Kazakhstan’s Bolashak Scholarship Program

Bolashak, a scholarship of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, is established to educate future leaders at the best higher education institutions abroad. Introduced in 1993, the program is fully funded by the government and offers scholarship to high-performing students from Kazakhstan for studying abroad. Bolashak, which means ‘future’ in Kazakh, prioritizes educating country’s talented youth at the best universities with the aim of preparing “the next generation of leaders of the country” (Perna et al., 2015). Major principles of the program include competitive selection of the applicants, sending students to the best universities worldwide, and maintaining a positive image of the country. Upon completion of the program, scholarship recipients are required to return and work in Kazakhstan for five years.

According to the official statistics, since 1993 the scholarship has been awarded to 10,363 Kazakhstan citizens and for majority of the scholars the program has been the only possibility to study abroad. The program has increased social-economic opportunities for talented young people, equaling chances for all participants, in particular from rural regions. For instance, 65% of experts believe that the program plays a crucial role of a social lift for young people from low-income families with (Association of Kazakhstan President’s Bolashak International Scholarship Fellows, 2015). Moreover, Bolashak scholarship plays its important role in internationalization of the education process of Kazakhstan. According to Nygymetov (cited in Orazgaliyeva, 2014), the program has gained considerable international recognition and many other countries use Kazakhstani model in developing their own scholarship programs.

Despite the above-mentioned benefits, there has been a certain level of criticism of the program. Firstly, there was a common belief that scholarship holders are exclusively the children of wealthy people, government officials, or people in power. As Sagintayeva and Zhumakulov (2015) note, as a result of lack of publicity and limited number of scholarships, this negative attitude raised the question of transparency and objectivity of the selection of participants. However, according to recent survey results, “parents of 38 % of the recipients are small traders, small entrepreneurs, and 35 % are civil servants or employees of state-funded organizations”, showing a good clear picture that students from different backgrounds study abroad through this program (Konyrov, 2013).

Critics further claim that employers report about high expectations hold by graduates in terms of job positions and salaries, inapplicability of their gained knowledge, scarce knowledge of internal contexts, and refusal of the majority of graduates to work in the regions. Survey shows that 5.5 % out of 1400 graduates who participated in the survey have not found a job yet (Konyrov, 2013). Moreover, 55% of the graduates are employed by private companies, thus they are not making any direct contribution to Kazakhstani public sector (Ibid, 2013). Additionally, the issue of brain drain has been discussed openly, which could result in loosing human capital and investment. However, survey results revealed that only 1% of all scholarship recipients did not return to the country (Konyrov, 2013).

Nevertheless, in my opinion, the program brought many benefits to the country, society, and individuals in particular. Studying and living abroad promote the image of the country and the acquisition of essential skills and knowledge, which in turn aids the country to build its human capital as well as to advance connections with the global world. It would be interesting to hear your views about the strengths, weaknesses, potential opportunities, and threats of the program?

References:

Association of Kazakhstan President’s Bolashak International Scholarship Fellows (2015). “Bolashak” program turns 20 years. Retrieved from: http://bolashak.kz/en/news/single/1422

Konyrov, B. (2013). Bolashak scholarship rumours. Retrieved from: http://en.tengrinews.kz/edu/Bolashak-scholarship-rumours-dispelled-23790/

Orazgaliyeva, M. (2014). Bolashak scholarship makes graduates and country competitive. Retrieved from: http://www.astanatimes.com/2014/06/bolashak-scholarship-makes-graduates-country-competitive/

Perna, L.W., Orosz, K. & Jumakulov, Z. (2015). Understanding the human capital benefits of agovernment-funded international scholarship program: An exploration of Kazakhstan’s Bolashak program. International Journal of Educational Development, 40, 85–97.

Sagintayeva, A. & Zhumakulov, Z. (2015). Kazakhstan’s Bolashak scholarship Program. International Higher Education, 79, 21-23.

Parental Involvement in Language Learning

Language is the best example of societal nature of human beings: one is unlikely to learn a language unless he/she perceives it at least once. It is really amazing to study how a child starts speaking when not only articulation is changing but also a learner acquires cultural aspects of a language. Since parents are usually the first speaking environment for a child, it is reasonable to describe the influence of their speaking skills on developing child’s literacy in order to determine fields for further research.

It is not a secret that the first method of acquiring a language is imitation. This means that children simply repeat all those sound they hear. Therefore, children tend to change word forms adopting them to their articulation. Speaking the language of parents, children can even learn two languages. This language acquisition method is called “one parent, one language”.

