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REVIEW OF VOCATIONALEDUCATION AND TRAINING ANDEMPLOYMENT IN KAZAKHSTAN2003

THE EUROPEAN TRAINING FOUNDATION IS THEEUROPEAN UNION’S CENTRE OF EXPERTISESUPPORTING VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAININGREFORM IN THIRD COUNTRIES IN THE CONTEXT OFTHE EU EXTERNAL RELATIONS PROGRAMMES

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REVIEW OF VOCATIONALEDUCATION AND TRAINING ANDEMPLOYMENT IN KAZAKHSTAN2003

This report was prepared by Claire Morel (ETF) in cooperation with the

National Observatory of Kazakhstan

ETF, 2004

A great deal of additional information on the

European Union is available on the Internet.

It can be accessed through the Europa server

(http://europa.eu.int).

Reproduction is authorized, provided the

source is acknowledged.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The ETF would like to thank the NationalObservatory in Kazakhstan, its network ofsenior experts and, in particular, ShaizadaTasbulatova, for their valuablecontributions throughout the preparation ofthis VET review. Special thanks also go toRoberta Manoni, ETF.

The National Observatory, which wascreated with support of the EuropeanUnion's Tacis Programme and the ETF,collects, analyses and disseminatesinformation on the vocational educationand training system and labour market

issues in Kazakhstan. The NationalObservatory can be contacted at thefollowing address:

Shaizada TasbulatovaNational Observatory of KazakhstanUnevoc CentreMitin Street, 6 – room 209Almaty 480020KazakhstanT: +7 3272 65 00 07/64 12 86F: +7 3272 64 12 86E: [email protected]

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CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 3

INTRODUCTION 7

1. ECONOMY, DEMOGRAPHIC SITUATION AND LABOUR MARKET 9

1.1 General economic developments 9

1.2 Demographic developments 11

1.3 Characteristics of the labour market 11

2. DEVELOPMENTS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING 15

2.1 General structure of the vocational education andtraining system 15

2.2 Governance and responsible bodies 21

2.3 Modernisation of the education and training system 24

3. DEVELOPMENTS IN THE EMPLOYMENT POLICY 31

4. CONCLUSIONS 35

ANNEXES 37

REFERENCES 45

ACRONYMS 47

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INTRODUCTION

This review is the continuation of a seriesof analytical reports and backgroundmaterials on basic and full secondaryvocational education and vocationaltraining in Kazakhstan. The first andsecond reviews were prepared in 1997 and2001 and contained information reflectingthe situation in the system in the late1990s.

Experts at the National Observatory ofKazakhstan with assistance from the ETFhave prepared this review. Its primaryobjective is to give a picture of thedevelopments that have taken place overthe past three years in the system of basicand full secondary vocational educationand vocational training in relation to thedevelopments on the labour market andthe employment sector.

This report is targeted at local andinternational organisations, both state andnon-state, looking for information onvocational education and training (VET) inKazakhstan.

The review was prepared using data madeavailable by the Statistics Agency of theRepublic of Kazakhstan, the Ministry ofEducation and Science, the Institute ofEconomics of the National Academy ofSciences, the Ministry of Labour and SocialProtection of the Population, the AlmatyDepartment of Labour, Employment andSocial Protection of the Population, as wellas a number of non-governmentalorganisations.

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1. ECONOMY, DEMOGRAPHICSITUATION AND LABOURMARKET

1.1 GENERAL ECONOMICDEVELOPMENTS

Indicators of social and economicdevelopment of the Republic ofKazakhstan in the late 1990s reflect asituation characterised by the aftermath ofeconomic recession in 1998 followed by araise in economic activity from 1999onwards. Thereafter, the country entered aperiod of economic recovery, whichresulted in a GDP growth of 27% in 1999,followed by a 9.8% growth in 2000, 13.5%in 2001 and 9.5% in 2002. GDP growthwas primarily due to an increase in grossagricultural output (by 28.9%) andindustrial production (2.2%). However,compared with 1990, the GDP in 1999dropped by 38.5%. Primarily it was causedby a general slowdown of the economy inthe 1990s involving virtually all majorsectors (50.0% drop in industrialproduction, 45.9% in the agricultural sector,and 10.3% in construction).

The high economic growth rates of the lasttwo years are attributed to the enhancedperformance of the oil, energy, metal andchemical industries. The agricultural sectoris also gaining some ground: in the period2003–05 the government is planning toinvest more than KZT 150 000 million(approximately US$ 1 150 million) in thedevelopment of the agricultural sector.

It is intended to foster the development of acompetitive environment in iron, steelnon-ferrous industries and raw materialprocessing, including agricultural rawmaterials, with a view to diversifying theeconomy and reorienting it from rawmaterials to processing. In the medium-term plans special attention is given tomechanical engineering, particularly oil andgas machinery, and transport development.The National Programme of InnovativeIndustrial Development envisages that by2015 GDP growth will be 3.5 times highercompared to its level in 2000.

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1

In 2000 Kazakhstan was officiallyrecognised as a market economy. Itslong-term international credit rating wasupgraded and together with a growth ineconomic activity, it helped to enhance thesocial sector. The average monthly wageand salary rose by almost 20%.

Privatisation

Between 1998 and 2001 the privatisationprocess in Kazakhstan recorded a 70%slowdown. In 2001, 86% of all privatisedobjects were industrial enterprises, 2%were construction enterprises, whilsttransport, trade and catering enterprisesshared 3% each, housing and publicutilities 1%, and social sector objects 2%.

The informal sector

Hidden, part-time and illegal employmenthas grown in scope and now plays asignificant role in the national labourmarket. It includes people involved in tradebusiness, working on household plots, inthe service sector, family business oremployed without a contract in small-sizedenterprises, and so on. Since theiractivities are not covered by the labourlegislation they do not pay taxes and do notcontribute to pension schemes.Comparison of data from the labourresources balance to the number ofpension contributors reveals that hiddenemployment covers more than 38% of theeconomically active population.Specifically, as of 1 March 2000, therewere 6.1 million people employed in allsectors of the economy, while the numberof pension contributors amounted only to3.1 million. Growth of ‘unregistered’employment is primarily due to lowincomes from self-employment andemployment in small businesses, as wellas a lack of investment to create new jobsand the high level of instability inherent insmall business development. However,neither official statistics nor estimatefigures on the size of the informal sectorare currently available.

Development of small- and

medium-sized enterprises

Small businesses engaged inentrepreneurial activities play anincreasingly important role in the nation’seconomy. As of 1 January 2003, 96 600operating small businesses were registeredin the country (against 93 900 a yearearlier). Some 40.2% of small- andmedium-sized enterprises specialise intrade, auto and household repairs. Onlyone in eight is involved in industrialproduction, one in nine is in theconstruction business, and one in 17 isinvolved in agricultural activities. Overall,they make up 64% of all enterprisesmonitored by the statistical bodies on aquarterly basis.

Poverty reduction strategies

The government of the Republic ofKazakhstan has embraced povertyreduction as one of the most importantissues of the nation’s development,although the country is not officiallyconsidered as a poor country. The FirstProgramme on Poverty and Unemploymentfor 2000–02 dealt primarily with jobcreation and targeted social assistance tothe low-income population. According tothe report on the results of theimplementation of the Programme onPoverty and Unemployment for 2000–02,prepared by the Ministry of Labour andSocial Protection of the Population, bothcentral and local executive bodies fully mettheir obligations under the programme interms of promoting a proactive employmentpolicy, creating new jobs and providingtargeted assistance to the most needypeople. For example, in the past threeyears, the average monthly socialallowances were raised by 15% and thepension allowances by 27%. The share ofsocially disadvantaged citizens1 in the totalpopulation went down from 10.6% at thebeginning of 2002, to 8.7% in 2003.

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REVIEW OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT INKAZAKHSTAN

1 Socially disadvantaged people are those with low income who can mainly be found amongst thehandicapped, the unemployed, and pensioners. It is not a homogenous group: among them a group ofsocially vulnerable people can be distinguished. It is mainly composed of families eligible for socialallowances for communal services, accommodation, heating, transportation, free school meals, and so on.The overall number of socially disadvantaged people is estimated to be around 1.3 million. The poverty line inCentral Asia is US$ 2.15 per day, based on the parity of purchasing power.

1. ECONOMY, DEMOGRAPHIC SITUATION AND LABOUR MARKET

From 2000 onwards the average per capitaconsumption exceeded the minimumsubsistence level. By the end of 2001 theratio of average per capita disposableincome to the subsistence level was about130%.

In March 2003 the Programme on PovertyReduction for 2003–05 was adopted,which sets the target of reaching the levelof annual GDP per capita of US$ 1 900 by2005, and reducing by one third thepoverty level as compared with 2003.Implementation of 75 government andsectoral programmes are now underwayaimed, directly or indirectly, at reducingpoverty and enhancing social welfare.

1.2 DEMOGRAPHICDEVELOPMENTS

According to the latest census carried outin 1999 the population of Kazakhstan wasmore than 14.9 million people, with 55.2%urban population. As of the beginning of2002 the country’s population was14 820 900 people of which 51.8% werewomen, 56.3% lived in urban areas and43.7% in rural areas. Indicators of naturalpopulation movements in recent yearshave reflected a steady downwardtendency. Thus, the number of births wentdown from 222 400 in 1998 to 220 700 in2001. In the period 1999–2001 the numberof births went up from 211 800 to 220 700.The number of deaths decreased from154 300 to 147 600. The number ofmarriages and divorces also decreased,

from 96 000 to 92 900 and from 35 500 to26 600, respectively.

