,

the development of professional standards, validation and awarding qualifications.

Regional Councils for VET development and training are advisory bodies coordinating efforts

to ensure the region's sectors of the economy are provided with qualified personnel.

The country has built a vertical to address key issues for the preparation of professional staff

on the level of policy-making in the area of training to the level of the implementation of educational

services. Build an effective management system.

E.8 Rate participants in the management of VET sectors and stakeholders at the local

level (sub-regions, municipalities, communities). Is there a policy of active support for

partnerships for skills development at the local level?

In the organization structure of the region's education department there is a VET department.

This department works directly with all VET institutions in the region.

The VET Department is guided in its work by the current legislation, regulations, policies and

the quality of the documents comprising the organization’s quality management system. It is the

bridge-link between the MES RK and VET institutions. It solves the problems of policy implementation

in the VET field, RK laws, Government resolutions and decisions of the akim of oblast. It oversees the

implementation of the SCSE, accommodates state orders and coordinates the development of a

network of institutions VET providing and the constitutional rights of citizens to receive VET education.

More and more companies in the country and the business are involved in the training process.

Regional Chambers of Entrepreneurs in the country organize events for the development of

professional skills of young people throughout the regions. In April 2016, "Restaurateurs and Hoteliers

Association SKO" in Petropavlovsk (North Kazakhstan region) in cooperation with the Regional

Chamber of Entrepreneurs organized training courses for waiters at the college. The next step

planned is to organize and launch a three-month training courses for the waiter profession at colleges.

The Regional Chamber of Entrepreneurs in Pavlodar organized a championship in solving

business cases for young people called "Kemel kasіpker", where businessmen shared their

experiences concerning building a business with young people.

Thus, with the last round of the Torino Process, more regional entrepreneurs and employers are

starting to work very closely with colleges and youths to develop their skills.


E.9 Development of public-private partnerships? What tools and mechanisms exist for this

purpose? Are there any incentives for public-private partnerships at the local, institutional,

sectoral and national levels?

Between the years 2011-2014 a number of amendments to the Law of Kazakhstan "On

Concessions" were developed and adopted providing a range of new financial and legal mechanisms:

1. New types of concession contracts

2. One and two-stage competitions

3. State-protected concession obligations by sequestration

4. Direct agreement with creditors

5. Fees for availability, and many others

At the same time, the amendments to the basic law of concessions were amended in the Budget

and Tax Codes, legislation on natural monopolies developed a set of bylaws.

In 2015, on the basis of the Law on Concessions a new Law was adopted "On Public-Private

Partnership" (PPP) (# 379-V on 31 October 2015) which spelled out the rights and obligations of public

and private partners, government regulation of PPP (competence of the Government, public bodies,

local authorities, the maslikhats of all levels), as well as the forms of participation in the PPP and the

general provisions on the definition of the private partner, and peculiarities of legal regulation. The

purpose of the law is to create conditions for effective long-term cooperation between the state and

business entities by combining their resources to ensure sustainable socio-economic development of

the country and the implementation of socially significant tasks.

At JSC "National Managing Holding" Baiterek" Centre for support of public-private partnership

projects was created which works on 17 projects worth about $ 500 billion tenge (about US $ 1,470

million.). The range of projects is very wide. They are from the construction and operation of highways

in the cities of Almaty and Shymkent to the construction of kindergartens in Petropavlovsk.

To date, one of the ongoing projects of the Centre is to build a vocational school for 600 places

with a dormitory for 200 places in Kyzylorda city. This project is at the stage of project documentation

development. Akimat acts as a public partner and started the search for investors. The business is

very carefully consider the possibility to invest in colleges due to a very large financial expenses

(maintenance of buildings and workshops, teaching staff, consumables, etc.) and the payback period

and return on investment can be increased.

Financing VET

E.10 Does the lack of resources affect the conclusions presented in the previous sections

of this report? Are the decisions on allocation of funds for VET aligned with the strategic

objectives of reforming VET?

Since 2013 the state has increased funding for VET to the strategic objectives of reforming the

system.

In 2015 the total funding for education at all levels was 1,287.0 billion KZT, including VET system

- 0.2% of GDP. VET system financing in 2015 was 111.0 billion tenge, including from republican

budget was 23.4 billion tenge and 87.6 billion tenge were from the local budget.