However, as soon as parents realize that their children need more help in developing language skills, they invite external speakers including babysitters, grandparents, or tutors. The reasons for that can vary: to ensure children’s prosperous future, to load brain activity, or to make them speak language(s) they want(ed) to learn.

But even if parents ask for this help, they still keep being influential for children’s speaking environment creating domains and encouraging (or sometimes discouraging) language learning. As a result, a child differentiates languages spoken to mother and father (referring to “one parent, one language” strategy) or the purpose of speech: one language for informal speech, another - for study, and the third one – for physical activities.

All these examples demonstrate the indispensable role of parents in the process of language acquisition. In this reason, it will be really interesting to me to investigate parents’ beliefs about language learning by their children. This study will help to explain why parents choose certain language for their children and what kind of means they use.

Gender matters in education

“Women are better at language learning than men” - it is a well-known phenomenon for everyone. Even in Kazakhstan, many women and girls opt for language and education field rather than boys. One example is GSE classes –one male or no male in the class, or just remember your ex-group from bachelor.

Many studies on relationships between gender and language learning used difference approach which addresses gender as a social category (Schmenk, 2004). It assumes that male and female are fundamentally different; accordingly, their preferences are discrepant. Therefore, this difference approach always supports the idea that language education is a feminine domain. The article by Schmenk breaks this common stereotype. The main idea of the author is that “language learners are themselves constantly constructing and reconstructing their identities in specific contexts and communities” (p.514). Schmenk points out that many studies “continually reproduce and reinterpret prior beliefs” about female superiority in language learning, because it is a believed conception by all (p.519). People are used to believe in widespread stereotypes about gender. In fact, language education is itself feminized. Due to the constructed tradition that women choose language learning rather than scientific or other fields, male and female learners naturally follow the widespread stereotype (Schmenk, 2004).

From the past time, Kazakhs always differentiated male and female, their positions and roles because of the mentality and culture. And nowadays, looking at different numbers of males and females in working or learning areas, we can say that gender difference stereotype still exists.

The author Schmenk makes good point to think about gender and language education from other perspective and changed my mind that even though there are gender differences, the choices should be done individually. The fact that there is one male in language learning classroom or one female in scientific discipline rejects the gender stereotypes and makes exception.

References:

 Schmenk, B. (2004).  Language learning: A feminine domain? The role of stereotyping in constructing gendered learner identities, TESOL Quarterly, 38(3), Gender and Language Education,514-524

Improving teacher status!

In recent years, the prestige of teacher profession have been decreasing among young generation. Students of pedagogical universities are often those graduates who are not enrolled in a prestigious educational institutions, but later they go to work in other spheres. The main reason for this is the change of attitudes of society towards the teaching profession. 

According to Hargreaves et al. (2007), there are domains which influence the teacher status: public opinion, national and international media, government, recent government policies and their relevance to teacher status. Many surveys show that public opinion is not high, i.e there exist stereotypes which state that to be a teacher is not prestigious. Teachers' salary is low compared to other prestigious professions. Moreover, society criticize teachers for low qualification and unprofessionalism. Here again, it flaws from dissatisfaction of teachers with profession and job. Media is "also undoubtedly an important public arena for the articulation and contestation of teacher status" (Hargreaves et al., 2007, p.20). Likewise, government plays an essential role promoting the prestige of teacher profession, especially, recruitment and key policies address such education issues. 

With respect to all points mentioned above, some priority measures can be identified to improve teacher status in Kazakhstan as well as in other countries. First, most common solution is increasing teacher salary. Second, great attention must be drawn to the quality of education in pedagogical univeristies, and best school graduates who are ready to be real teachers have to be selected for admission. Third, all teachers, regardless of their age, should be supported with financial aids and opportunities for professional development. 

P.S. What other possible steps should be taken in order to improve teacher status? What do you think?

References

Hargreaves, L. et al. (2007). The status of teachers and the teaching profession in England: views from inside and outside the profession. Teacher status project, University of Cambridge Faculty of Education and *Department of Media and Communication, University of Leicester

retrieved from  http://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/teacherstatus/Summaryreport_25Jan07_print_ready_version.pdf

Two worlds and Two language cases.

In this blog, I will shed light on the similarities and differences of language cases in Peru and in Kazakhstan. There are several reasons for choosing Peru to compare with Kazakhstan. First, one of my close friends is Peruvian. Second, my age-old dream spot, Machu Picchu Inca site is located in Peru.