According to experts’ estimates in theeducation sector and on the labour market,the problems related to the decline in birthrate in the late 1980s and early 1990s willworsen in the coming years. A significantdrop in the number of children born after1987 will have a commensurate impact onthe intake of young people in vocationaleducation and training institutions, andtheir subsequent entrance to the labourmarket. A possible shortage of skilledworkers is foreseen. This has to be takeninto consideration when developing andimplementing strategic plans for thedevelopment of vocational education andtraining2.

1.3 CHARACTERISTICS OFTHE LABOUR MARKET

General characteristics

The labour market, similar to the capital,commodity or stock markets, is an integralpart of Kazakhstan’s economy. As ofFebruary 2003 the economically activepopulation aged 15 years and overamounted to 7.2 million people. Some6.5 million people were employed in thecountry’s economy (more than 90% of theeconomically active population), exceedingthe level of a year earlier by 97 400people, or 1.5%. Employment growth ratesin recent years are given in Table 1 below.

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2 The strategic plan for the development of the Republic of Kazakhstan until 2010 foresees the development ofvocational education and training as a priority. The draft Government Programme for training of skilled

workers and middle level specialists of the Republic of Kazakhstan (2003), and other documents also foreseevocational education and training as a priority.

Table 1: Economically active population of working age3

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Economically activepopulation – Total

7 052 600 7 055 400 7 107 400 7 479 100 7 399 700

Including:

Employed population6 127 600

86.8%

6 105 400

86.5%

6 201 000

87.2%

6 698 800

89.5%

6 709 000

90.6%

� Wage and salary workers3 783 000

61.7%

3 354 200

54.9%

3 504 400

56.5%

3 863 300

51.6%

4 030 300

54.5%

� Self-employed2 751 200

38.9%

2 696 600

37.9%

2 835 500

37.9%

2 678 700

36.2%

Unemployed population 925 000 950 000 906 400 780 300 690 700

Unemployment rate (%) 13.0 13.5 12.8 10.8 9.8

Source: Statistics Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan

In the age structure of the population(Annex 1), a decline in the working agepopulation is observed: from 8 656 300people in 1998 to 8 650 000 people in2001. The below-working-age populationproviding new entrants for the labour forceis diminishing considerably. Thus, if in1998 the below-working-age population(0–15 years of age) was 4 737 400 people,in 2001 it was 4 355 500 people (adecrease of 9%). Alongside with it, theabove-working-age population has beengrowing (by approximately 10%) from1 794 500 to 1 836 000 in the period underreview – which increases the labour load ofthis age group.

There is a certain discrepancy in thequalitative characteristics of the labourforce supply in terms of graduates’qualifications. Thus, higher educationgraduates by far outnumber the graduatesfrom initial and secondary vocationalinstitutions. It should also be mentionedthat the number of graduates withagricultural specialisations is going down(from 3 500 people in 1998 to 1 300 in2002), while the number of graduates witheconomic and legal specialisations hassignificantly increased (from 5 500 in 1998to 16 600 in 2002). Over recent yearsbanking specialists of different levels havesaturated the labour market, partly due toworsened competition and increased skills

requirements. The drop in the demand forlawyers, accountants and economists goeshand-in-hand with the growing popularity ofsuch occupations as doctor, engineer andhouse builder. There is in parallel agrowing demand for sales managers of anylevel – from salesmen to nationalcommercial representatives – especiallycapable of commercialising intellectualproducts such as software or complexequipment. Employers are interested inhiring and training well-educatedprofessionals to work primarily indistribution, services, trade, finance andmanagement. One of the main reasons forthe significant imbalance between labourmarket needs and training provision is theimperfection of short- and long-termforecasting of economic processes.

The Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan onemployment defines ‘employment’ as allgainful activities pursued by citizens andaimed at satisfying their personal needs,and which are in line with the Constitution.As of February 2003 the number of wageearners was 4.1 million people, whichexceeded the figure of 2002 by 256 700(+6.6%). They are employed by:

� government and non-governmentorganisations – 3.4 million people(144 400 more, +4.5% compared to2002);

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3 Working age for women is 16–58 and for men 16–63 years.

� private individuals (‘physical persons’) –0.5 million people (59 700 more,+12.7% compared to 2002);

� peasant farmers – 0.3 million people(52 600 more, +25.6% compared to2002).

These official statistics do not identify theself-employed as a separate category.‘Private individuals’ can hire up to 10employees without being a legal person.Together with an increase in the number ofwage earners, a slight decrease (around5.5%) of self-employed people can beobserved between 2001 and 20024.

Broken down by sector, the employmentstructure from 1998 to 2002 was asindicated in Table 2.

As these data show, the employment levelwas the highest in the service sector andthe lowest in the industrial sector. There hasbeen an increase in employment in theservice sector, and an increase of thenumber of self-employed in rural areas. In2002–03, following the process of economicstabilisation, the number of employedpeople in the industrial sector raised againby 5% to reach 667 500 people in 2003.

As of the beginning of 2003, large- andmedium-sized enterprises employed only2.4 million people or 57.5% of all wageearners. Of them, 8.3% work in theagricultural and fishing sectors, 33.3% in

the industrial sector and construction, and58.4% in the service sector. In this sector34% of the wage earners work in theeducation sphere; the healthcare andtransport sectors employ 17% each; andpublic administration represents 13%. In2002 there were 72 900 civil servants,making up 39.8% of all people employed inthe system of public administration (theremaining do not have civil servant status).As of the beginning of 2003, 55.8% of theemployed lived in urban areas while theremaining 44.2% lived in rural areas.

Young people face serious problems onthe labour market: without qualificationsand work experience they are notcompetitive. From the total number ofunemployed in 2002, around 30% wereyoung people. This problem is particularlyacute for new entrants to the labourmarket, that is, for vocational educationgraduates. Among the unemployed, 12%have a higher education diploma, morethan 25% secondary vocational education,12% initial vocational education, andaround 42% general secondary education.A new phenomenon can be observed:early start in employment. This is whenyoung people (around 15 years of age)start entering the labour market. As a rule,the jobs offered are in the service andtrade sector, do not require any specificskills and do not offer any social security orlegal safeguards (often in the informalsector).

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1. ECONOMY, DEMOGRAPHIC SITUATION AND LABOUR MARKET

Table 2: Sectoral distribution of employment (in percentage)

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Industry, construction 18.4 18.3 17.4 15.6 16.3

Agriculture, hunting, forestry, fisheryand fish-farming

22.2 22.0 31.4 40.2 35.5

Service sector 59.4 59.7 51.2 44.2 48.2

Including:

� Transport and communications 9.1 9.4 8.9 6.7 7.5

� Trade, auto and household repairs 22.9 22.9 15.7 12.2 15.5

Source: Statistics Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan

4 Self-employment is defined as employment for which income directly depends from the revenue obtainedfrom production of goods or services.

Unemployment

In the late 1990s the number of registeredunemployed was 25 times higher than thenumber of job vacancies reported to theemployment services. The ratio of peopleplaced on forced leave or involuntarypart-time work was 7% of the economicallyactive population.

In recent years unemployment amongwomen has been significantly higher thanamong men. Thus, according to the data ofthe statistical office, in 2001 the officialunemployment rate for men was 8.9%,while for women it was 12%. Thedistribution of the unemployed by genderand educational attainment is graphicallyillustrated in Annex 3. Women over45 years of age with higher and secondaryvocational education (in economic, bankingor legal occupations) stand virtually nochance of finding a job commensurate withtheir qualifications. Approximately half of theregistered unemployed have generalsecondary education (most of them beingyoung people), every fourth person hassecondary vocational education, and one ineight has higher education. According toofficial statistics, in 2001 the youthunemployment rate in the 15–24 age groupwas 30.8% (or 240 300 people). In 2002 itwas 27.9% (193 000 people). Theemployment of minors, including teenagersunder 16, poses a problem: aftercompletion of ninth grade they leave schoolfor various reasons and can not find a job.According to official statistics, each yearbetween 70 000 and 90 000 school leaversfrom secondary general schools enter thelabour market without any possibility ofreceiving vocational education; 50% remainunemployed while the other half can onlyfind low-qualified jobs.

Therefore, it can be concluded that womenand youth are the groups which are amongthe most exposed to unemployment andpoverty.

According to the data released by theMinistry of Labour and Social Protection ofthe Population at the beginning of 2002, theemployment services received applicationsfrom 58 000 jobseekers, while a year laterthis number was significantly lower –26 300 people. In 2002, 9 100 jobseekersfound a job, while in 2003, the figure rose to9 800. This figure might seem very low, butit does not include information on theself-employed who in 2001 made up 37.9%(and 36.2% in 2002) of the overallemployed population. The unemploymentrate (of the officially registered unemployed)in 1998 was 13.1%, and 13.5% in 1999.Since 2000 the unemployment rate hasbeen declining from 12.8% in 2000 to10.4% in 2001, and in 2002 it flattened outat about 9.3%. In 2003 the number ofofficially registered unemployed was706 500, which represented a decrease of71 500 people (9.2%).

SUMMARY OF SECTION 1

� The last three years have beencharacterised by a relative stability ofbasic economic processes inKazakhstan: a steady growth of GDP,industrial production, investments,employment rate, population income andother major indicators. A decrease in theunemployment and poverty rates hasbeen observed. However, unemploymentamong youth and women remainsrelatively high, particularly in rural areas.

� The lack of sectoral skills forecastingmechanisms at national and regionallevels remains a serious problem. Theimbalance between the supply of trainingand skills needs hinders the efficient useof labour resources.

� A drop in the birth rate in the late 1980sand early 1990s will require policyadjustments based on an accurateforecasting of skill requirements aimedat fostering economic growth and qualityof training.

