PRELIMINARY RECOMMENDATIONS FOLLOWING THE PROJECT «MULTI-FACETED STUDY OF THE HISTORY, PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL PROJECTS IN THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN» Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan

scientific journal of the modern education & research institute • The Kingdom of Belgium

PRELIMINAR Y RECOMMENDATIONS FOLLO WIN G THE PROJECT «MULTI -FACETED STUD Y OF THE HISTOR Y, PRO BLEMS AND PROS PECTS OF IM PLEMENTATION OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL PROJECTS IN THE RE PUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN »

aura urarbekova (l.turarbek@mail.ru)

l- arabi Kazakh ational niversity (KazNU Al-Farabi, www.kaznu.kz), Almaty

bstract

The object of the project’s research is the internationalization of higher education and science in the Republic of Kazakhstan and the systemic changes associated with it. This article makes preliminary recommendations for the introduction of international projects in the system of higher education and science of Kazakhstan. Materials of international scientific events implemented over three years (2018-2020) were used to make recommendations.

Keywords: Republic of Kazakhstan, international educational projects, internationalization of higher education, intellectual flows in the global world, philosophy of education, policy in higher education and science.

The project «Multi-faceted study of the history, problems and prospects of implementation of international educational projects in the Republic of Kazakhstan» received a grant from the Ministry of Education and Science for 2018-2020.

The aim of the project is to explore the history, challenges and prospects of implementing international educational projects in Kazakhstan in a variety of way.

During the research work, international scientific events were carried out to bring together Kazakhstani and foreign researchers to study the fundamental characteristics of national education systems, as well as to publish on the given issues in Kazakh, Russian, English languages in domestic and foreign publications.

Studies conducted throughout the period have identified meta-scientific fundamental philosophical, cultural and political basic characteristics of higher education and science systems as a public space, and established transversal links between Kazakh, Kyrgyz, French, Belgian, Turkish, Swiss researchers interested in the internationalization of higher education and science in the Republic of Kazakhstan and beyond. The 2018 year of research has created a theoretical basis for studying the political and economic processes that accompanied the internationalization of higher education and science in the Republic of Kazakhstan throughout the period since the beginning of the country’s independence. Continued research in 2019 allowed to deepen the problem, expand it up to the metaeconomic level, touching on new aspects in understanding the processes of internationalization of higher education and science in Kazakhstan. Finally, 2020 proved to be a landmark year for the project. Over the previous two years, research has increasingly delved into the topic of digital space and, in particular, the digital educational space. The crisis caused by the global pandemic of coronavirus infection has further highlighted the attention of the researchers involved in the project on the issue of the digitalization of education and its associated risks (in particular, the cultural selfidentification of young people in the digital space).

The project was the first attempt for the Republic of Kazakhstan to systematically approach the study of national education as a public space.

According to the results of the project, researchers develop recommendations in the field of internationalization of higher education and science in Kazakhstan. Preliminary recommendations for the project are: 1. It is recommended that a systematic and fundamental approach should be taken in the study of processes taking place in national systems of higher education and science, in order to avoid a descriptive and narrowly disciplined approach in addressing the implementation of international educational projects in the Republic of Kazakhstan and in making recommendations for implementation. 2. Communication design is recommended in the practical process of implementing state modernization programs in universities and research centers of the Republic of Kazakhstan. 3. It is recommended that systemic meta-scientific approach should be used when studying the processes of spiritual, political, economic and social modernization. In particular, when analyzing the economic situation of Kazakhstan’s intellectual workers, such as university teachers, academics, researchers of scientific institutes, the approach is assumed in terms of determining their status not only economically, but also in terms of values. 4. The values and legal aspects of internationalization in higher education and science in Kazakhstan should be studied as a single set of issues, in conjunction with the philosophical, cultural and sociological aspects of the problem.

The recommended approaches are closely intertwined with the objectives set by the program statements, the President’s messages, as well as the related programs «Mangelik el,» «Rukhani Jangyru,» «Industry 4.0» and others. In general, the problems and objectives of the project are in line with the problems and challenges associated with the modernization processes of the Republic of Kazakhstan and reflect them.

At the same time, the approach to the solvable scientific problem is «multi-faceted», that is, does not involve its study from the point of view of only pedagogy. The multifaceted scope of the study brings the internationalization of higher education and science to a meta-scientific level, which is implying that the issues raised by research on the topic have many different aspects that go far beyond pedagogy. These are the non-educational foundations of higher education and science policies, not only in the Republic of Kazakhstan, but also in the countries cooperating with it in this area. Such non-educational grounds are: the influence of philosophical and political currents on theories and practices in higher education and science, the economic prerequisites for theories and practices in higher education and science, finally, the legal and institutional prerequisites for certain policies in higher education and science. All of these factors influence the possibilities and specifics of the implementation of international educational projects in a particular state. Studying the impact of these aspects of the problem of the internationalization of higher education and science in the Republic of Kazakhstan and related systemic changes in higher education and science is a solvable scientific problem, the study of which, according to the authors of the project, should lead to the creation of recommendations for the introduction of international educational projects in the country.