At first consideration, the two countries of Kazakhstan and Peru have nothing in common. In reality, the opposite is true.  First, both share the status as “developing countries”. Next, the word “multi” is key in identifying similarities of the two countries because both are multiethnic, multicultural, and multilingual. There are more than 130 ethnicities living in Kazakhstan. If Kazakhstan measures ethnicities mostly in numbers, Peruvians refer to race percentages: 45% Amerindian, 37% mestizo (of mixed Spanish and Amerindian ancestry), 15% white, and 3% black, Asian, or other. Peruvians and Kazakhstani people share the common feature of diversity.

Concerning languages, Spanish in Peru is akin to Russian in Kazakhstan; Quechua and other indigenous languages of Peru are like Kazakh in Kazakhstan. Unsurprisingly, English shares a similar state in both countries. Although countries can be alike, a difference does occur as Peruvian Spanish differs from other variations of Spanish worldwide.

Peru’s language policy slightly differs from Kazakhstani one. Peru has many official languages; there is no state language existence. The official languages are Spanish and Amerindian languages (Quechua, and Aymara), and there are other indigenous languages. Kazakhstan has Kazakh as a state language and Russian as an official language. Minority languages of Kazakhstan include Uzbek, Uygur, Ukrainian, Tatar, Kyrgyz, Korean, Armenian, German, Polish, etc. As for Peru, it used to have 84 indigenous languages, of which 37 have been lost, and the other 47 are still alive today in Peru (Ortiz, 2013). The second official language of Peru, Quechua, has less popularity than the dominant language, Spanish. According to Coronel-Molina (1999) Quechua speakers see no future for the Quechua language. As a consequence, they turn to Spanish as a potentially dominant and more prestigious one. This case is reminiscent of  Soviet Kazakhstan when living better was associated with the  Russian language rather than the indigenous Kazakh language.

Due to globalization, English spread into Kazakhstan and Peru as well. English language in both countries has a similar situation; usually, youth, educated people, and businessmen are thought to be competent in English.

A unique language feature of Peru and Kazakhstan concerns variation. Spanish language itself differs according to which nations uses it. For instance, Spanish serves as an official language in more than fifteen countries. People from Spain, Dominican Republic, and Peru understand each other but some words would be unclear. Amerindian indigenous languages played a significant role in Peruvian Spanish. The Kazakhstani case is completely different. The Russian language is hundred percent the same in all Russian-speaking countries. Although language has no variations, in Post-Soviet countries indigenous ethnicities may mix Russian with their mother tongues (by code-switching or new word formations). In Kazakhstan, Shala-Kazakh (mix of Kazakh and Russian) is an example of these variations. These language mixes do not go beyond its usage, as only indigenous people mix languages.  Indeed, Russians who live in Post-Soviet countries tend to not mix Russian with other languages.

Overall, Peru and Kazakhstan have more in common than one can imagine. First, both are multiethnic and multilingual. Second, languages can be equivalent by their usage and statuses. Third, English language lies in similar state. However, Peruvian Spanish clearly differs from Kazakhstani Russian language.  The provided comparison of countries is pivotal “to think out of the box”. When it comes to language cases and language policies such mini-research broadens horizons to reconsider how small the world around us is.

References

Ortiz, Diego O. (2013, June 6). Peru’s native languages are fighting for survival. Retrieved from http://www.peruthisweek.com/blogs-perus-native-languages-are-fighting-for-survival-100088

Hornberger, N. H. (1999). Language in education: Regional report on Latin America (Doctoral dissertation, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104-6216 USA).

Kuoda Travel. Cusco, Peru. Spanish, Quechua, and English: languages spoken in peru and how to be a savvy traveler. Retrieved from http://www.kuodatravel.com/blog/spanish-quechua-and-english-languages-spoken-in-peru-and-how-to-be-a-savvy-traveler/

Frommers.www.frommers.com. Language. Retrieved from http://www.frommers.com/destinations/peru/686144#sthash.MAouPt7L.ogwsy66V.dpbs

The first Kazakh blogger

...Адамдық диқаншысы қырға шықтым,

Көлі жоқ, көгалы жоқ қырға шықтым,

Тұқымын адамдықтын шашым, ектім,

Көңілін көтеруге бұл халықтың...

…I am a farmer of humanity, went up to the hill,

Empty, with no lake, and even no green,

Distributed humanity over that field,

To enlighten and cater these people…

(Baitursynov, 1911).