E1 graph. VET financing 2013-2015 years (billion

tenge)

Source: MES RK

Despite all the steps taken to increase the financing costs of VET in Kazakhstan, VET has

funding 2.5 - 3 times lower than in developed countries (for example, in OECD countries - about 0.6%)

(Education at a Glance, 2016) .

According to SPESD, there is a marked shortage of engineering and teaching staff and

instructors. The low level of wages in comparison to the average wage in the industry does not attract

experienced workers from industry.

In the country instructors are 13.1% of the total number of ETS. It is essential that teachers of

professional subjects became practitioners, as is common in developed countries.

In 2013-2015 to equip more than 800 workshops in the country's colleges more than 9 billion

tenge of Republican budget were spent and 5 billion tenge from the funds of the Local (Regional)

budget, and 5 billion tenge at the expense of the World Bank project. However, outdated college

facilities&resources don’t provide the quality of training and the attractiveness of VET.

According to the MES RK, average spending in 2015 for one student per year in the country is

364,000 tenge.


Table E1. Average costs per student in 2015 by regions

Region The average costs per student,

thousand tenge

Akmola 455

Aktobe 409

Almaty 393

Atyrau 337

East Kazakhstan 420

Zhambyl 382

West Kazakhstan 397

Karaganda 373

Kyzylorda 195

Kostanay 373

Mangistau 268

Pavlodar 376

North Kazakhstan 397

South Kazakhstan 285

Almaty city 403

Astana 360

Source: MES RK

The presented data show that the cost of the 1st student in the Republic of Kazakhstan is uneven.

The lowest costs for training 1 student stand out in Kyzylorda oblast - 193 thousand tenge, the biggest

expenses - in Akmola, East Kazakhstan and Aktobe regions.

We have not fully resolved the question of creating the conditions for non-resident students. Only

70% of non-resident students are able to obtain a place in a hostel.

This issue of resource allocation problems of reforming the VET have been specifically studied and

are waiting to be solved.


ACRONYMS

CPD Continuing Professional Development

CTE Complex Testing of Entrants

CS МNE РK Committee of Statistics of the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of

Kazakhstan

EКR East Kazakhstan region

ERM Employment Road Map

EU European Union

ETF European Training Foundation

ETS Engineering Teaching Staff

FE Final Examination

F&R Facilities and Resources

IACE Information-Analytical Centre on Employment MSHD RK

ICT skills skills in Information and Communication Technologies

ISCED International Standard Classification of Education

LEB Local Executive Bodies

МID RК Ministry for Investment and Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan

МHSD RК The Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan

МES RК The Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan

МNE RК Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan

МJ RК The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan

MTR Medium-Term Results

NCE National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan "Atameken"

NCE «ORLEU» The National Centre of Excellence "Orleu"

NKR North-Kazakhstan region

NQF National Qualifications Framework

ОECD The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

OS Occupational Standard

PPP Public Private Partnership

RSMC Republican Scientific-Methodical Centre of Development of Technical and

Professional Education and Qualification

SKR South-Kazakhstan region

SPIID The State Programme of Industrial-Innovative Development of Kazakhstan for the

years 2015-2019

SPESD State Programme of Education and Science Development for 2016-2019

SCSE State Compulsory Standard of Education

SCPP State Centre for Pension Payments

SQF Sectoral Qualifications Framework

ТP Torino Process

UIS The Union of Independent States

VET Vocational Education and Training

WB The World Bank

WBL Work-based Learning


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ANNEXES

Annex 1. Quantitative and qualitative evidence

Annex 1.1 Quantitative evidence [mandatory]20

TRP16.01 Activity rate (age group 20-64, or 15-64 or 15+) by sex [%]

Age Sex 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

15-64 Total 77.6 78.1 78.2 78.3 78.5 77.7 78.3

15-64 Male 81.3 82.2 82.3 82.5 82.7 82.3 83.0

15-64 Female 74.2 74.2 74.3 74.4 74.6 73.3 73.9

Source: SC MNE RK

Note: Calculations ETF

Age Sex 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

15+ Total 70.7 71.2 71.6 71.7 71.7 70.7 71.1

15+ Male 75.9 76.7 77.1 77.2 77.3 76.7 77.2

15+ Female 66.1 66.2 66.7 66.8 66.7 65.4 65.8

Source: SC MNE RK

Age Sex 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

20-64 Total 85.6 85.9 85.4 85.3 85.2 83.9 84.6

20-64 Male 90.2 90.7 90.3 90.3 90.1 89.4 89.9

20-64 Female 81.5 81.4 80.9 80.7 80.8 78.8 79.7

Source: SC MNE RK


TRP16.02 Employment rate (age group 20-64), by sex [%]

