Within the conditions of globalization and formation of post-industrial society, advance development of human resources is the basis for sustainable development and competitive ability. That is why education is a strategic priority in the most countries of the world. The Sorbonne Declaration states: "Europe is not only euro, banks and economics; it must become a Europe of knowledge". Different long-term educational models are being developed in order to assure the priority of educational sphere. For instance, in Russia the project "Russian education - 2020. Educational model for economics based on knowledge" is elaborated.
In Kazakhstan significant work was accomplished to assess and adapt the important priorities of the country to the relevant trends of education development in the world. World trends are considered through the prism of tasks to be solved within the long-term Development Strategy of the republic "Kazakhstan - 2030", the Strategy of Industrial and Innovational Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2003-2015, other fundamental strategic documents concerning integration of the country into the community of most civilized countries of the world.
Generally, the set of oversystem challenges to be considered when elaborating the long-term Strategy of Reformation and Development of Kazakhstan Education System, was determined. (See Project of Long-term Program of Kazakhstan Education System Development for 2020). That is:
- prevalence of economics based on knowledge and science-intensive technologies;
- raising requirements to the quality of education service, raising requirements to broad competences and fundamental knowledge, skills and practice;
- trends of extending the terms of world school education with introduction of profile education (12-year school education);
- extensive use of information and communicative technologies in every-day practice;
- increase of competition on internal and external labor markets;
- globalization, and resulted internationalization of education.
The work aimed at specification of these challenges is in process at present.
The long-term reference points of republican education policy that form the base of Educational Model of Kazakhstan - 2020 were elaborated with account of the analysis of the current state of the Kazakhstan education system, oversystem challenges and system problems.
The Project of Long-term Program of Kazakhstan Education Development till 2020, elaborated in accordance with this Model, includes the basic characteristics to be attained by the education system within the course of Program implementation.
Pre-school education:
100% of children will study in children´s pre-school organizations of different types and property categories according to flexible educational programs.
This will result in high level of preparation of every child to school (city child as well as a child from a remote village), formation of important starting intellectual potential and good health, thus providing successful development during the whole life.
Secondary education:
By 2020, all the schools will work according to programs of 12-year education. The content of education will assure the attainment of national ideas expressed in basic competences of students. The school graduates will:
- Understand the scientific worldview, have skills of research and creative activities;
- Be able to relate their possibilities with the real prospect of planning and arranging activities, be responsible for his decisions, deeds and life;
- Be patriots of their motherland - the Republic of Kazakhstan, display civil activity, understand the political system, give weighed assessment of social events;
- Socialize on Kazakh, language of international communication, and foreign language; be motivated to communicate on their native language;
- Be able to use new information and communicative technologies, including the purposes of self-identification and professional growth;
- Be able to acquire social skills, undertake social roles in family, society and cooperation with other people;
- Make use of knowledge for supporting ecological balance, take care of environment;
- Understand and appreciate the culture of their people and cultural variety of the world; be devoted to ideas of spiritual harmony and tolerance;
- Have skills of healthy life-style and leisure arrangement.
The following conditions will contribute to attainment of these goals:
- five-day regime in one shift;
- subject classes, meeting contemporary requirements;
- unified information-educational portal of the country, and access from each school;
- every schoolchild has a computer;
- balanced hot meals for every schoolchild.
This will help to minimize the level disease among schoolchildren.
High level of education quality will be attained due to:
- elimination of overstudy through reducing the number of compulsory subjects and introduction of integrated courses;
- increase of schoolchildren´s independent work, use of project-research and information-communicative technologies while teaching, preparation and presentation of projects by groups of students;
- logical completion of studying school subjects and introduction of pre-profile preparation in the basic school;
- choice of individual educational path in secondary school, possibilities of studying under international educational programs;
- education according to two academic directions - natural and mathematic and social and humanitarian;
- personalization of education - by 2020 every student will have a registration number (portfolio) that allows monitoring the academic level during the whole course.
The education quality will be proved by high results of students displayed in international comparative researches TIMMS, PISA, and PERLS, etcetera.
Technical and professional education:
Technical and professional education will correspond to development of industrial technologies.
By 2020 every citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan will have an opportunity of getting professional education at the required level. Everyone will have access to constantly updated module programs of professional qualifications in order to adapt efficiently to the labor market requests. Not only colleges and professional lyceums will provide education and re-training of human resources, but learning centers of companies that create and use high technologies, centers of qualifications development, which will complement professional lyceums.
Demand for graduates of technical and professional educational institutions will reduce the level of unemployment. The potential of graduates of technical and professional education for further professional education will heighten.
A modern system of certification, assessment and acknowledgement of skills and qualifications of technical and professional education graduates, will be introduced in order to train the specialists for innovative economics; it will be independent of educational institutions. Employers will actively participate in determining the content of educational programs and qualification requirements to graduates of educational institutions of technical and professional education.
Higher and post-graduate education
The system of higher education and post-graduate education will adequately react to accelerated processes of globalization and unification owing to updated technical base, increased role of information technologies and rationalization of educational and methodological base according to world trends. Work in his field will be conducted in close cooperation with employers, including heads of joint ventures.
The majority of learning programs will be implemented in English. Modern laboratories for researches at breakthrough projects of scientific and technical development, are projected, they will contribute to innovative development of education system. Efficient methods and forms of teaching will be implemented, highly qualified specialists will be involved.
By 2020, the majority of higher education institutions have to pass international accreditation (institutional and specialized) and participate in international academic rating of universities.
The integration of education and science will be attained - innovative structures, scientific laboratories, technical parks, business- incubators, and centers will be created. Higher education institutions will become the research centers of science. Scientific and teaching resources of highest qualification will be prepared according to prior scientific and technical directions in Master´s and Doctor´s departments of innovative higher education institutions and scientific organizations, as well as through sending the students of "Bolashak" scholarship to foreign higher education institutions for learning purposes.
The work is submitted to Scientific Conference "The Problems of International Integration of Educational Standards", England (London) - France (Paris), April, 20-28, 2009. Came to the Editor´s Office on 02.03.2009.