I am proud to live in the nation, which has a great deal of campaigners for augmenting the education. One of them is Akhmet Baitursynuly (1872-1937).  We know him as the great educator, who elaborated the Kazakh alphabet, and the great writer, who translated the Krylov’s fables. Did you know that on top of that, he was the first and the greatest Kazakh blogger?  Akhmet Baitursynuly, despite living long before the internet invention, was the first person to fight for the development of education in the Kazakh land through the articles in the newspapers and magazines. He found the best way, considering the pressure and danger from the Russian Empire, to get his point across to the people. His articles covered the main issues in the country like independence, the development of education and the Kazakh language. For example, his first articles “Қазақ хәм түрлі мәселелер (Kazakh people and different issues)” and “Бастауыш мектеп (Primary school)” were published in 1911 in “Aikyn” magazine. In 1912 he published other articles like “Білім жарысы (The competitiveness of education)” and “Оқу жайы (Concerning education)” in the “Kazakh” newspaper. (Aliyeva & Zhauymbayev, n.d.)

Publishing more than thirty articles in Kazakh and Russian languages, he encouraged the people to read newspapers. Founding the “Kazakh” newspaper, he unraveled the value of newspapers and magazines with five factors. The main factor is that newspapers are the eyes and ears of the nation. Consequently, the nation which does not read the newspaper is deaf and dumb. Then, newspapers are the best tools to educate and direct people in the right way. Lastly, he defined the newspaper as the voice of the people (Aliyeva & Zhauymbayev, n.d.).

In one of the precious articles regarding educational issues in Kazakhstan, the great educator intimated the most important constituents of education at school: firstly, schools should have strong and committed teachers; secondly, resources should be constantly updated according to the needs of children; finally, the quality of education directly depends on precise curriculum. (Central library system, 2015). Are these features similar to the ones we study at GSE?

There is no doubt that education in Kazakhstan will not be this good without the invaluable contribution of Akhmet Baitursynuly. All in all, he gave a chance to the peasant class to get acquainted with the fables of Krylov as well as learning the Kazakh alphabet. Bottom line, he enheartened the people to gain knowledge emphasizing its importance through the articles. There is definitely a lot to learn from the great educator’s way to reach the people.

References

Aliyeva, B., & Zhamuymbayev, S. (n.d.). Akhmet Baitursynovtyn omiri men kogamdyk-saiyasi kysmetteri [Akhmet Baitursynov’s life and social, political activities]. Retrieved from  http://e-history.kz/kz/contents/view/2403

Baitursynuly, A. (1911). Adamdyk Dikanshysy [The farmer of humanity]. Retrieved from http://www.zharar.com/kz/olen/1455-ahmet.html

Central library system of Ust-Kamenogorsk. (2015). Pedagogika pani, onyn negizgi ugymdary [Pedagogy and its main features]. Retrieved from http://kitaphana.kz/ru/downloads/referatu-na-kazakskom/236-pedagogika/3259-pedagogika-pani.html

Benefits and challenges of internationalization in South Africa

          