Age Sex 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

20-64 Total 79.9 80.8 80.7 80.7 80.7 79.6 80.4

20-64 Male 85.0 86.2 86.1 86.5 85.9 85.5 86.0

20-64 Female 75.3 75.9 75.8 75.4 76.0 74.2 75.1

Source: SC MNE RK


TRP16.03 Employment rate of recent graduates (age group 20-34), by sex and programme

orientation [%]

No data

20 Last update 10/11/2016, when the ETF internal peer review of the report took place.


TRP16.04 Unemployment rate (age group 15-64 or 15+) by sex [%]

Age Sex 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

15+ Total 6.6 5.8 5.4 5.3 5.2 5.0 5.0

15+ Male 5.6 4.9 4.6 4.1 4.6 4.3 4.3

15+ Female 7.5 6.6 6.2 6.5 5.9 5.8 5.7

Source: SC MNE RK

Age Sex 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

15-64 Total 6.6 5.8 5.4 5.3 5.3 5.1 5.3

15-64 Male 5.6 5.0 4.6 4.2 4.6 4.3 4.3

15-64 Female 7.6 6.7 6.3 6.5 5.9 5.9 6.0

Source: SC MNE RK


TRP16.05 Youth unemployment rate (age group 15-24), by sex [%]

Age Sex 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

15-24 Total 6.7 5.2 4.6 3.9 3.9 3.8 4.1

15-24 Male 5.5 4.8 4.2 2.9 3.6 3.3 3.6

15-24 Female 8.2 5.7 5.0 5.1 4.3 4.5 4.7

Source: SC MNE RK

TRP16.06 Youth unemployment ratio (age group 15-24), by sex [%]

Age (15-24 ) 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Total 3.1 2.4 2.1 1.9 1.7 1.9 2.0

Male 2.7 2.4 2.1 1.4 1.7 1.7 1.9

Female 3.5 2.5 2.2 2.3 1.7 2.1 2.1

Source: SC MNE RK


TRP16.07 Participation in training/lifelong learning (age group 25-64), by sex [%]

No data

TRP16.08 Tertiary educational attainment (age group 30-34 years) by sex [%]

Age Sex 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

30-34 Total 25.4 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

30-34 Male 21.7 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

30-34 Female 28.9 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

Source: SC MNE RK


2009 Total, persons With high

education, persons

with high

education, %

1,216,304 308,448 25.36

Male 598,584 129,999 21.72

Female 617,720 178,449 28.89

Source: Results of the population of the Republic of Kazakhstan National Census 2009, the

Committee of Statistics of the Ministry of National Economy

Note: Calculations IAC

TRP16.09 Underachievement in reading, mathematics and science (15-year-olds) by programme orientation [%]

Programme 2009 2012 Mathematics 59.2 45.2

Reading 58.6 57.1

Science 55.4 41.9

Source: "National Report on the results of an international study PISA-2009, PISA-2012 in Kazakhstan", NСAE.

TRP16.10 Early leavers from education and training (age group 18–24) by sex [%]

No available data

TRP16.11 Not Persons not in employment, education or training – NEETs (age group 15–24) by sex

According to the Law of RK "On state youth policy", youth is defined by the age of 14 to 28 years

inclusive.

The share of young people - NEET (15-28 age) in the Republic of Kazakhstan *, %

Source: SC MNE RK

TRP16.12 Students in vocational programmes (as a percentage of total upper secondary students) by sex [%]

Age 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Total N/A 39.0 35.3 35.3 34.8 39.0 40.5

Male N/A 41.0 37.8 37.6 36.7 41.0 42.8

Female N/A 37.0 32.8 33.0 32.9 37.0 38.2

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

8.2 7.8 8.0 8.0 8.8 8.5


TRP16.13 Students in combined work- and school-based training (total and as a percentage of total upper secondary students) by sex

Total Number of VET students in

work based training

The share of VET students

in work basedtraining %

2011 N/A N/A N/A

2012 N/A N/A N/A

2013 561,940 197,778 35.2

2014 531,453 215,112 40.5

2015 499,477 214,240 42.9

Source: MES RK, 2013-2015

No data by sex

TRP16.14 Educational attainment of active population (age group 25-64) [%]