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2. DEVELOPMENTS INEDUCATION AND TRAINING

The strategic development plan of theRepublic of Kazakhstan until the year 2010defines the priority objective for theeducation system as expanding access toquality education of different levels andtypes. Efforts are therefore being made tocreate a quality assurance system, and setup an education and training system thatwould ensure continuity between itsdifferent components. The objectives of theeducation system, along with providingknowledge, are to teach skills that makeuse of this knowledge and facilitatecontinuing learning. The education systemis viewed not as an autonomous structurebut as part of the socio-economic systemcapable of addressing issues of humanresource development in the context ofeconomic growth.

This report highlights the priority invocational training development andstresses the importance of qualityimprovement based on the modernisationof its content and the use of modernequipment.

Today, the system of basic and fullsecondary vocational education is still in anongoing process of recovery and furtherdevelopment geared to bring it in line withthe market environment. Emphasis hasbeen put not only on training skilledworkers and mid-level professionalsrequired on the labour market but also onproviding the skills that young people needto become self-employed.

2.1 GENERAL STRUCTURE OFTHE VOCATIONALEDUCATION AND TRAININGSYSTEM

Basic and full secondary vocationaleducation, together with general education,is an integral part of the secondaryeducation system. Upon completion ofgeneral secondary education, initialvocational education is provided invocational schools and lyceums.Vocational schools are educationinstitutions implementing programmes ofgeneral secondary and initial vocationaleducation to train qualified workers.

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2

Vocational lyceums are institutions ofsecondary education implementingprogrammes of general secondary andinitial vocational education and preparingworkers with a higher level of qualification.

The structure of basic and full secondaryvocational education allows pupils toreceive vocational education together withgeneral secondary education. However,due to insufficient funding of vocationalschools and colleges, basic and fullsecondary vocational education institutionscannot accept all ninth-graders who wish tocontinue their education and follow avocational path. In 2000, 15.5% of all pupilshad the possibility of accessing basic andfull secondary vocational educationinstitutions. In 2001 this figure was 17%,and in 2002 it was still 17%. According tothe data of the Ministry of Education andScience, if proper conditions were in place50% of all pupils could have access tovocational education. A disparity hasdeveloped in the distribution of pupils bytype of education institution. On the onehand, vocational schools designed tohouse 450–720 students (depending onthe number of shifts) have on average only320 students. On the other hand, 37.5% ofgeneral education schools operate in twoshifts, 0.8% in three shifts and 0.1% in fourshifts. Statistical data show that in theperiod 1992–2002 the number ofvocational school students more thanhalved from 203 100 to 89 600, while the

number of ninth-grade graduates changedonly slightly in the same period. In otherwords, over 100 000 graduates fromsecondary schools potentially could, buthave not, enrolled in professional schoolsand lyceums.

According to the data released by theDepartment of Basic and Full SecondaryVocational Education of the Ministry ofEducation and Science, as of the beginningof 2003 there were 694 institutions of initialand secondary vocational education,including 312 vocational schools andlyceums and 382 colleges, enrolling a totalof 297 497 students. Some 69.8% isenrolled in colleges (and ‘uchilishche’),while the rest is enrolled in professionalschools and lyceums.

Initial vocational education

Of the total number of vocational schoolsand lyceums, 271 are state educationinstitutions and 41 are private. Datapresented in Figure 1 show that in the pastthree years the number of institutions ofinitial vocational education has stabilised,while the private sector has steadilyexpanded.

In 2002 four new private schools and onestate vocational school were opened inthree regions of Kazakhstan. However, theeconomic recovery would require asignificant expansion of the vocational

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1992-93

1993-94

1994-95

1995-96

1996-97

1997-98

1998-99

1999-2000

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

state non-state

439415 422

404 404

339304

278 276 275 271

9 19 28 26 30 37 41

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

Figure 1: Network of initial vocational education institutions

institutions’ network. 43 regional centres –small and medium towns in the republic –have no vocational education institutions,highlighting the urgent need for the Ministryof Education and Science and its localdepartments to seek solutions to thisproblem. In the 2002/03 academic yearvocational schools and lyceums in therepublic had a total of 89 600 students,which amounted to a 2% increase ascompared to the previous year (88 200students). However, compared to 1991(212 600 students) it represents a drop

of 57.8%. As explained before, the mainreason for this significant drop is thedownsizing of the network of professionalschools that took place in the 1990sbecause of the economic crisis.

The breakdown of vocational education indifferent occupations by economic sector isgiven in Figure 3. As this figure shows, thehighest number of students is enrolled intraining for industrial occupations (23.0%),forestry and agriculture (21%)5 and theservice sector (19%). The least popular

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2. DEVELOPMENTS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING

state non-state

203.1188.7

159.6 160.0

200

250

150

100

50

0 1992-93

1993-94

1994-95

1995-96

1996-97

1997-98

1998-99

1999-2000

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

147.0

1.3

98.3

3.0

87.5 86.9 85.9 84.1 86.0

3.1 2.9 2.4 4.0 3.6

Figure 2: Number of students in initial vocational education institutions, in

thousands

industry23%

agriculture21%

culture and arts1%

others1%

information andcomputer technology

6%

transportation10%

services sector19%

economics5%

communications1%

construction13%

Figure 3: Breakdown of students of vocational schools and lyceums pursuing

training in different occupations, by sector of the economy

5 Including: production and processing of agricultural produce (13%), operation and maintenance of vehiclesand agricultural machinery (2.3%), services related to the agricultural sector (3.7%), environmental protectionand nature preservation (1.9%).

occupations are communications, cultureand arts, which each represent 1% of thetotal number of students. In between areoccupations in the sector of transportationand construction (10% and 13%respectively). In 2002 enrolment invocational schools and lyceums totalled45 600 people, which is 4.5% more than ayear earlier (43 600 people). Compared to1991 (144 500 people), enrolment droppedby 68.5%.

Secondary vocational education

Colleges and ‘uchilishche’ (two differenttypes of vocational schools) providesecondary vocational education. Theseeducation institutions train middlemanagement specialists. During the reformprocess of secondary vocational education,the old ‘technikums’ were turned intocolleges, while the uchilishche kept theirold name. Technikums used to trainspecialists mainly for industry, building,transport, and agriculture. The other type ofprofessional schools – uchilishche – trainspecialists outside the industrial sphere, for

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179 175 175 178 173 180

40

71

99

136

176

202

0

50

100

150

200

250

1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03

state non-state

Figure 4: Network of secondary vocational education institutions (colleges and

uchilishche)

103.294.9

109.5114.6

126.9137.5

10.4

20.2

33.041.5

63.070.4

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03

state non-state

Figure 5: Number of students in secondary vocational education institutions

(colleges and uchilishche), in thousands

example in the field of pedagogic ormedical studies, but also in the field of art,theatre or dance.

The education programmes in colleges anduchilishche have a duration of three to fouryears. They enrol graduates from generalsecondary education (after grade 9 or 11)and vocational schools and lyceums. Thereare 382 colleges in the system ofsecondary vocational education ofKazakhstan, including 180 state institutionsand 202 private institutions (Figure 4covers both the colleges and theuchilishche). The network of non-stateinstitutions is fast growing: in 1996 therewere 11 of them, in 1998 there were 40,and in 2003 there were 202. More than90% of these institutions offer trainingprogrammes in occupations related to lawand economics.

The number of students enrolled incolleges in 2003 was 207 900, which was8.7% more than in 2001 (189 800 pupils),but 16% less than in 1991 (Figure 5).

The breakdown of college students bysector and occupational profile is given inFigure 6. As shown by the data provided inthis chart, the majority of pupils havechosen occupations related to education,economics, humanities and medicine, whilethe least popular occupations are related tomechanical engineering, the service sector,

the energy industry, communications andconstruction.

Some 64% of students in state collegeshave to pay full tuition fees while only 36%of college pupils receive financialassistance from the state. Out of 180 statecolleges (79.5%), 143 are housed instandard premises (standard schoolbuildings) while the remaining 36 (20%) arelocated in buildings refitted for that purpose(that were not initially meant to be schools).Only 172 out of 271 state colleges havestudent dormitories, which house a total of8 806 pupils, that is, 68% of those whoneed it.

Secondary vocational education, whichoccupies a midway position in the systemof vocational education, is closely linked toboth higher and initial levels of education.There is an ongoing process of integrationbetween colleges and higher educationinstitutions which is widely diversified: itgoes from independent institutions(colleges, schools) cooperating with highereducation institutions on such issues asmethodology and staff, to colleges andschools being integrated in highereducation institution structures. Theintegration of colleges within the system ofinitial vocational education is progressing intwo directions. On the one hand, collegesare expanding programmes of initialvocational education by creating vocationalschools and lyceums within their premises.

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construction2% mechanical

engineering

1%

services sector1%

energy2%

agricultureand forestry

2%

oil and gas3%

arts and culture3%

ICT6%

7%

medicine10%

humanities13% economics

20%

education21%

others7%

communications2%

"transportation

Figure 6: Breakdown of students from colleges and uchilishche, by sector and

occupational profile

On the other hand, colleges are offeringaccelerated training programmes to pupilswith initial vocational education who, at theend of training, receive a diploma formiddle management.

Continuing vocational training

In addition to the formal system ofvocational education, there is a widenetwork of continuing vocational traininginstitutions (as defined in the Law ‘OnEducation’ adopted in 1999). Ininternational terminology this sector isreferred to as ‘non-formal education’. Thisnetwork includes institutions providing:guidance and counselling services;vocational training and retraining for theregistered unemployed and inactivepopulation; training in enterprises(on-the-job and off-the-job-training);training and production centres; learningcentres (sectoral, local or regional); andnon-governmental training providers andother training and production centresoffering vocational training programmes.These institutions, of which there arearound 15 000, are not subject to statelicensing and they award their owncertificates. More detailed statistics (agegroups, gender, locality, training profiles,and so on) on trainees in this sector are notavailable.