      South African higher education system faces the challenge of meeting the demands of globalization, while still trying to address the issues of inequality, racial discrimination, poverty, and inadequate funding. Internationalization is considered as one of the major strategies of meeting the emerging challenges and is commonly defined as “the process of integrating an international, intercultural or global dimension into the purpose, functions or delivery of post-secondary education” (Knight, 2008, p. 11). According to Knight (2014), internationalization offers benefits as well as unintended consequences.
      One of the major goals of internationalized higher education is to provide the most relevant and quality education to students.  South Africa’s strategy has been relatively successful in increasing the mobility and growth of students and staff. In the South African context, the number of international students has increased from 6,000 in 1996 to 60,552 in 2007, with the majority of them being from other African countries. International students’ decision of destination is generally shaped by several factors including individual choice, economic, and private concerns. Attractiveness of South Africa as the major destination for many international students can be explained in terms of several pull factors including quality programmes in internationally known universities, use of English as the predominant language of learning, affordable cost of education, and safety (Sehoole, 2011).
       Another strong approach is country’s demonstration of a relative success in empowering African people with knowledge generation capacity. South Africa’s philanthropic goals of regionalism led to the growth of intra-Africa internationalization and greater cooperation between African universities (Jowi, 2009). Taking a leading role within the region, South Africa set a national agenda to ‘Africanise’ the purposes, functions, and curriculum of higher education institutions, increase the mobility of African students and staff, establish joint research programmes and institutional agreements, and empower African staff development. Furthermore, South Africa plays a key role in reviving regional universities, establishing regional research networks, and developing systems of south-south collaboration (Jowi, 2009). By strengthening the cooperation, South Africa is becoming “a leading contributor to growth and poverty alleviation in the region” (Kishun, 2007, p. 458).
      Although South Africa’s instrumental approach to internationalization has been successful in some respect, there is a plethora of challenges facing the country in achieving the complex process of internationalization of higher education. First of all, since 1994 there is a little to almost no reference to the term internationalization in national policies and no explicitly stated policy objective of internationalization of higher education in South Africa. It is widely argued that international activities are taken place in an ad-hoc and reactionary manner with poor strategic planning and coordination between ministries, HEIs, and organizations. It has been argued by some that this has resulted as country’s economy could not “break out of the development path of the apartheid era” (Dunn & Nilan, 2007, p. 270).
       Lack of regulatory frameworks, inadequate public funding, poor strategic planning, and loose institutional cooperation resulted in many HEIs unable to competently address the demands and challenges of internationalization. Teferra and Albach (2004) further contribute by saying that institutions’ “inefficient and highly bureaucratic management systems” (p. 44) have resulted in recruiting poorly qualified personnel working within inefficient management infrastructure. In this regard, institutional disorganization directly affects the quality of academic programmes, which is the core of internationalization. Rapid growth of student population in South African universities and inadequate resource capacity resulted in high rate of attrition and failure among students. Universities as local agents failed to provide proper environment for teaching and learning as well as underpinned reluctance of faculty to study and research (Dunn & Nilan, 2007).
          In conclusion, there is an urgent need to develop a coherent and balanced policy framework on the internationalization of higher education in South Africa, which should be supported by sufficient resources support and formulated within the context of the country. Otherwise, country might fail to benefit from educational internationalization as well as to adequately contribute to the development of the continent.

References:

Dunn, M., & Nilan, P. (2007). Balancing economic and other discourses in the internationalization of higher education in South Africa. International Review of Education 53 (3), 265-281.

Jowi, J. O. (2009). Internationalization of higher education in Africa: Developments, emerging trends, issues and policy implications. Higher Education Policy, 22(3), 263-281.

Kishun, R. (2007). The Internationalisation of higher education in South Africa: Progress and challenges. Journal of Studies in International Education, 11(¾), 455-469.

Knight, J. (2008). The internationalization of higher education: complexities and realities. Higher education in Africa: The international dimension, 1-43.

Knight, J. (2014). Is internationalisation of higher education having an identity crisis? In The forefront of international higher education (pp. 75-87). Netherlands: Springer.

Seehoole, C. (2011). Student mobility and doctoral education in South Africa. Perspectives in Education, 29(3), 53-63.

Teferra, D., & Altbach, P. G. (2004). African higher education: Challenges for the 21st century. Higher education, 47(1), 21-50.

Should schools teach sex education?

             

         Sexuality education is defined as a process of acquiring correct information and forming healthy attitudes and beliefs about sexual identity, relationships, and intimacy. Moreover, it is about providing essential information for young people about "abstinence, body image, contraception, gender, human growth and development, human reproduction, pregnancy, relationships, prevention of sexually transmitted infections, sexual anatomy and physiology, sexual health, and sexual orientation" (Plannedparenthood, 2015). It is widely argued in western societies that providing sex education promotes health and well-being of young people. The major aim of this education is to reduce potential negative results from sexual behavior, in particular unplanned pregnancies and transmission of sexual infections. Additionally, it also helps young people to feel safe and make informed decisions (Plannedparenthood, 2015).

            The proponents, who support the idea of the necessity of providing sex education for pupils, believe that schools with the help of parents should provide developmentally appropriate knowledge with the aim of helping students to make healthy decisions. According to the many, “medically accurate sex education is an investment in our children’s future”, where the return will be a generation of healthy young people able to make informed decisions, feeling comfortable with their body, and capable to build healthy relationships (Plannedparenthood, 2015). Interestingly, according to the results of National Public Radio survey, almost ninety per cent of US parents support sex education in schools and the majority of them believe that sex education has been very helpful for their children (Plannedparenthood, 2015).