Age Education level 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Total

15+

General

secondary and

below 3.8 3.1 2.2 1.5 1.6 1.6

15+ Vocational 66.8 66.2 65.2 64.8 61.5 61.4

15+ High 29.3 30.6 32.6 33.7 36.9 37.0

Мale

15+ General

secondary and

below 4.1 3.3 2.4 1.5 1.8 1.8

15+ Vocational 69.8 69.6 68.5 68.5 65.2 65.5

15+ High 26.0 27.1 29.1 30.0 33.0 32.7

Female

15+ General

secondary and

below 3.5 2.9 2.0 1.4 1.4 1.4

15+ Vocational 63.7 62.7 61.8 61.0 57.6 57.2

15+ High 32.7 34.3 36.2 37.6 40.9 41.4

Source: SC MNE RK


TRP16.15 Public expenditure on education (as percentage of GDP and percentage of total

public expenditure) [%]

TRP16.15a Public expenditure on education of GDP [%]

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

4.4 4.1 3.8 4.0 3.8 3.5 3.6

Source: MES RK


TRP16.15b Public expenditure on education by total public cost [%]

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Total 17.6 16.9 18.2 19.3 18.0 17.4 16.6

Source: SC MNE RK

TRP16.16 Proportion of teachers who have followed continuing professional development in the last 12 months [%]

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Total N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 32.5

Source: SC MNE RK

TRP16.17 Total population

Sex 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Total 15982370 16203036 16440124 16673077 16909776 17160774 17417673

Male 7698875 7807847 7924816 8041345 8158881 8284815 8414523

female 8283495 8395189 8515308 8631732 8750895 8875959 9003150

Source: SC MNE RK

TRP16.18 Relative size of the youth population (age group 15-24) [%]

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Total 30.3 29.7 29.0 28.1 27.0 25.8 23.8

Source: SC MNE RK

TRP16.19 SME policy index

Not applicable for Kazakhstan

TRP16.20 Incidence of self-employment [%]

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Total 33.7 33.3 32.8 31.7 30.6 28.2 27.0

Source: SC MNE RK

TRP16.21 Skills gaps [%]

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Total 50.5 n/a* n/a* n/a* 13.1 n/a* n/a*