Disadvantaged groups

Most children in initial vocational educationinstitutions are from low income, singleparent or disadvantaged families: socialassistance for them is as important asobtaining a profession. According to theRepublican Public Health Service, morethan half of these pupils suffer from variousdiseases and are retarded in their physicaldevelopment. The Ministry of Educationand Science and the Ministry of Healthcaredecided jointly to open medical aid posts in306 out of 453 state institutions of initialand secondary vocational education andtraining.

Since 1 January 2002 all students enrolledin vocational schools (lyceums) are entitledto receive free hot meals for the duration oftheir studies but because of local budgetdeficits in several regions, hot meals are

only provided for orphans and children leftwithout parental care.

More attention has recently been given totraining for the disabled in the basic and fullsecondary vocational education system:there are currently 386 disabled pupils intraining, of which 246 attend colleges and140 vocational schools.

In 2002 a government resolutionestablished enrolment quotas in institutionsof secondary and higher vocationaleducation for rural youth (30%) andrepatriates (2%) of all candidates foruniversity admission.

According to the Law ‘On Education’, thestate assumes full or partial financialresponsibility for the training costs ofpeople in need of social protection.However, the procedure to qualify for socialprotection is cumbersome, as it requiresmore than 10 official documents confirmingthe social status of the pupil. Thisprocedure should be improved andsimplified, and further steps should betaken to expand training opportunities forthe disadvantaged youth.

Employment and job placement for

graduates of vocational schools,

lyceums and colleges

In 2002 the number of graduates fromvocational schools and lyceums went downby 4.8% compared to 2001, and by 70%compared to 1991. The decrease in thenumber of graduates is primarily observedin technical (linked to technical servicing ofequipment in various economic sectors)and agricultural occupations. In recentyears local budgets have not providedadequate funding for guaranteed training inthese occupations. In 2002, according tothe statistics provided by vocationaleducation institutions, 24 400 vocationaleducation graduates from professionalschools and lyceums (for the academicyear 2001/02) found a job during the firstsix months of 2002 (65.7% of allgraduates), 2 988 graduates went on tohigher education (8%), 3 009 people(8.1%) went to colleges, 1 487 graduates(4%) were drafted to the Kazakh Army, and786 people (2.1%) left the republic. On the

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whole, 85.9% of graduates obtained a jobor continued in training (Annex 5).Approximately 14% of all graduates joinedthe unemployed or self-employedpopulation. This relatively high placementrate can be explained by the growingdemand for skilled workers and specialists,linked to improved economic situation inKazakhstan.

2.2 GOVERNANCE ANDRESPONSIBLE BODIES

Roles and interaction of the responsible

bodies at national, regional and local

levels

Primary responsibility for the developmentof education policies, including VET, lieswith the Ministry of Education and Science,which is a central executive as well as apolicy formulating body. The Ministry ofEducation and Science and itsdepartments provide support for thedecision-making process in the field ofeducation. Other stakeholders may beinvolved in the decision-making process,including local authorities. A Department ofBasic and Full Secondary VocationalEducation has been specially createdwithin the ministry to ensure an integratedgovernance and coordination betweeninstitutions of initial and secondaryvocational education. The basic and fullsecondary vocational education sectionsalso operate under the regionaldepartments of education in the cities ofAstana and Almaty. However, in sixregional departments of education (in theregions of Almaty, Atyrau, Zhambyl,Kyzylorda, Mangistau, and SouthKazakhstan) separate sections for initialand secondary vocational education andtraining have not yet been created.

Vocational schools and colleges areaccountable to the regional departments ofeducation. Nine colleges that providetraining in occupations of nationwideimportance are under national supervision.These occupations include: geodesy andmapping, geologic exploration, arts andcrafts, show business/circus, music, andchoreography. There are no vocationalschools under formal state supervision, but

in reality such schools exist, such as theonly graphic arts school, the railway schooland a few others. Being under regionalsupervision, these vocational schoolscannot enrol children from other regions.

Institutions of basic and full secondaryvocational education have a legal statusand operate bank accounts, which implycompliance with respective legislation.Regional education management bodiesset the budget and enrolment targets forvocational schools and colleges.Vocational schools and colleges are fullyresponsible for hiring and dismissing theirstaff. The regional departments ofeducation are the governing bodies incharge of licensing education activities andapproving learning and regulatorydocumentation for vocational schools,while for colleges these functions are takencare of by the Ministry of Education andScience and its Department of Initial andSecondary Vocational Education. Licensingand accreditation issues related tovocational schools and lyceums are alsowithin the competence of the regionaldepartments of education.

The democratisation of managementstructures has led to the restoration ofcommunity self-management in initial andsecondary vocational education: aRepublican Council of VocationalEducation Principals and a Council ofLearning Methodologies on thedevelopment of basic and full secondaryvocational education have been set upunder the Ministry of Education andScience. Forty-three associations oflearning methodologies for colleges areoperating in different occupational profiles.They work in cooperation with theAcademy of Education on themodernisation of professional standards.The Republican Councils of VocationalEducation Principals are registerednon-governmental associations ofprofessional schools, which aim atincreasing the quality of education. Theyalso ensure that the right of each individualto receive professional education isguaranteed, and that the requirements setin vocational standards are followed. Theyare invited to take part in the collegialconsultative organisations of the Ministry of

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Education and Science, and they play animportant role in defending the interests ofvocational education institutions while newnormative and legal acts are beingdeveloped.

However, in reality local authorities andregional education management bodiesserve primarily as vehicles to implementdecisions taken by central administration.Favourable conditions to ensure thatregional management structures workefficiently have not yet been created, whichhinders the delegation of authority to thelocal level. Experts believe that this isprimarily due to a number of obstaclesaccompanying the managementdecentralisation process launched morethan five years ago:

� lack of a smooth information exchangesystem between the different levels ofeducation management;

� shortage of local managers andadministrators capable of workingefficiently in a new environment;

� lack of a qualification upgrading andtraining system for managerial staff thatwould be responsive to new needs.

As a consequence, most local managerscontinue to follow outdated concepts ofhierarchical authority in which the Ministryof Education and Science plays a leadingrole, then the regional authorities come in,and finally the local authorities.

Involvement of social partners

Social partnership in vocational educationand training is still a new phenomenon.There is growing awareness of the need toincrease cooperation between educationand training institutions and employers.However, trade unions are still excludedfrom this cooperation and do not play anactive role in promoting training inenterprises. Because the trade unionmovement is in a process of adaptation tonew market conditions, it is for nowengaged primarily in issues such as healthand safety at work, salary negotiations, thefight against poverty and unemployment,protection of the internal labour market, orsocial and economic protection. Education

and training (initial and continuing) are notyet on their agenda.

Developing a system of social partnershipwith employers is an important factor inincreasing the quality of training providedby institutions of initial and secondaryvocational education. Today there aresome examples of cooperation, whichindicate a gradual strengthening ofinteraction between enterprises andvocational education institutions (forexample, in the city of Almaty or in theregions of Karaganda, South Kazakhstan –for more details see Annex 7). What ismore, such relations are no longer confinedto the provision of practical training oremployment opportunities for vocationaleducation graduates. Employers participatein the funding of VET institutions throughtargeted training programmes andcontracts to train their employees. Theyalso have a say in the renewal of thecontent of education and training,qualifications requirements, and so on.Valuable experience of successes in socialpartnership is being accumulated in theframework of pilot projects, carried outmainly by non-governmental organisations.

Summing up, it should be noted thatemployers and vocational education andtraining institutions have a growing interestin establishing a system, which does notmean that its development is going withouta hitch. So far, only some of the necessarylegal, institutional and practicalprerequisites have been created to developcooperation in initial and secondaryvocational education. On the whole, thiscooperation is still in the making. Its slowdevelopment is primarily due to thefollowing reasons:

� lack of good preparation for cooperationof partners and lack of qualifiedmanagers;

� low involvement of trade unions ineducation and training;

� lack of concepts and strategies for thedevelopment of social partnership invocational education;

� lack of an organisational structure(working bodies) at regional and locallevels to handle the issues of socialpartnership in VET;

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� lack of regular monitoring of local labourmarket needs and research-basedforecasting of its development;

� low efficiency of the informationexchange system between theenterprises, the employment servicesand the VET system;

� lack of tax incentives for enterprisescooperating with VET institutions;

� inertia and inability of most vocationaleducation institutions to adaptthemselves to the employers’ needs.

Financing

In 2002 in the state budget of the Kazakhrepublic, KZT 103.1 billion (US$672.5 million) were allocated for education,including KZT 3.68 billion (about US$24 million) for vocational schools, KZT2.99 billion (US$ 19.5 million) for colleges,which amounts to only 6.4% of the totalbudget for education (in 1998 it was 5.9%).As in previous years, these funds coverprimarily payroll, meals and maintenancecosts. Only 5% of the allocated funds werespent on learning aids and equipment, andbuilding repairs. Only KZT 54 million (US$352 200) were allocated for strengtheningthe physical infrastructure of vocationalschools and lyceums, which represents anaverage of KZT 200 000 per institution(approximately US$ 1 300). The averageannual expenditure per student invocational schools was slightly above KZT41 000 (US$ 267), while in colleges it wasKZT 62 000 (US$ 404).