            However, sex education is one of the most controversial issues in contemporary education (Whitehead, 1994). Despite the above-mentioned potential positive outcomes, there is a criticism about the necessity, implementation, and content of sex education. The major critique is that there is still little evidence about the effectiveness of this education, arguing that sex education does not really prevent young female students from increased teenage pregnancy and prevent young people from sexually transmitted disease. There is an ongoing debate about the appropriate age of teenagers and content of the curriculum, posing such questions as at what age, in what manner, and what type of information schools need to provide for young people. Critics continue saying that schools take away the responsibility from parents in educating their children about sexual education. Another issue is that teachers are not always sufficiently trained to teach sexual education and may potentially be biased. Incorrect information and vague ideas of teachers in turn may negatively affect impressionable mind of young people. Additionally, sexual education may go against moral and religious beliefs hold by many young people and confuse students. Finally, it has been widely argued that sex education may potentially encourage and raise teenagers’ curiosity about sex.

            Unfortunately, problems like teenage pregnancy, rape, and discrimination become more common nowadays and there is a belief that sex education might help to reduce these problems. Schools should effectively train teachers, who need to have healthy and positive attitudes and can provide an accurate information in a nonbiased way. There is no doubt that this controversial theme will continue to be the grist of everyday discussions and debates and raise many questions from schools, parents, teachers, and young people. Therefore, it is important to raise social awareness as well as responsibility to come up with the best effective ways of delivering information so that youth could make informed decisions. What do you think about the pros and cons of adopting sex education in Kazakhstan? 

References:

Plannedparenthood. (2015). Implementing Sex Education. Retrieved from: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/educators/implementing-sex-education

Whitehead, B.D. (1994). The Failure of Sex Education. The Atlantic online. Retrieved from: http://www.theatlantic.com/past/politics/family/failure.htm

The role of key persons on students’ education and career decisions in STEM fields

           Engineers and scientists are widely acknowledged as the the enabling specialists who will address the demands of a global competitiveness agenda by leading their country’s innovative industrial development. The shortage of such professionals may delay the nation’s efforts and end endeavors. Therefore, it is very important to keep current STEM students and motivate potential university applicants to enter in STEM fields. Literature suggests many different factors that influence students’ decision-making. Among many others, studies have highlighted the influence of key persons as one of the important factors affecting STEM students’ decision-making.

            There are many people in young person’s life, who influence his/her education and career decisions. Interestingly, the study conducted by Sjaastad (2012) found that key persons who influence students’ major choice can be divided into those who act as role models and those who act as definers (set goals and identify student’s strong abilities). The influence of parents and teachers on students’ decisions and choices has been well researched (Maltese & Tai, 2010). Research show that greater support from parents and teachers has been identified as one of the major factors predicting student decision to pursue particular subject choice. It has been acknowledged that the impact of adults on young people can have a major influence on their career path both positively or negatively.

            Research demonstrates that teacher impact, particularly during the early years of secondary school, significantly influence students’ perception of science and future career aspirations. Students, who experienced negative relations with science teachers, are less likely to choose science related major (Smyth & Hannan, 2002). In addition, teachers play a key role in guiding and promoting students’ interest in STEM subjects.

            Apart from teachers, a study conducted in the UK reported that almost 48 % of students sought information regarding major decision from their parents and family relatives (Prieto et al., 2009). Educational background of parents has also been reported as one of the factors influencing students’ choice of major. Parents with science or engineering educational background and the existence of family role models have more of an influence on student’s major choice. Socio-economic status of the family also influences student’s view of his abilities. For instance, it has been acknowledged that students from higher socio-economic backgrounds continue to engage with STEM related subjects compared to students from lower backgrounds (Thomson & De Bortoli, 2008).

            Media may also impact students’ perceptions and attitudes towards STEM, thus inaccurate information provided by mass media presents a challenge to recruit and attract more students into STEM fields (Prieto et al., 2009). According to Johnson and Jones (2006), “the offshoring of technical jobs, as reported often in the media, transmits an aura of instability in the engineering profession. Potential engineering students and their families see such reports, and are often influenced away from engineering study and employment” (p. 1), stressing that this distortive way of reporting leads students not to choose engineering and science as a desirable career.

            Young people feel pressured and are very vulnerable in their career decision-making, thus providing adequate support and advice is essential to prevent them from uninformed decision-making. Adults should be a good role models, help youth to explore different opportunities, equip with essential skills, and be supportive.

               References:

Maltese, A. V., & Tai, R. H. (2010). Eyeballs in the fridge: Sources of early interest in science. International Journal of Science Education, 32(5), 669–685.