Source: OECD Statistical Database

*OECD data, the study was not conducted


Annex 1.2 Qualitative evidence

to Section B

The population at the beginning of 2016, people

Total City Countryside

Akmola region 744386 351226 393160

Aktobe region 834768 521180 313588

Almaty region 1947481 471008 1476473

Atyrau region 594562 283426 311136

West Kazakhstan region 636852 317230 319622

Zhambyl region 1110907 449582 661325

Karaganda region 1384889 1096792 288097

Kostanay region 883640 467141 416499

Kyzylorda Region 765171 333729 431442

Mangistau region 626793 302181 324612

South-Kazakhstan region 2841307 1277957 1563350

Pavlodar region 758479 534433 224046

North Kazakhstan region 569446 248777 320669

East Kazakhstan Region 1395797 835781 560016

Astana city 872619 872619 -

Almaty city 1703482 1703482 -

RK (average) 17670579 10066544 7604035

Source CS МNE РK

Migration of population by region at the end of 2015, people

Total External migration Internal inter-regional

migration

bala

nce

mig

ratio

n

arr

ived

em

igra

ted

bala

nce

mig

ratio

n

arr

ived

em

igra

ted

bala

nce

mig

ratio

n

arr

ived

em

igra

ted

Akmola region 2609 21381 18772 -1050 1519 2569 3659 12977 9318

Aktobe region -2175 15578 17753 -606 116 722 -1569 4558 6127

Almaty region

-9636 47951 57587 1833 2692 859

-

11469 25684 37153

Atyrau region 188 12090 11902 219 389 170 -31 4591 4622

West Kazakhstan

region -560 15960 16520 -731 258 989 171 4386 4215

Zhambyl region -8897 18053 26950 -434 677 1111 -8463 8652 17115

Karaganda

region -4248 32436 36684 -3874 787 4661 -374 9285 9659

Kostanay region -1294 28121 29415 -2388 971 3359 1094 6158 5064

Kyzylorda Region -3279 15311 18590 -45 14 59 -3234 6071 9305


Mangistau region 3476 15242 11766 2791 3314 523 685 6621 5936

South-

Kazakhstan

region -13907 48658 62565 593 1478 885

-

14500 11502 26002

Pavlodar region -2624 19476 22100 -2966 429 3395 342 5160 4818

North

Kazakhstan

region -3646 20426 24072 -2099 887 2986 -1547 4908 6455

East Kazakhstan

Region -7727 36551 44278 -3511 708 4219 -4216 8366 12582

Astana city -2488 31008 33496 -25 635 660 -2463 21343 23806

Almaty city 40742 93790 53048 -1173 1707 2880 41915 62499 20584

RK (average) -13466 472032 485498 -13466 16581 30047 0 202761 202761

Source CS МNE РK

Unemployed population by sex and education for 2011-2015, %

Education 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Tot

al

Total

including

Tot

al

Total

including

Tot

al

Total

including

Tot

al

Total

including

Tot

al

Total

including

male fe

ma

le

ma

le

fe

ma

le

ma

le

fe

ma

le

ma

le

fe

ma

le

ma

le

fe

ma

le

high

25 21..3 27.

.7

26.

.5

23.

.6

28.

.5

27.

.9

27.

.8

28 30.

.7

27.

.9

32.

.9

29.

.1

28.

.2

30

secondary

vocational

26..

4

26..2 26.

.5

27.

.7

27.

.2

28.

.1

31.

.3

31.

2

31.

2

33.

6

34 33.

4

33.

3

30.

1

35.

8

initial

vocational

6 7.1 5.3 7.4 9.1 6.2 7.2 8.9 5.9 5.6 6.7 4.8 6.3 7.7 5.2

general

secondary

37 38.4 35.

8

35 35.

7

34.

4

31 29 32.

8

27.

6

28.

5

26.

9

29 31.

2

27.

1

basic 4.6 6 3.6 3.3 4.2 2.7 2.3 2.9 1.8 2.2 2.7 1.7 2.1 2.5 1.7

primary 1 1 1.0

8

0.0

6

0.1 0.0

3

0.3 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2

Source CS МNE РK


to the Section C

The distribution of population by age group

Age 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

15-19 1,363,728 1,290,181 1,229,114 1,168,194 1,132,611

20-24 1,635,563 1,601,730 1,549,891 1,496,037 1,426,149

Source CS МNE РK

Distribution of the population with special needs by region

№

Region

2012 2013 2014 2015

All

disabled

Includin

g

children

under

the age

0f 18

All

disabled

Includi

ng

childre

n

under

the

age 0f

18

All

disabled

Includi

ng

childre

n

under

the

age 0f

18

All

disabled

Includi

ng

childre

n

under

the

age 0f

18

1

The Republic of Kazakhstan (average)