According to the data provided by theKazakhstan Statistics Agency, in 2002 theshare of GDP dedicated to education was2.75%, and the share of State expenditurewas 12.57%. The share of basic and fullsecondary vocational education andtraining represented 0.18% of GDP and0.8% of state expenditures. These are lowpercentages (for example the EU averageshare of GDP is 5.2%).

Since 2000 funding for vocational schoolsand lyceums has in principle come fromregional budgets. However, in a number ofregions basic and full secondary vocationaleducation is funded from local budgets,which hinders the implementation of a

number of programmes for thedevelopment of the physical infrastructuresand learning processes.

Expansion of the private sector in basicand full secondary vocational educationcreates an increased financial burden onstudents and their parents who have to payfor tuition fees. Therefore, it should beacknowledged that there are two mainsources for financing vocational education:public budget and private individuals’funds.

There are still only few cases of enterprisesasking training institutions to organisetailored-made training programmes for theirown staff (and who are ready to pay for it).

Adaptation of the legal framework

In recent years the Ministry of Educationand Science has paid special attention tostreamlining the regulatory, legal andmethodological basis of initial andsecondary vocational education. Thegovernment of the Republic of Kazakhstanhas adopted a number of resolutions(Annex 6) aimed at stabilising anddeveloping the basic and full secondaryvocational education network, anddeepening reforms in its standardisationand its learning, methodological andinformation support structure. With the viewof bringing basic and full secondaryvocational education systems closer to the‘real sector’ (the formal sector, that is, alleconomic spheres from which thegovernment perceives taxes from theincomes generated), the Ministry ofEducation and Science has submittedproposals for amendments andsupplements to the draft legislation and anumber of current laws, including the Lawsof the Republic of Kazakhstan ‘OnEducation’, ‘On Licensing’, ‘On SocialPartnership’, ‘On State Procurement’, andTax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.The draft Law of the Republic ofKazakhstan ‘On Vocational Education andTraining’ is currently under preparation.The section ‘Initial and SecondaryVocational Education’ of the draft Concept

of Education Development in the Republic

of Kazakhstan has been designed.

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The amendments introduced are orientedtowards the following changes:

� establishment of new vocationaleducation and training institutions thatwill provide training for skilled workersand the technical skills that are neededon the labour market;

� involvement of large enterprises in theorganisation of vocational education foryoung people;

� provision of access to vocationaleducation to all layers of the populationand increasing their interest in receivinghigh quality initial and secondaryvocational education.

2.3 MODERNISATION OF THEEDUCATION AND TRAININGSYSTEM

Adaptation of curricula, programmes,

teaching and learning methodologies

Changes in the economic situation andlabour market demand in the country havecalled for the revision of the basic and fullsecondary vocational education. TheOccupations Register now contains 300professions for initial vocational educationand 371 specialisations for secondaryvocational education. In 2002 a three-yeartextbook design and publishingprogramme was launched that alsoincluded the development of learning andmethodological materials on vocationalsubjects for institutions of initial andsecondary vocational education. Theprogramme provides for the preparationand publication of 828 textbooks and2 295 titles of learning and methodologymaterials with a total cost of around KZT695 million (approximately US$4.5 million). Regional informationprogrammes for institutions of basic andfull secondary vocational education havebeen designed and are now in theirimplementation phase. Theseprogrammes are financed from localbudgets; the planned budget is aroundKZT 696 million (US$ 4.5 million).

In 2002 permission was given to introducetraining programmes in 281 occupationsof secondary vocational education,

including: technical occupations andservices – 130 (46.3%); occupations ineducation, culture and arts – 60 (21.3%);economic occupations – 49 (17.4%);occupations in humanities – 21 (7.5%); andmedical occupations – 21 (7.5%). Theseare not necessarily newly developedtraining programmes for new specialities,but for specialities that have been includedin the new Classifier of Occupations.

The government of the Republic ofKazakhstan has given its support to thedevelopment and approval of an actionplan aimed at involving big companies,enterprises and employers’ associations inthe training process to meet the needs ofthe machine-building sector. Similarmeasures are being developed with theministries in charge of the agricultural,transportation and construction sectors.The implementation of these plansrepresents a good basis for socialpartnership in continuing training and willlead to a dissemination of the experienceto other sectors.

The modernisation efforts of the Ministryof Education and Science are primarilyaimed at revising and expanding the listof occupations for skilled workers tobetter serve the needs of the respectivesectors of the economy. To achievethese goals the following measures havebeen taken.

� Training programmes in 29 newoccupations have been introduced invocational schools and lyceums (suchas hotel and catering business,electrical equipment maintenance in theoil and gas sector, multifunctionalmachine operator, real estate manager,tourism services, oil refining operator,oil and gas production and explorationdrilling operator, entrepreneur for smallbusinesses). The new occupations haveemerged as a response to the needs oflocal enterprises.

� Training programmes for 25 newspecialities have been introduced incolleges (such as intellectual property,industrial assessment, industrial tax law,translation, information technologies,crop protection and agriculturalecology).

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Design of educational and occupational

standards

Standards in 41 occupations of initialvocational education and 177 occupationsof secondary vocational education haverecently been developed and approved inthe process of new standards creation andstreamlining of the existing State GenerallyBinding Standards and Syllabi of initial andsecondary vocational education. Therewere plans to introduce in 2003 standardsin 46 additional occupations of initialvocational education, and 22 occupationsof secondary vocational education. Allthese activities are aimed at improving thequality, flexibility and diversity of vocationaleducation, and make it demand-driven.However, the lack of experience andproper methodologies for the design ofbasic and full secondary vocationaleducation standards, along withunderdeveloped financial incentives forpotential standards designers, the lack ofindependent evaluation mechanisms andthe purely formal participation of employershave lead to a mismatch between thecontent of standards and modern economicand industrial requirements. The proposedrevisions to standards were not holistic;curricula and syllabi were not revisedaccording to the needs of enterprises butmainly through increasing or reducing thenumber of hours taught for various themeswithin the overall time allocation in thestudy plan for various disciplines.

Another aggravating factor is the weakexpertise in standard development, whichin practice takes place without anyinvolvement from sectoral and professionalassociations.

The procedure for developing standards isbriefly described below.

� The Institute for Professional Educationof the Academy of Education developsguidelines and conducts seminars formethodologists of education andtraining institutions on the issues ofstandard development.

� The Institute for Vocational Educationand Training provides a list ofoccupations for which standards should

be developed based on the Classifier ofOccupations.

� The Institute for Vocational Educationand Training launches a tender for thedevelopment of standards.

� Standards are submitted to an expertcommittee, which reviews them usingthe agreed criteria.

� The selected standards are submitted tothe ministry for approval.

� Standards are approved by an Order ofthe ministry.

In the past three years there has been nosignificant progress in the assessment,accreditation and quality assurance systemof initial and secondary vocationaleducation, despite the importance of theseissues and the problem that their absencecan create.

Development of non-formal education

and training

By the end of the 1990s the growingcompetition on the education servicemarket led to the increased quality ofnon-formal vocational trainingprogrammes, which became moredemand-driven. Non-governmental andinternational organisations and foundationsplayed a positive role by introducinginnovative methodologies and modernisingthe content of education. Multi-level trainingand retraining programmes for youngpeople and adults that were based oninteractive methods, individual andmicro-group work practice, replacedgeneral lectures. The experience gained ina number of regions, particularly big cities,shows that the most successfulprogrammes are courses in business(‘Start and improve your own business’from the ILO), management, informationand communication technologies, banking,and foreign languages, as well as trainingfor other occupations that are in demandon the labour market (gas and electricalwelder, plumber, electrician, and theservice sector).

In practice, access to non-formal trainingprogrammes is limited for rural dwellersand socially disadvantaged groups, as theycannot afford these relatively expensiveservices.

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Some joint ventures created on the basis oflarge international companies havecontributed positively to the development ofprofessional training in Kazakhstan. Forexample, the international company ‘PhilipMorris’ has not only trained qualifiedworkers following international standardsbut it has contributed to setting up modernfarming businesses and creating newworkplaces. Another example worthmentioning is the enterprise ‘Imstalkon’which produces metal structures and hasmore than 6 000 employees. Each of itsdepartment has a five-year plan to train orretrain its staff using different methods oftraining: university teachers, mentoring,internal training, and traineeship inside andoutside the enterprise.

Links between initial and continuingeducation, formal and non-formal trainingare in the inception phase. The exchangeof experience and best practices and theintroduction of training programmes ineconomics, management andentrepreneurial skills development serveas a basis for emerging cooperation.Enterprises cooperate with traininginstitutions primarily for the organisation ofpractical training; there are no other formsof cooperation.

Network of formal and non-formal

training providers

As already mentioned in Section 1, formalbasic and full secondary vocationaleducation is provided by vocationalschools, lyceums and colleges. They mayoperate as independent training providersor as part of higher education institutions.

Non-formal vocational education isprovided through a network of differentstate or private institutions andorganisations. This network includesnon-school based education; sports, artsand leisure centres; as well as communityassociations; sectoral, professional andregional associations; non-governmentalorganisations; training, retraining andupgrading courses; private tutoring,on-the-job training, training in youthorganisations; political parties, and so on.

In recent years religious organisationshave started to play a growing role ineducation and training: in localcommunities, 49 confessions conduct notpurely religious but also moral and ethicaleducation.

Such a wide variety of non-formaleducation programmes, together withinstitutions of initial and secondaryvocational education and training, offergood opportunities for young people andadults who wish to pursue continuingtraining. However, these opportunities aremainly accessible in big cities.

In rural areas the number of organisationsstemming from civil society is growing.These associations try to combine theircommon interests to provide mutualassistance and learn from each other.Despite their low level of institutionalisationand their instable status they have acertain impact on providing skills to localpeople, in entrepreneurship, social andother life skills.