Prieto, E., Holbrook, A., Bourke, S., O’Connor, J., Page, A. & Husher, K. (2009). Influences on engineering enrolments. A synthesis of the findings of recent reports. European Journal Engineering Education, 34(2), 183–203.

Sjaastad, J. (2012). Sources of inspiration: The role of significant persons in young people’s choice of science in higher education. International Journal of Science Education, 34(10), 1615–1636.

Smyth, E., & Hannan, C. (2002). Who chooses science? Subject choice in second-level schools. Dublin: Liffey Press/ESRI.

Thomson, S., & De Bortoli, L. (2008). Exploring scientific literacy: How Australia measures up. The PISA 2006 survey of students’ scientific, reading and  mathematical literacy skills. Australian Council for Educational Research: Melbourne.

Why is internal assessment of education quality tantamount to external?

 Both external and internal quality assurance mechanisms lead to innovative teaching and learning methods, curriculum development and many other positive changes. Unlike external, the internal assessment of education quality is the responsibility of higher education institutions themselves and includes a system of quality management, various procedures of self –assessment and monitoring of academic achievements. Amirbekova and Satiyeva (2013) draw the attention to the fact that now the central tendency at many institutions is that “the central gravity” is being moved from the procedure of external quality control based on national system of attestation and accreditation towards internal self-assessment based on one or other quality management models.   The authors are proud of the institution where they work [Shakarim State University, Semey], for having developed its own policy and mission in the field of quality assurance; they have identified the following three categories in improving quality management: updating the system of internal quality assessment of education services, implementation of modern methods of monitoring and analysis of university processes.

The compliance of overall internal performance in full line with existing requirements and available capacity to the vision and mission of the institution is of significant importance. External assessment is neither a challenge or burden for any institution, where regular efforts are made to  internally control the quality provided.  Weber (2007) highlights that in order to carry out self-assessment, institution “has to evaluate the performance of its functions, services and administration” (p. 95). As a rule, wide range of external, internal stakeholders are interested in the performance of the institutions, and the quality of the service provided. This wide range of stakeholders can be involved and they are usually attracted to take part in the quality review through questionnaires, focus groups, self-assessment reports and peer review groups.

Higher education institutions should have explicit set of values and develop their own mission and aims in order to form the basis for the development and assessment of the quality of the institution.  During the course, our professor provided an opportunity to have a personal communication with the Director of Independent Agency of Education Quality Assurance, Kalanova Sholpan Murtazaevna. Guest speaker shared with us the firsthand information about general tendencies and rationale of education quality assurance. She broadly explained the roles and responsibilities of CHEA, ENQA and EQAR. One important moment to be noted is that according to Kalanova, the article of the Law on education in the RK in 2007 about voluntary basis of accreditation did not stimulate the passing of accreditation, though achieving quality is a joint responsibility of all the partners in higher education. According to her, all the stakeholders should see on going quality improvement as an essential goal of their learning, teaching and research. In addition, agencies on their turn have positive and constructive approach. Their procedures, criteria and process are usually pre-defined and publicly available because they have to produce adequate information understandable for the readers based on results of their quality review. A group of experts including a student member usually conducts this kind of review. They visit the site and present follow up report that plays very important role and must be accessible for the public. It contains formal outcomes, the decisions of the experts and recommendations. Kalanova does not exclude the cases of discrepancy between report and real situation sometime. Stakeholders should realize the impact of improvement-led evaluations and be open in promoting change. They should use the outcomes of quality assurance for their benefit. It is even advisory.

References:

Аmirbekov, Sh. А., Satiyeva, Sh. S. (2013).  Regionalnaya sistema otsenki kachestva obrazovaniya v respublike Kazakhstan [Regional education quality assurance system in the Republic of Kazakhstan].  Science and world, 6 (10). Vol. II. 54. Psychological sciences.

Weber, L., Dolgova-Dreyer, K. (2007). The legitimacy of quality assurance in higher education: The role of public authorities and institutions. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.

Sales  are  vanity,  profits  are  sanity

I have never thought of extreme importance of financial literacy in addition to high quality teaching and research in higher education institutions. It is interesting to know about the availability of myriads of non-state ways of generating resources. Now I realize the reasons of establishing for-profit institutions and how hard they work to keep their position. This finding made me understand the scope of work and responsibility of financial aid offices in interacting with parents of students.  