609780 65844 626740 69111

627163

72574

637217 75712

2 Akmola 28193 2434 28470 2463 28003 2506 28221 2585

3 Aktobe 21451 2502 22181 2616 22256 2748 22909 2908

4 Almaty 69584 7581 71144 8022 70282 8269 69968 8396

5 Atyrau 17554 2419 18301 2570 18888 2743 19438 2846

6 East Kazakhstan 57560 4401 58165 4504 57124 4639 57073 4760

7 Zhambyl 38375 4441 39622 4728 40365 5036 41377 5330

8 West Kazakhstan 25019 2525 25408 2542 24753 2597 24201 2545

9 Karaganda 61704 4669 63385 4771 62239 4834 63102 4884

10 Kyzylorda 26517 3823 27117 3927 27304 4144 27999 4444

11 Kostanay 26310 2275 27022 2316 26907 2411 27399 2478

12 Mangistau 17440 2813 18512 3086 19661 3372 20703 3626

13 Pavlodar 29092 2690 29591 2736 28410 2717 28292 2660

14 North Kazakhstan 29117 2092 29402 2074 28747 2074 28542 2103

15 South Kazakhstan

101944 14617 106244 15507 108547 16376 112292 17286

16 Almaty city 42607 4116 43510 4383 44196 4842 45436 5237

17 Astana city 17313 2446 18666 2866 19481 3266 20265 3624

Source CS МNE РK


The number of children with disabilities in 2010-2015 *

№ Region

Taken into account children with developmental disabilities

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

1 The Republic of Kazakhstan (average)

149043 151216 148652 138513

141952

141821

2 Akmola 6159 5685 6089 6373

6845 6932

3 Aktobe 4337 4901 4815 5124

5169 5234

4 Almaty 7597 8732 9767 9222

10061 9966

5 Atyrau 5234 4992 5312 4754

4604 4507

6 East Kazakhstan 12309 12420 12322 11369

12651 13914

7 Zhambyl 6365 6972 7174 7324

7474 7630

8 West Kazakhstan 7859 8024 7298 6487

6091 6156

9 Karaganda 12547 13589 13484 11120

11035 10808

10 Kostanay 13810 12884 13170 11693

11373 11103

11 Kyzylorda 4462 4697 4365 3958

4367 4903

12 Mangystau 2473 2916 3005 3009

3353 3885

13 Pavlodar 5794 5939 6161 6302

6342 4685

14 North Kazakhstan 5257 5208 5100 4574

4605 4638

15 South Kazakhstan 41525 40130 35819 33445

32415 30023

16 Astana city 5126 5737 6228 7125

7927 8504

17 Almaty city 8189 8390 8543 6634

7640 8933

Note reduction in the number of children due to the elimination in 2012 of children with mental health

problems (early alcoholism, drug addiction, glue sniffing, and others.)

* - according to the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of

Kazakhstan

To Section D

Number of expelled students out of VET and HE institutions

2013 2014 2015

College, persons 79,751 66,932 59,702

Of these women 33,881 29,329 25,795

Higher educational

institution, persons

87,939 59,967 59,946

Of these women 49,531 31,772 30,871

Source: National Educational Database


Analysis of focus groups among colleges’ deputy directors and heads of department, and

teachers of professional subjects and instructors.

Summary for the focus groups in the framework of TP-2016

In the framework of Torino process, two focus (FG) were conducted to identify the status and

implementation of the dual training problems (DT) in Kazakhstan. Respondents were purposefully

selected from colleges, implementing DT elements. The number of respondents amounted to 13 people,

which comprised by deputy directors, department heads, teachers of professional subjects and

instructors. The majority of participants (70%) had experience of over 10 years.

During the FG analys three main topics were identified.

Implementation of dual training in colleges requires the preparation of a whole system.

Respondents do not possess a clear understanding of DT, arguing that it is only to transform the

educational process (60% practice and 40% theory). Participants have mainly theoretical knowledge

about dual training, without providing specific details on the progress of the educational process or

practice in colleges.

The procedure for industrial training of students under 18 is not deeply stipulated under the law.

This is due to the fact that an employment contract is not allowed for students under 18 years old during

work that can be harmful to their health in the workplace. Students who have not reached this age need to

obtain written parental permission or they are restricted to educational practice in college.

Р_1-2: «It turns out, in the dual system, we must take only 11th grade students. And-9th grade,

we cannot take. Because, in the 3rd year, they have not yet reached 18 has ».

Р_2-3: «The enterprises are allowed. But they do all kinds of work that are not allowed. There are

special instructions. There are works that are only allocated to 18 year olds. Even with permission from

their parents, there are certain types of work that are not allowed».

There is no regular ETS and instructors training in particular for dual training. Occasionally

teachers of professional subjects and instructors undergo training in enterprises.

Р_1-4: There is a shortage of teachers who are able to manage different machines. For example,

a graduate of the Agricultural (University) or the same technician engineer earn twice as much in

enterprises than in college.

There are no clear commitments for ETS colleges on dual education. Carrying out FGs

showed the lack of organizational skills for dual training. In particular, this applies to the establishment of

partnerships with companies and determines the responsible persons for the production training of

students during practice. Organizations types and educational training programme show no clear

distribution of ETS commitments in cooperation with the enterprises. If one college is the responsibility of

the head of the practice in other colleges, it is the responsibility of the master of inservice training. In

addition to representatives of colleges, parents and the students themselves are involved in the search for

potential social partners. No specific person is responsible for the supervision of students in the field of

practice. The head of the practice, and sometimes masters or teachers of special subjects are mostly in

control.

Р_1-1: «As employers search involving parents».

Р_1-6: «All instructors are sent to the organization at the conclusion of the contract».

Р_2-1: «We (Heads of Department) control the students to ensure they attend. There is a

Practice Leader. We make unannounced visits to see whether the students are working».

Р_2-1: «We have a head of internship. First, they must identify and monitor students, including

instruction, and ensuring the presence of students in the field of practice every day».

Р_2-4: «As special subject teachers, of course we go (to practice space). We do not go every day

of course, but we come and look. There are cases when our cooks were forced to wash the pans. And we

went there as special subject teachers, arguing with employers to defend our opinions and asked them to

prepare their».

Searching for social partners and employment of graduates in certain types of educational

programmes causes problems in such specialities as economics, finance or law. This is mainly due to the


mandatory presence of higher education in these areas.