It should be mentioned that mostemployers and entrepreneurs, sectoral andprofessional associations, are now in adevelopment phase which severely limitstheir ability to fully participate in ademand-driven system of continuingvocational training. As a rule, theirparticipation is limited to consultations andworkshops on the principles of the legalsystem, business, management, marketingand other economic subjects. They cannotprovide specialised vocational training, forexample, for skilled workers (welder, latheoperator, mounter and so on), as they donot have the necessary training facilities.Thus, despite a diversity of trainingproviders and a wide variety of formal andnon-formal training programmes, the newlyestablished and restored enterprises arestill not able to find the qualified workersand specialists they need.

Teachers and trainers

As of the beginning of 2003 the totalnumber of teaching staff of basic and fullsecondary vocational education institutionsin the country amounted to 28 865. Ofthese, 20 952 worked in state institutions

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and 4 052 in private ones. The breakdownof teaching staff by type of vocationaleducation institution is given in Table 3.

Table 3: Teaching staff of vocational

education institutions

Teaching

staffState Private Total

Colleges 12 012 7 369 19 381

Vocationalschools

8 940 544 9 484

Total 20 952 7 913 28 865

Source: Ministry of Education and Science of the

Republic of Kazakhstan

The student/teacher ratio in both state andprivate colleges is 10.7:1, in statevocational schools the student/teacher(trainer) ratio is 9.6:1, and in privatevocational schools it is 6.5:1. More than70% of all trainers have secondaryvocational or secondary technicaleducation. This indicator is below theinternational standard (1:10–15): one of thereasons could be an improper use ofhuman resources, or the high number ofgeneral and specialised topics (and thecorresponding high number of teachers)that are taught in vocational schools.

The teaching staff of vocational educationinstitutions is ageing: around 30% ofteachers and trainers have been teachingfor between one and 10 years and 70%have been teaching for more than 10years. The average teaching load perteacher exceeds the standard teachingload by 1.5 times. According to the dataprovided by the Ministry of Education andScience, in 2002 vocational educationinstitutions had a shortage of 1 194teachers in vocational subjects. Highlyqualified teachers and trainers keep onleaving vocational education institutionsbecause of low salaries. As of thebeginning of 2003 the average salary ineducation varied from KZT 10 000 to

KZT 15 000 (approximately US$ 67 to100). In 2002, for the first time 100 grantsand 30 loans were provided to trainteachers and trainers for vocationalschools and colleges in higher educationinstitutions.

According to existing norms, teachersshould attend skills upgrading courses notless than once every five years. However,funds are not available to pay for allvocational education teachers and trainersand administrative staff to attend suchcourses. For example, during the lastacademic year only 2 794 college teachersattended skills upgrading courses,representing 14.4% of all college teachers.The courses offered concentrate mainly onpedagogical and management issues.There are no skills upgrading courses fortechnical specialities. The situation isworsened by the absence ofmethodological departments for vocationaleducation and training in the regional skillsupgrading institutes.

Most teachers upgrade their skills throughmethodological work organised in colleges,or during short seminars organised byvocational education specialists from theregional departments of education.

Training in enterprises

Only large, and some medium-sizedenterprises can afford to have their owntraining programmes: other enterpriseshave to hire trained workers. In thefinancial, transport, communication, massmedia and industrial sectors, virtually allcompanies undertake training programmesfor their staff, while in the light, food, hoteland catering sectors, 70% of all enterpriseshave in-company training programmes.The financial sector has the broadestvariety of training programmes. In generalthose benefiting first from training aremiddle management staff (much more thanlow level and top management staff). Manyenterprise managers consider that theirmain partners in recruitment, training,retraining and qualification upgrading arethe different training centres, professionalassociations, recruitment agencies andemployment services. The main incentiveto organise training is the need to increase

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the quality of services and productsdelivered.

These programmes of non-formaleducation have been brought about bychanging qualitative skills requirements aswell as the creation of new types ofenterprises and organisations that needworkers with modern skills. However, anumber of problems are still standing in theway of further progress. Among those arethe following unresolved problems:

� lack of integrated quality assurancesystem for such training services;

� limited access to training programmesdue to their high price;

� lack of information and statisticaldatabases;

� underdeveloped legislative regulation;� poor links with the system of formal

vocational education.

Training for the unemployed

Vocational training and retrainingprogrammes for the unemployed aremainly carried out in the framework of theGovernment Programme for Poverty andUnemployment Reduction. Between 2000and 2002 approximately 60 000 peoplereceived training within this programme,which covered about 80% of the totalnumber of the officially registeredunemployed at the time. Every year theauthorised regional bodies call a tender toplace government orders amonginstitutions of basic and full secondaryvocational education for short-term trainingand retraining programmes for theunemployed. These services are paid forfrom the local budgets. The basis fordefining training programmes is theregional demand for skills, and is based onthe regional development programmes.The most needed occupations are: cook,hairdresser, confectioner, security guard,administrative assistant, and so on. In2001, 19 800 people (6% of the totalnumber of officially registered unemployed)went through this type of vocationaltraining; 70% of trainees found a job and5.5% opened their own businesses. Themain problem facing these trainingprogrammes is their low popularityamongst trainees, who tend to seek

training in occupations that are consideredto be more prestigious. These includeoffice manager, tourism agent, bankworker, and customs and stock exchangeemployee, which, as a rule, are not indemand on the local labour markets.

Training and retraining for the unemployedin the agricultural sector remains an acuteproblem. According to the data released bythe Ministry of Agriculture, in 2002, 52 000individuals found a job in the agriculturalsector through training programmes inentrepreneurship and self-employment,micro loans and other programmes aimedat creating new jobs.

Skills needs assessment

Skills needs assessments are primarilyconducted in medium-sized and largeenterprises. A study conducted by theNational Observatory of Kazakhstan in theframework of the ETF project ‘Training forEnterprise Development’ has shown that inorder to assess skills needs and search fortraining providers, enterprises mainly relyon their own capacities. Less than half ofthe 60 enterprise managers surveyed relyon employers’ associations to obtain thistype of information. Around 40% ofenterprises surveyed foresee a possibleproblem of skills shortage in the near futureamongst their existing staff. This isparticularly true for the catering and hotelbusiness. Skills shortages are alsoexpected among specialists and qualifiedworkers, who represent the biggest shareof staff in enterprises.

There is a lack of various skills in thefollowing areas:

� qualified workers in production,maintenance and servicing;

� middle-level technical staff inmaintenance and management;

� specialists in management, maintenance,general and technical sales/marketing,research, production, and design;

� leading specialists in general sales,marketing, research and production;

� middle management: data andinformation and communicationtechnology management, technicalmanagement;

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� top level management: research,production, technical management.

The skills that are most often lacking aretechnical skills among workers andspecialists, and at management level, thecommand of foreign languages andmanagement skills (teamwork, leadershipand communication skills).

The forecasted deficit of specialists andskilled workers has been felt for the pasttwo to three years.

Here, the situation is characterised on theone hand by high unemployment and onthe other, by an unsatisfied demand forqualified labour, particularly from large andmedium-sized enterprises (automechanics, milling machine operators,welders, turners, fitters, boiler operators,tillers, designers, regulators, engineers,agricultural technicians, veterinarians andmany others). There are also difficulties infilling job vacancies in research, technicaland organisational management, designand administration.

According to some experts’ estimates, theshortages in these skills will continue togrow as the development of the industrialand agricultural sectors gathers pace.Therefore, a number of ministries, includingthe Ministry of Education and Science andthe Ministry of Labour and SocialProtection of the Population, have definedas their priority policy objective the need todevelop public monitoring mechanismsaimed at identifying and forecastingdemand for training, retraining andupgrading, geared to meet the needs of thegrowing sectors of the economy.

To assess skills needs, some labourmarket analysis are being undertaken –both quantitative and qualitative. There aregovernment bodies responsible forforecasting changes on the labour market.However, given the fast changes takingplace in the transition economy, thesestructures are unable to timely monitor in asystemic way the developments takingplace on the labour market.

In many cases, training institutionsthemselves are trying to identify futuredemand for skills in cooperation withemployers or professional associations.The outcomes of these analyses result inmodifications of the curricula (within theoptional part of the curricula), and refittingof classrooms, laboratories and workshops.

Today, skills requirements are definedprimarily at a regional level within theframework of the government’s ‘orders’ fortraining and retraining, covering all types ofeducation and carried out on the basis ofthe resources available from the regionalbudgets and the education institutions. Inother words, the government’s ‘orders’ fortraining are based on the financial,material, technical and human capacities ofvocational schools and colleges, ratherthan on the needs of the labour market. Insome regions, particularly in rural areas,this has led to a situation where no trainingat all is provided in occupations needed onthe local labour markets. In addition, inurban areas, a significant number of newhigher and secondary education institutionsoffer paid training programmes inoccupations that are considered to beprestigious, but, as already mentioned, thatare no longer in demand on the labourmarket.

The role of education and training in

anti-poverty strategies

According to UNDP data6 the proportion ofpeople living below the subsistence leveldecreased from 35% in 1996, to 27% in2002 (UNDP used as reference thesubsistence minimum equal to KZT 4.6 in2001, or a little above US$ 1 a day at theofficial exchange rate). From that group ofpeople living below subsistence level, themajority are children (35%), low-paidemployed population of working age (30%)and unemployed (29%), followed bypensioners (6%). On the other hand, andaccording to national statistics, thepercentage of people living below thesubsistence level (below US$ 4 per day,using as a reference the parity ofpurchasing power) in 2002 was 24.2%, andin 2003 19.6%. This reduction might bedue to the social measures taken to

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6 ‘Kazakhstan: Achievements, issues and prospects. A perspective by the United Nations’, January 2004.

combat poverty, such as social allowancesincluding free communal services, freemeals and transportation to schools.

