Due to the fact that we are living in the time of globalization, it is presumed that all the people should strive to the one heterogeneous and diverse society, free from the stereotypes and any type of segregation, thus, any democratic society should eschew the “standardization”, and instead start promoting the pluralism concept in order to evolve as a better society. Therefore, embracing the concept of inclusion is the best policy to thrive as a sound democratic society. In Kazakhstan inclusive education has been evolving not for a very long time, thus, it is yet young and promising field. However, having analyzed the OECD reports (2009; 2014) the author tried to draw the conclusion on how inclusion and inclusive education are functioning in Kazakhstan and whether these attempts are successful.
As Rouse et al. (2014) point out, the concept of inclusion in Kazakhstan has been discredited for long period of time and referred mainly to people with disabilities, and now the concept of inclusion is gradually changing, owing to the governmental reforms and policies, which throw campaigns against stereotypes. Therefore, it is important to look at the successful incentives which help our society to think out of the box and understand inclusion concept.
What can be considered the major breakthrough of our inclusive education system is that our legislation system (Law on Education, 2007; 2011) has espoused the inviable principle that children with special needs and disabilities should be able to go to mainstream school if their parents choose so, which attests to the fact that our society tries to minimize boundaries and tries to embrace the diversity within the educational settings. Moreover, the schools are gradually becoming fitted with the necessary facilities for children with special needs, as OECD (2014) reports, from 2010, when only 10% of schools were provided with the necessary facilities, in 2013 this figure rose “rapidly to 23% in 2013 and the government hopes to raise this to 30% by 2015 and 70% by 2020” (p. 24).
Another appealing factor is the involvement of NGOs in the support of inclusive education. For now we have numerous NGOs operating for the sake of provision educational and other services in Kazakhstan to children with disabilities, such as “Kenes, Ardi, Akbota, Umit, Alpamys in Taldykorgon, Nadezhda in Kostanai and elsewhere” (OECD, 2009, p. 62).
Moreover, it important to note that our government allocates enough funding for the building of appropriate schools for children with learning disabilities. For example, in Astana, it is planned to build a new school for children with behaviour problems (known as psychosocial disorders and disruptive behavior) at a cost of KZT 250 million (USD 2.12 million). In addition, plans have been made for a new “superschool” (OECD, 2009, p. 65), and sponsors are being sought to support the education of children with visual impairments.
All things considered, it can be safely assumed that Kazakhstan is successfully combating the issues with the equal access to education, however there are still rooms for the improvement. The major challenge we cannot yet get rid of comes from our Soviet Union perception of the “inclusion” definition, which, to be more precise, did not even exist. As Rouse et al. (2014) put it, before the XXI century there was no such a term, instead, it was called “defectology”, which was utterly segregationist, and the main solution was seen only in the professional treatment. Moreover, despite the governmental willingness to make the concept of inclusion well-known, still lots of people seem to be ignorant of such a concept, which tells about the lack of awareness within the society. Therefore, the government should promote the concept of inclusion more robustly since ignorance is the worst enemy, thwarting the wellbeing of the democratic country.
All in all, our country has really optimistic prognosis in the development of inclusive education for the future; however, we should understand that it takes time to make the society more aware and cautious about this issue, and it is too early now to draw the clear conclusion. Yet, there are possibilities that by 2020 the inclusive education will prosper and we will fully embrace the “rights-based” model of inclusion. And what is your personal opinion on the inclusion matter?
Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan. (2007). No. 319-III: On Education, 27 July 2007 (with changes and additions on 24 October 2011).
OECD. (2009). Students with special needs and those with disabilities. In Reviews of National Policies for Education in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, OECD Publishing.
OECD. (2014). Equity and effectiveness of schooling in Kazakhstan. In Reviews of National Policies for Education: Secondary Education in Kazakhstan, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264205208-5-en
Rouse, M., Yakavets, N., & Kulakhmetova, A. (2014). Towards Inclusive Education: Swimming Against the Tide of Educational Reform. In Bridges, D. (Eds.), Towards the Next Stages of Reform in Kazakhstan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
As Rouse et al. (2014) point out, the concept of inclusion in Kazakhstan has been discredited for long period of time and referred mainly to people with disabilities, and now the concept of inclusion is gradually changing, owing to the governmental reforms and policies, which throw campaigns against stereotypes. Therefore, it is important to look at the successful incentives which help our society to think out of the box and understand inclusion concept.
What can be considered the major breakthrough of our inclusive education system is that our legislation system (Law on Education, 2007; 2011) has espoused the inviable principle that children with special needs and disabilities should be able to go to mainstream school if their parents choose so, which attests to the fact that our society tries to minimize boundaries and tries to embrace the diversity within the educational settings. Moreover, the schools are gradually becoming fitted with the necessary facilities for children with special needs, as OECD (2014) reports, from 2010, when only 10% of schools were provided with the necessary facilities, in 2013 this figure rose “rapidly to 23% in 2013 and the government hopes to raise this to 30% by 2015 and 70% by 2020” (p. 24).
Another appealing factor is the involvement of NGOs in the support of inclusive education. For now we have numerous NGOs operating for the sake of provision educational and other services in Kazakhstan to children with disabilities, such as “Kenes, Ardi, Akbota, Umit, Alpamys in Taldykorgon, Nadezhda in Kostanai and elsewhere” (OECD, 2009, p. 62).
Moreover, it important to note that our government allocates enough funding for the building of appropriate schools for children with learning disabilities. For example, in Astana, it is planned to build a new school for children with behaviour problems (known as psychosocial disorders and disruptive behavior) at a cost of KZT 250 million (USD 2.12 million). In addition, plans have been made for a new “superschool” (OECD, 2009, p. 65), and sponsors are being sought to support the education of children with visual impairments.
All things considered, it can be safely assumed that Kazakhstan is successfully combating the issues with the equal access to education, however there are still rooms for the improvement. The major challenge we cannot yet get rid of comes from our Soviet Union perception of the “inclusion” definition, which, to be more precise, did not even exist. As Rouse et al. (2014) put it, before the XXI century there was no such a term, instead, it was called “defectology”, which was utterly segregationist, and the main solution was seen only in the professional treatment. Moreover, despite the governmental willingness to make the concept of inclusion well-known, still lots of people seem to be ignorant of such a concept, which tells about the lack of awareness within the society. Therefore, the government should promote the concept of inclusion more robustly since ignorance is the worst enemy, thwarting the wellbeing of the democratic country.
All in all, our country has really optimistic prognosis in the development of inclusive education for the future; however, we should understand that it takes time to make the society more aware and cautious about this issue, and it is too early now to draw the clear conclusion. Yet, there are possibilities that by 2020 the inclusive education will prosper and we will fully embrace the “rights-based” model of inclusion. And what is your personal opinion on the inclusion matter?
References
Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan. (2007). No. 319-III: On Education, 27 July 2007 (with changes and additions on 24 October 2011).
OECD. (2009). Students with special needs and those with disabilities. In Reviews of National Policies for Education in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, OECD Publishing.
OECD. (2014). Equity and effectiveness of schooling in Kazakhstan. In Reviews of National Policies for Education: Secondary Education in Kazakhstan, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264205208-5-en
Rouse, M., Yakavets, N., & Kulakhmetova, A. (2014). Towards Inclusive Education: Swimming Against the Tide of Educational Reform. In Bridges, D. (Eds.), Towards the Next Stages of Reform in Kazakhstan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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