Р_1-5: «For example our economists and financiers. Where do they go to work? Post-secondary

education, state services or accountants are unlikely to take them. Well, maybe as an an assistant

accountant ».

Р_1-2: «Well, I think for our profile (economics), this system is not suitably adapted. Because,

really, no one takes economists and financiers with secondary education ».

The dual training has a positive effect on the employment of graduates. The dual training

has a positive effect on the employment of graduates. Respondents DT see how one of the mechanisms

to reduce unemployment in the country, where he successfully employed graduates working

professionally. In addition, DT acts in the role of an effective system of practical skills for students.

However, there is generally a problem in monitoring graduates. According to respondents, a tracking

system is needed to ensure the quality of employment of graduates of types of educational training

programme or the ability to search for alternative ways of their employment.

Р_1-4: «Firstly, the main tool DE reduces the share of unemployed people in society».

Р_1-2: Yes, they make out. They work and earn. They perform some work on in construction.

Again, YES if he is 18».

Р_1-1: «Just recently, in May the employers came to us. They have their own LLP and a

workshop. Our students graduate in February. There are girls who are unemployed, who are sitting at

home and like this and help. But then again, it's hard to find what happened in the end.».

There is a superficial approach to dual training by employers (in particular teachers). According to

respondents, this is due to the lack of specific responsibilities of employees in the workplace. As a result,

instead of getting real practical skills in the workplace, students are issued as unqualified specialists in the

labour market.

Р_2-1: «Kids really are outraged that they are expected to wash the dishes or similar. Although

one of the specificities is washing and wiping dishes. So to cater to enterprises we to meet their

expectations. Because it is hard».

Р_1-6: «The second problem - it's time schedule of work. Students do not yet have to work 11-12

hours, right? We practice for 6 hours. And they do not (the company) is beneficial, they should work

together with the team. And from 8 to 7.8 (pm)».

For the successful implementation of DT ETS recommends measures to involve and motivate

employers by allowing subsidies or tax incentives enterprises from the state.

Р_1-1: «Some enterprises have to have grants or tax incentives».

Р_2-4: «Then our social partners need to somehow motivate, or to reduce taxation».

As a result, conducting focus groups showed that the types and educational training programme system

is not fully prepared to holistically implement dual training. It is necessary to ensure the preparation of

engineering and teaching staff of colleges, in particular on organizational moments. It is necessary to

motivate employers to participate in DT and promote the successful employment of college graduates.

This study was conducted only among the representatives of the colleges to assess the current

situation of implementation of the dual training. To reveal the full picture of the implementation of DT, it is

also necessary to investigate the involvement of other stakeholders (employers, students and parents). In

general, the successful implementation of dual training needs monitoring and evaluation. This will help to

identify and overcome existing barriers in a timely fashion, and to develop positive trends in dual training.


Annex 2. Benchmarking*

(*) Data on underachievement in 2015 in this table have been published after the finalisation of the report. As such, they are not discussed in this report.

EU2020 targets in education and employment KAZAKHSTAN

EUROPEAN UNION EU 2020

objectives 2010 2015 2010 2015

He

adlin

e

targ

ets

Early leavers from education and training (% aged 18-24)

m m 13.9 11 < 10

Tertiary education attainment (% aged 30-34) 25.4 (2009)

m 33.8 38.7 ≥ 40

Employment rate (% aged 20-64) 80.8c 80.4c 68.6 70.1 ≥ 75

Oth

er

targ

ets

Lifelong learning (% aged 25-64) m m 9.1 10.7 ≥ 15

Underachievement (% aged 15) PISA

Reading 58.7 41.3u 19.7 19.7 < 15

Mathematics 59.1 32.2u 22.3 22.2 < 15

Science 55.4 28.1u 17.8 20.6 < 15

Employment rate of recent graduates (% aged 20-34)

m m 77.4 76.9 ≥ 82

Sources: Eurostat - online database; OECD PISA database (PISA data for 2010 refers to 2009), ETF database Notes: c: ETF calculations m: missing data u: coverage is too small to ensure comparability


Annex 3. Progress assessment report

Country Kazakhstan

National coordinator JSC "Information-Analytic Centre" ("IAC" JSC)

Contry Desk Christine Hemschemeier

Working group

members

September 29, 2015 a working meeting was held in the framework of the

Torino Process 2016 (TP2016) preparation. During the meeting, it was

decided to establish a working group, which included representatives of

"IAC", as the coordinator of TP2016, and representatives of the MES and

MHSD RK and NCE "Atameken", and Kasipkor, and RSMC, and

Colleges’ Association, accreditation agencies, colleges of Astana.