According to the Report ‘On the results ofthe Programme of Poverty andUnemployment Reduction in 2000–02’prepared by the Ministry of Labour andSocial Protection of the Population, thesuccessful implementation of theprogramme is largely due to the activemeasures taken to provide training,retraining and qualification upgrading to theunemployed and other disadvantagedgroups. In the period under review(2000–02), about 60 000 unemployedcompleted different training programmesorganised by the employment services. Thisrepresents around 10% of the overallnumber of unemployed (690 700 in 2002).The Ministry of Labour and SocialProtection reports that out of 24 200unemployed who were trained or retrainedin 2002, 12 400 have found a job(representing 51.1% of the total).

The ‘Analysis of Training strategies forLocal Development in Kazakhstan’conducted by the National Observatory ofKazakhstan in 2003 with the support of theETF, indicates that new actors havebecome very active initiators andimplementers of training programmes forvarious groups of the population, especiallythose most vulnerable. These new actorsare non-governmental organisations –community-based organisations, which,with the financial support of international(but also national) donors, provide technicalsupport to many regions of Kazakhstan, inparticular to the ecologically and sociallydisadvantaged ones. For example, the ILOprogramme ‘Start and improve your ownbusiness’ has been implemented in 11regions of Kazakhstan including cities andrural districts.

There are other examples of the positiveeffects of education and training on povertyreduction processes but precise informationon the nature and degree of this impact isnot available.

SUMMARY OF SECTION 2

� For the vocational education and trainingsector, the beginning of the 21st centuryis being characterised by a search foridentity, and ways to recover and furtherdevelop the system in line with modernmarket relations. The emphasis needsnot only to be put on vocational trainingfor mid-level workers needed on thelabour market, but also on young peoplewho need to acquire vocational skillsenabling them to undertake independentactivities and self-employment.

� However, the lack of market experiencetogether with severe under-financinghinders the development of a flexiblesystem of basic and full secondaryvocational education, and preventsexpanding access to vocationaleducation and training for young peopleand adults alike.

� The lack of a national labour marketanalysis system and the weak system ofsocial partnership hinder thedevelopment of standards that wouldmeet the needs of a market economy.

� The network of further or non-formalvocational training and the system offormal vocational education operate inparallel and have no links with eachother. Due to relatively high tuition fees,the non-formal sector remainsunaffordable to disadvantaged groups.Nonetheless, these institutions serve asa basis for continuing education for asignificant number of young people andadults.

30


3. DEVELOPMENTS IN THEEMPLOYMENT POLICY

The employment policy in Kazakhstan isbased on a set of measures taken byresponsible central and regional bodiesand aimed at exercising the right to labourand employment. The main guidelines,content and mechanisms for governmentemployment policy implementation are setforth in the laws ‘On Employment of thePopulation’, ‘On Labour in the Republic ofKazakhstan’, and ‘On Social Partnership inthe Republic of Kazakhstan’, as well as inthe ‘State Poverty Reduction Programme inthe Republic of Kazakhstan in 2003–05’,and the ‘Strategic Development Plan of theRepublic of Kazakhstan through the year2010’.

Government bodies and authorities

The Ministry of Labour and SocialProtection and its departments in theregions are responsible for:

� developing and implementing the mainguidelines of the governmentemployment policies;

� coordinating all government agencies’activities in the area of employment;

� developing programmes foremployment;

� identifying minimum standards of socialand economic security for the citizens ofKazakhstan.

The Ministry of Labour and SocialProtection takes important politicaldecisions in cooperation with the ministriesof Finance, Economy, Education andScience, Health, Justice, and some others.

The key objectives of the governmentemployment policies include measuresaimed at:

� safeguarding existing jobs and creatingnew ones;

� improving the legal basis for labourmarket regulation;

� providing incentives for self-employmentand support for entrepreneurship;

� providing targeted social assistance tothe unemployed who live below thepoverty line;

� protecting the internal labour market byregulating the use of foreign labour;

31

3

� providing social protection fordisadvantaged groups by creatingsafeguarded jobs;

� improving labour quality andcompetitiveness;

� improving the micro-credit system;� organising public works;� developing new forms of cooperation

between the employment services, theemployers and vocational institutions.

Social partnership involving governmentagencies, trade unions and employers’associations, serves as a primaryimplementation mechanism foremployment policies. Under the currentlegislation all social partners have equalrights and opportunities for establishingcontacts on social and labour issues, andholding a constructive dialogue. Tripartiteagreements are the dominant form ofsocial dialogue at the national, regional andsectoral levels. Collective agreementscarry out this role at the enterprise level. Inrecent years the negotiations focused onthe development of a consumer goodsmarket, entrepreneurship, employment,labour protection, struggle against povertyand unemployment, protection of theinternal labour market, remuneration oflabour, and social and economicprotection, in particular of the mostdisadvantaged groups of population.

In accordance with the current legislationon employment, the governmentundertakes different active and passivemeasures of social protection againstunemployment. Support for job placement,vocational training, qualification upgrading,retraining and organisation of public works,are among the active labour marketmeasures. Passive measures includeprovision of state social assistance to thelow-income groups among theunemployed. An analysis of theemployment measures shows thatapproximately 30% of them are passive.

The Ministry of Labour and SocialProtection of the Population and itsDepartment of Labour and Employment areresponsible for the employment policies,development and improvement of the legaland regulatory basis, as well asadministrative and technical activities at

national level. Regional bodies follow theseissues as well. As an example, theorganisational structure of the Departmentof Labour, Employment and SocialProtection of the Population of Almaty Cityis given in Annex 4. As shown in thisdocument, the different measures toimplement the employment at local levelinclude:

� financial planning and economicanalysis;

� working with low-income groups, socialservices, community andnon-governmental organisations;

� job search and employment;� labour market analysis, implementation

of employment programmes andlicensing;

� organisation of public works and trainingfor the unemployed;

� control over compliance with labourlegislation;

� remuneration of labour, socialpartnership and labour relations.

Funding for the department comes from thelocal budget. The regional employmentprogrammes have become implementationtools for the employment policies on thelocal labour markets.

A number of obstacles are impeding thedevelopment of active employmentmeasures, a few of which are mentionedbelow.

� The current legislation does not inciteemployers to recruit disadvantaged andvulnerable people. Legislation is alsoincomplete on all issues related tocompetitions organised to buy trainingservices for the unemployed.

� There is no consistency of approach toidentify labour market needs whendeveloping the list of occupations forwhich training will be organised for theunemployed. The wishes of theunemployed often do not coincide withthe needs on the labour market.

� The interests of authorities, employers,and employees are often diverging, andthere is no system to facilitatenegotiation between them. In mostregions the commissions for socialpartnership exist only on paper and are

32


not involved in training issues, or inproviding information to partners. Ingeneral, their work is not verytransparent.

� International experience of continuingtraining is not properly taken intoconsideration, in particular theinternationally recognised need toprovide information and consultancyservices to young people and adults, orthe need to set up centres for careerdevelopment and job search,professional orientation and

psychological support for theunemployed.

� There are no mechanisms forevaluating the impact of projectsalready implemented at central andlocal levels.

Finding ways to solve the abovementionedproblems would strengthen theimplementation of employment policies,give them a more social orientation, andlink them more closely to the needs ofdifferent groups of the population.

33

3. DEVELOPMENTS IN THE EMPLOYMENT POLICY

4. CONCLUSIONS

There have been positive changes in theeconomic development of Kazakhstan overrecent years, although they were not deepenough to impact the developments in thebasic and full secondary vocationaleducation and training. It is well known thatthe recessionary tendencies in thecountry’s economy in the mid 1990s haveaffected the vocational education andtraining system most of all. Therefore, moretime is needed to radically improve itssituation. Nonetheless, many problemsrelated to the adjustment of the system tothe new social and economic environmenthave already been addressed.

The legal basis for a modernised basic andfull secondary vocational education systemhas been designed. The decentralisationprocess of education management is nowunder way. The modernisation of thecontent of education is being undertaken,including the design and updating ofeducational standards and curricula. Aprogramme for the provision of newlearning and teaching methodologicalmaterial is currently under implementation;new teaching and learning techniques arebeing introduced. The physical

infrastructure of vocational educationinstitutions is also gradually improving.

Developing social partnership withemployers, employment services and localgovernment bodies is becoming a priorityfor vocational education institutions andeducation authorities. Involvement of tradeunions is still at a very early stage ofdevelopment.

However, there are still many problems tobe addressed related to the quality oftraining for providing skills that are neededon the labour market. Largely, theseproblems persist due to the insufficientfunding of the initial and secondary VETsystem, poor physical infrastructure of VETinstitutions, and the departure of asignificant portion of the teaching staffduring the restructuring period, as well aslow salaries and wages.

Demographic developments have badlyaffected vocational education institutionsby reducing potential enrolment andtherefore income for schools. Providingaccess to initial vocational education andtraining, particularly for young people in

35

4

rural areas, remains a rather urgentproblem to be addressed. Cooperationbetween basic and full secondaryvocational education institutions andenterprises, employment services, andnon-formal training providers is not stableand efficient enough. The needs forretraining and upgrading the skills ofvocational education teaching staff are notbeing fully met. An efficient system ofvocational guidance and counselling foryoung people needs to be established.

