AIF INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS DISCUSSED NEW TRENDS IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN KAZAKHSTAN
June 14, 2023
The panel session “Education: the driving force of socio-economic growth” aroused wide interest among the participants of the recent Astana International Forum. The speakers of the panel session were leading international experts in the field of public policy, economics and higher education from the UK, Germany, France and the USA. The partner of the session was the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
What is the relationship between education and economics? – the moderator of the session, the well-known Danish journalist Bente Dalsbek, offered to answer this question to the speakers.
Opening the discussion, the Minister of Science and Higher Education Sayasat Nurbek told the session participants about the changes and innovations taking place in the domestic higher education system, noting that today the country’s government is focused on two main goals – the quality and accessibility of higher education. To solve these problems, this year the Government adopted the Concept for the Development of Higher Education and Science until 2029. It outlines the main priorities for the development of the industry for the next seven years.
British Ambassador to Kazakhstan Cathy Leach recalled that the UK is one of the first partner countries of our country in higher education. She also noted that over the past decade and a half, higher education has been developing strongly in Kazakhstan, and this opens up new opportunities for successful cooperation in this area.
Chargé d’Affaires of the US Diplomatic Mission in Kazakhstan Judy Kuo considers Kazakhstan’s initiatives to attract curricula and practices of the world’s best universities to train competitive specialists understandable and important. In addition, the country has a unique Bolashak program. She also supported the Kazakh government’s ambition to become a transnational educational hub in the Central Asian region.
In turn, Attache for Cooperation in the Sphere of Secondary and Higher Education of the French Embassy in Kazakhstan Xavier LE Torrivellec stressed that in France the development of the economy is ensured through education. It was this principle that allowed the country to take a leading position in science and engineering not only in Europe, but also in the world. For example, over the past 25 years, 54 nuclear power plants have been built in France.
The First Secretary of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kazakhstan, Mechthild Sasse, also noted the growth trends in the framework of the successful cooperation between the international programs of our countries – DAAD and Bolashak. At the same time, today education is not only learning and accumulating knowledge, but also obtaining new skills that are in demand in the labor market.
According to the founder and rector of Minerva University Ben Nelson (USA), our reality already provides information that will bring into the future. The advent of artificial intelligence, Chat GPT, IPI engineering require a new level of knowledge and skills. The traditional education system can no longer nurture such specialists for the future digital economy. For a real breakthrough, Kazakhstan needs to create two or three new advanced universities. These will be “lighthouses” along which the entire system of higher education and the economy of the future will be built, the rector of a prestigious American university believes.
According to Coursera CEO Jeff Magioncald, changes are happening all the time around us, and if there is a will and desire, then the country considers these opportunities for change. The link between education and the economy is the national vision of progress and development.
Considering the changes taking place in higher education in Kazakhstan in the context of globalization and digitalization, international experts positively assessed the support and interest of the government of Kazakhstan in building the capacity of Kazakhstani universities, internationalization and openness of the domestic higher education, ensuring quality and access to higher education.