As the current President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted in his Address of September 2, 2019, «successful economic reforms are no longer possible without modernization of the country’s social and political life.» There, the President pointed out that the goal of the country is to create a developed, inclusive knowledge economy, which means that we cannot talk about the economy without touching on complex issues of culture, politics, history and education.

In this regard, it should be emphasized that the economic status of the intellectual scientist in Kazakhstan is directly dependent on historical and cultural backgrounds. It is no secret that the economic situation of the vast majority of intellectual workers in the Republic of Kazakhstan has not been at its height for the last three decades. In particular, this fact is striking when comparing, inevitable in the process of increasing contacts with employees of foreign, in particular, Western European universities. For example, according to the French Ministry of Higher Education Science and Innovation website, the salaries of teachers at the beginning of their career at Universities in France amount to 3,102.14 euros per month in 2019. After two years of successful work at the university, the salary is 3,458.28 euros per month. At the same time, there is a graduation from the teacher of the first class to the teacher of the second and, finally, upper class, accompanied by a salary increase, respectively, to 4,976.55 and 6,204.29 euros per month.

When comparing the difference between the salaries of European and Kazakhstani university teachers, the difference is obvious. The average salary of a university lecturer at the universities of Kazakhstan (professor) is about 142.2 thousand tenge per year, i.e. about 1,706.4 thousand tenge per year. According to some sources, teachers and other university staff are paid 5% less than the average in the Republic of Kazakhstan. In terms of the euro rate, for approximate comparison, the teacher of the Kazakh university receives less than 4,000 euros per year (the lowest annual salary of a teacher in universities in Europe is about 8.5 thousand euros in Bulgaria and Romania). According to some sources, teachers and other university staff are paid 5% less than the average in the Republic of Kazakhstan. According to the participants of the project, this circumstance has a connection not only with the general economic situation of workers of various spheres in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The low wages of intellectual workers are primarily related to the perception of this work and the status of the intellectual, which has historically developed in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In this regard, it is necessary to initiate a comparative study of the economic situation of university workers in different countries of the world in the context of their cultural, legal, ideological status. The first significant steps in this direction have been made. On August 27, 2019, the bill on the status of the teacher, presented by the Minister of Education and Science A. Aimagambetov, was approved at a meeting of the Government of Kazakhstan under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Askar Mamin. Understanding the fact that the requirements for the quality of teaching in the universities of Kazakhstan cannot be met without the appropriate requirement of the salary of a university lecturer, prompts the Government of Kazakhstan to set this task before the leadership of universities.

The need to internationalize higher education in the Republic of Kazakhstan has been repeatedly emphasized in many of the works of President Nazarbayev (see Nazarbayev N.A., Era of Independence. – Astana, 2017. – 508 s.; «The message of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N. Nazarbayev to the people of Kazakhstan» October 5, 2018, etc.), during the discussion of various issues related to the draft law «On amending some legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the expansion of academic management autonomy of higher education institutions.» In addition to the above, the program «Message of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokaev to the people of Kazakhstan» on September 2, 2019 gave a new impetus to the conduct of this kind of research. As already noted, in the third paragraph of this policy document, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan noted the need to develop an inclusive economy or «knowledge economy» aimed at abandoning the resource mentality. This provision means that the simple market «benefit» from education, perceived as a type of business, is an outdated criterion. The emphasis is on quality and status, on knowledge and their production, rather than on some «income» from universities.

Pointing out that Kazakhstan has taken a course to develop the digital economy, the President confirmed his intention to continue the implementation of the Digital Kazakhstan program. According to the objectives of the state program «Digital Kazakhstan» approved by the government’s resolution No.827 of 12.12.2017: «Industry 4.0, one of the drivers of the digital transformation of the industry, is the concept of production organization, where additional value is provided by the integration of physical objects, processes and digital technologies, in which real-time physical processes are monitored, decentralized decisions are made, and machines interact with themselves and people.» National education is one of those industries where digital communication skills must be introduced at all levels, while ensuring the challenges of educating young people, as well as providing adequate communication with the global academic world in the internationalization of higher education and science.

The scientific problem of internationalization of higher education and science associated with it is extremely relevant at this stage, as evidenced by the growing number of publications and ongoing international, republican and regional activities throughout the Republic of Kazakhstan. The urgency of the problem is also undeniable at the international level, although the focus of Western European researchers in solving this scientific problem is somewhat different from the direction characteristic of Kazakhstani researchers. The haphazard research on the internationalization of higher education, noted in the research findings, is due to the lack of «taste» for interdisciplinaryness in the Kazakhstan scientific community. Issues related to internationalization should be studied comprehensively, «multidimanically,» at the meta-scientific level.

The project «Multi-faceted study of the history, problems and prospects of implementation of international educational projects in the Republic of Kazakhstan» is the first in, what we hope, a series of projects on higher education and science in Kazakhstan in the global world.

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