To resolve the abovementioned problemsand to further modernise the basic and fullsecondary vocational education system,Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Education andScience has identified a set of priorityareas, including the need to:

� identify strategic areas for thedevelopment of the basic and fullsecondary vocational education system,and design the Law of the Republic ofKazakhstan ‘On Vocational Educationand Training’;

� design public mechanisms to monitorand forecast training, retraining andskills upgrading needs, with dueconsideration for national and regionaleconomic development;

� modernise fiscal policies related topublic expenditure on vocationaleducation and training, and increasepublic funding for the VET system incompliance with the needs of thesocio-economic development of thecountry;

� undertake measures to enhance andupdate the physical infrastructure of thebasic and full secondary vocationaleducation institutions in line with therequirements of modern learningtechnologies;

� foster social partnership;� provide training, retraining and skills

upgrading financed by local andinternational employers.

The implementation of these measures willlead to an increased quality of trainingdelivered to skilled workers and mid-levelspecialists, which is geared to meet theneeds of the country’s economy.

36


ANNEXES

ANNEX 1: AGE STRUCTURE OF THE POPULATION (AS OF THEBEGINNING OF THE YEAR)

1999 2000 20011999 2000 2001

Percentage of the total number

Total population 14 957 800 14 896 100 14 841 900 100.0 100.0 100.0

Under 1 year 217 800 205 100 214 800 1.5 1.4 1.4

1–4 972 300 911 800 861 500 6.5 6.1 5.8

5–9 1 501 100 1 446 900 1 384 200 10.0 9.7 9.3

10–14 1 606 900 1 602 100 1 586 500 10.7 10.8 10.7

15–19 1 398 900 1 422 900 1 450 900 9.4 9.6 9.8

20–24 1 292 200 1 302 300 1 308 400 8.6 8.7 8.8

25–29 1 154 600 1 164 300 1 173 600 7.7 7.8 7.9

30–34 1 069 800 1 054 300 1 052 300 7.2 7.1 7.1

35–39 1 201 600 1 175 500 1 133 500 8.0 7.9 7.6

40–44 1 037 600 1 063 800 1 092 100 6.9 7.1 7.4

45–49 855 400 869 900 883 600 5.7 5.8 6.0

50–54 525 700 613 900 691 600 3.5 4.1 4.7

55–59 553 000 459 000 387 000 3.7 3.1 2.6

60–64 561 600 606 300 621 100 3.8 4.1 4.2

65 and over 1 009 300 998 000 1 000 800 6.8 6.7 6.7

37

ANNEX 2: BREAKDOWN OF THE EMPLOYED POPULATION BYSECTOR

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Total employed population 6 127 600 6 105 400 6 201 000 6 698 800 6 708 900

Agriculture, hunting and forestry 1 353 900 1 335 400 1 940 700 2 366 300 2 366 700

Fishery 5 900 6 900 7 500 13 100 13 500

Industrial sector – Total 903 200 904 500 855 200 830 400 824 000

� Mineral resource industry 123 700 129 000 136 800 166 500 167 300

� Manufacturing industry 627 000 627 800 572 600 513 800 503 700

� Production and distribution ofelectricity, gas and water

152 500 147 700 145 800 150 000 153 000

Construction 222 900 210 600 226 100 264 000 268 400

Trade, auto and householdappliances repair

1 404 600 1 398 000 970 700 1 006 400 1 007 200

Hotels and catering 67 900 69 800 60 500 54 400 56 500

Transportation andcommunications

560 200 576 300 549 900 506 300 503 700

Finances 37 900 36 000 39 600 45 900 50 100

Real estate, rental and other services 183 500 210 800 226 000 213 600 203 400

Public management 346 200 343 500 314 000 280 500 280 400

Education 521 700 513 300 531 400 576 300 589 000

Healthcare and social services 325 900 320 300 291 600 287 100 292 600

Public utility services, other socialand individual services

193 700 171 800 181 400 183 100 186 300

Household services 100 7 500 6 300 71 400 66 800

Activities of offshore organisations - 700 100 0 300

ANNEX 3: BREAKDOWN OF THE UNEMPLOYED BY GENDERAND EDUCATION ATTAINMENT LEVEL IN 2001

Unemployed aged 15 and over (in %)

TotalIncluding

Female Male

Total unemployed population/educationattainment level

100.0 100.0 100.0

Higher education 12.9 12.7 13.1

Secondary vocational education 25.7 30.0 20.1

Initial vocational education 7.4 6.8 8.1

Secondary general education 43.4 41.8 45.4

Basic general education 7.9 6.4 9.9

Initial general education 2.7 2.3 3.4

Total unemployed population educationlevel/gender

100.0 56.7 43.3

Higher education 100.0 55.9 44.1

Secondary vocational education 100.0 66.2 33.8

Initial vocational education 100.0 52.3 47.7

Secondary general education 100.0 54.6 45.4

Basic general education 100.0 45.9 54.1

Initial general education 100.0 47.2 52.8

38


39

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41

ANNEXES

ANNEX 6: RESOLUTIONS OFTHE GOVERNMENT OF THEREPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTANBETWEEN 1999 AND 2002RELATED TO VOCATIONALEDUCATION AND TRAINING

� No 1290 ‘On design and approvalprocedures and validity of generallybinding educational standards’ (dated2 September 1999)

� No 1839 ‘On approval of standardstatute on educational institutions ofrespective types’ (dated 2 December1999)

� No 721 ‘On measures to furtherdevelop basic and full secondaryvocational education in the Republicof Kazakhstan’ (dated 15 May 2000)

� No 409 ‘On approval of theProgramme of design and publishingof textbooks, learning andmethodological packages onvocational subjects for initial andsecondary vocational educationalinstitutions in the Republic ofKazakhstan’ (dated 29 March 2001)

� No 616 ‘On approval of theProgramme of computerisation ofinitial and secondary vocationaleducational institutions in the Republicof Kazakhstan’ (dated 10 May 2001)

� No 1188 ‘On setting enrolment quotasfor specific population categories insecondary and higher vocationaleducational institutions’ (dated11 November 2002)

ANNEX 7: ILLUSTRATIONSOF SOCIAL PARTNERSHIPBETWEEN EMPLOYERS ANDINITIAL AND SECONDARYVOCATIONAL EDUCATIONINSTITUTIONS

The result of the cooperation between thevocational lyceum No 16 located inAlmaty with the Jeep Transport Companyand Remstroytekhnika – a state-ownedenterprise – is that these two companiesare committed to participating in allactivities related to vocational training,occupational practice and employment ofgraduates.

Another mutually beneficial cooperationhas been the one between theKazakhsmys Corporation and vocationalschools Nos 1 and 9 located in Satpaevand Zhezkhazgan. The corporation hasbeen involved in designing a customisedoccupational practice programme, whichprovides training for 23 specific skilledworker occupations, with follow-up skillsretention during the occupational practiceperiod in the enterprise.

The vocational lyceum No 3 inKaraganda and the Karaganda TelecomJoint-Stock Company have concluded along-term agreement to annually train100 mid-level specialists. The vocationallyceum and the company agreed on thetraining syllabus and occupationalpractice scheduling.

There are a lot of other examples ofenterprises assisting VET institutions inarranging occupational practice forstudents or employing VET graduates.Examples include the Construction andManagement College in Almaty that hasbeen involved for many years already insocial partnership with major companiesand enterprises in the city, includingcompanies like Almatyintergaz Joint-StockCompany, Gorvodokanal Joint-StockCompany, TeplocommunenegroJoint-Stock company, Basic-AConstruction Corporation, and so on.

This is a very good example of awell-established cooperation thatprovides a full-scale occupationalpractice for the college students, withemployers’ involvement in theexamination board as well as theirparticipation in editing educationalcurricula and other learning activities. Asa result of such productive cooperationthe employment rate of college graduatesis high, reaching 70% to 90% in specificoccupations.

Great experience has been accumulatedby the vocational school No 18, whichhas been operating in the educationalservice sector for 40 years, trainingmid-level specialists for public cateringand trade sector. Graduates of this

42


vocational school have been working in themajority of companies and enterpriseslocated in Almaty. Currently, the vocationalschool No 18 is interacting with more than

120 catering and trade companiesinAlmaty, including Ankara Hotelrestaurant, Astana Hotel restaurant, andthe Dastarkhan catering and trade network.

43

ANNEXES

REFERENCES

Kazakhstan – 2030, Address of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 1997.

Laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan:

� ‘On Labour in the Republic of Kazakhstan’, 2000� ‘On Employment’, 2001� ‘On Social Partnership’, 2000.

Strategic development plan of the Republic of Kazakhstan through the year 2010, Astana,2002.

Major areas of internal and external policies for 2004, President’s Address, 2003.

Resolutions of the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan over 1999-2002 related toVET (Annex 6).

Women and men in Kazakhstan, Gender statistics, Almaty, 2002.

Colleges in the Republic of Kazakhstan, Digest of the Agency of Statistics of the Republicof Kazakhstan, Almaty, 2002.

Basic indicators of the basic and full secondary vocational education system, Ministry ofEducation and Science, 2003.

Vocational schools in the Republic of Kazakhstan, Digest of the Agency of Statistics of theRepublic of Kazakhstan, Almaty, 2002.

Republic of Kazakhstan: 2003, Quick reference book, Agency of Statistics of the Republicof Kazakhstan, Almaty, 2003.

Socio-economic development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Digest of statistics, 2002,2003, Almaty, 2003.

45

ACRONYMS

ETF European Training Foundation

GDP Gross domestic product

ICT Information and communication technology

ILO International Labour Organisation

KZT Tenge (Kazakh currency)

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

VET Vocational education and training

47

review of vocational education and …...information on the vocational education and training system...

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