Process

implementation

September 29, 2015 at a working meeting, which was organized by IAC,

the information on the TP2014 implementation and proposed TP2016

schedule were provided. In 2014, MES of the RK was responsible for the

collection and generation of information. The general management of the

country carried out the manager of the ETF. In 2014 the MES RK

attracted three main following players (stakeholders) in VET: IAC (for

sections A and C), "Holding" Kasіpkor "(for section B) and RSMC (for

Section D) and MES RK (for section E). During the meeting, a proposal

was made to establish a working group to implement the TP2016.

On February 25, 2016, there was a meeting of the TP2016 working group

to familiarize with the analytical framework (AF) 2016 and the

implementation schedule for 2016. "IAC" was the coordinator for TP2016

in Kazakhstan. Stakeholders, attracted in 2016 for the implementation of

TP2016 were following: MES RK, MHSD, NCE "Atameken", "Kasіpkor",

RSMC, Colleges’ Association, IQAA, IAAR and colleges in Astana.

It was decided that the collection of data will be carried out of IAC by

requests to interested parties. Also, additional requests were sent to the

Statistics Committee of MNE RK, Association of VET organizations in

Astana city.

For more information, focus groups on the dual training in VET were

organized.

Working group The Working Group was established to implement the TP2016. The

working group includes representatives of public bodies and social

associations, representatives of employers' and so on. During the meeting

on the implementation of the TP2016, it was decided that the parties

concerned will provide the necessary information according to AF2016

(request will be done by IAC).

Use of local expertise The main experts for the collecting data, analyzing and presented

information and data according to the AF2016 were from JSC "IAC" under

of their job duties.

TRP principles TP principles; ownership, broad participation, holistic approach and

evidence – or knowledge – based approach were applied during the

TP2016report implementation.

Implemented

measures and

qualitive achievements

To ensure the TP principles official sources data were used and, all

stakeholders were involved. Kazakhstani VET system were viewed as an

whole system.

The findings were discussed at the meetings of the TP working groups

and recommendations were developed based on the discussions.


Evidence – or

knowledge – based

approach

Quantitative data from the Statistical Committee of the Republic of

Kazakhstan was used. In case of data absence, calculations were

conducted in consultation and support of the ETF experts (Eva Jansova)

Broad participation All major stakeholders were involved in order to collect the information

shown under Working group members section. Each stakeholder in

accordance with its business has prepared information on developments

and changes occurred in the VET system from the previous round in

2014

August 18, 2016 draft of national TP2016 report was discussed during the

round table. Participants of the round table were IAC, MES RK and heads

of VET offices of the regional educational departments.

Compared to the previous round, IAC has attracted more stakeholders

who were not involved in 2014. These were MHSD, Colleges’ Association

and VET organizations’ Association in Astana city, NCE «Atameken», GIZ

and 10 colleges in Astana

Ownership Participation in TP has proved useful for the country. For two rounds

(2012 and 2014) Torino Process were prepared 21 recommendations

where 12 recommendations being implemented in the country (expansion

of institutional cooperation between the parties concerned, the creation of

multi-level governance system of VET, optimization network of

educational institutions, etc.). Some of the recommendations included in

the State program of education and science development of the Republic

of Kazakhstan for 2016-2019 under the VET development.

Holistic Approach In preparing the Tpreport the holistic vision of VET has been used. We

consider the VET system in the country as a whole and the development

of its individual parts affected the development and operation of the whole

system.

Have you used

support package

during the TP

implementation?

During the TP2016 implementation IAC has used all of the tools offered

by the ETF. The TP coordinators’ meeting, ETF platform for Torino

Process, webinars, presentations, online and offline consultations with the

country coordinator and ETF experts.

How more and more

the actual data and

broad participation in

policy analysis and

political cycle can

provide transparency

and accountability of

policy?

A using of data based evidence in Kazakhstani VET policy analysis help

to understand the condition, prospects and shortages in the system. A

broad participation in the TP will give the idea in which direction

strengthen needed to be done. Every year in the TP in Kazakhstan more

and more stakeholders are involved. The data openness and data

discussion allow to ensure the transparency of the policy.

In your opinion,

whether TP has added

value in this respect? If

yes, please give an

example.

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