Thinking about the effectiveness of diversified sources of money resources in Kazakhstani context, I see little indication of the mechanisms of generating resources in order to supplement the insufficient revenue available from the government. It goes without arguing that financial stability ensures flourish of teaching and research, especially research has proved to be one of important determinants of financial success. The latter also requires bulk of investment, in other words, lion’s share to support innovation and initiatives. There seems to be no alternative except tuition revenues, to which there has been heavy reliance since the radical decline in public expenditures from 1991 to present. Universities witnessed the situation of so-called “vicious circle” when over reliance on tuition fees and revenues reflected in low quality of education, unpreparedness for university requirements and bad academic performance of students. Unfortunely, majority of capable high school leavers lost the chance to become a university entrant, instead, were forced to join workforce.

It is crucial to develop sustainable strategies to be successful in market-based economy. Among “commercial” alternatives, it is possible to mention selling products and service, renting commercial ventures and even develop pricing policies for the sake of renewing investments and enhancing academic function of institutions (Shattock, 2010, p. 58). In other words, there must be well thought approaches of wisely managing the money received from significantly rising costs. Now we know why there seems no end to stop rising costs.

References

Shattock, M. (2010). Managing successful universities. McGraw-Hill International.

 Rankings seduce and coerce at the same time

Nowadays all universities are aware of the importance of rankings, as “rankings have created a storm which has blown around the world” (Hazelkorn, 2011, p. 202). Have you ever thought why there is growing obsession with university rankings and its impacts? Then, my recommendation is to read the article, written by international expert advisor, Barbara Kehm. A credit must be given to the author for scrupulous investigation of the history (used to be statistical report, reputation survey of graduate programs), various initial goals (academic exercise, annual publication of statistics and classification) and types of performers and institutions of ranking (individual active academics, bureau of education, news reports).  The author’s aim is to enable the readers to fathom the essence of ranking and gain deeper understanding of what it is (assessment, differentiation?) whom for (institutional leaders, national/transnational policy makers, consumers?). Moreover, she questions whether it truly relates to what it is.  Further Kehm gives a mounting evidence of that there is NO ‘objective ranking’ (Kehm, 2014, p. 103). Her findings are the most revealing in judgments about the methodology, indicators, subject of ranking and validity of data produced.

The impacts and side effects of rankings are given in three perspectives by the author: the impacts on European higher education landscape, on national level and on the level of HEIs. In the European context, the global rankings have contributed to the construction of a policy problem of European higher education. As we can see, the core of this problem is the poor ranking of European universities in the global rankings. The rapid growth of American and Asian universities, both public and private, is now also challenging Europe. That is why as a response European Commission funded initiative led to a U-Multirank tool.

At national level, rankings draw great attention to HE policy making. Marginson highlights that ranking seen as “symbol of national achievement” (as cited in Kehm, 2014, p. 107).  The bottom line is that the global university rankings have created a policy concern over European higher education in terms of economic globalization. Copying institutional models from one context (or one system) to another may indeed give birth to unintended consequences. Based on the university rankings, autonomy has been identified as an attribute for success.

The author contends that her analysis, together with conceptual and argumentative analyses by other researchers such as, Hazelkorn, Marginson and Clarke are not enough to change the dominating higher education discourse or persuade political actors, but it helps to diagnose fallacies and misunderstandings and expose new questions in need of further empirical research.

References

Hazelkorn, E. (2011). Rankings and the reshaping of higher education: The battle for world-class excellence. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Kehm, B.M. (2014) Global University Rankings – Impacts and Unintended Side Effects. European Journal of Education, 49 (1), 102-112.

Education and Commerce: are they fundamentally incompatible?

As it is known cross-border higher education (HE), through movement of students across borders, has a long history. Cross-border higher education through mobility of programs and institutions is of recent origin and it has significantly increased during the last two decades. Transnational education (TNE), offshore education or as OECD calls it, program and institutional mobility (PIM) all taken together, present “forms of education in which students are located in a different country from the one in which the provider is based” (Ziguras and McBurnie, 2015, p. 128). This new phenomenon usually involves a smaller numbers of students and education providers. Nevertheless, it is important to emphasize that regulatory challenges and cross-border educational delivery has become more complex. According to Ziguras and McBurnie (2015), there are regulatory frameworks that support the provision of education through cross border supply. Although the previous experiences were highly criticized and unsuccessful, now programs operating abroad are carefully scrutinized by quality assurance and accreditation processes. They are controlled whether they are offered in 1) conjunction with local partners, 2) through distance education or 3) without a local presence.

There are four modes of delivery of cross border programs as online education program without local partners, international branch campuses of institutions, partner supported programs and validation. It is clear with online programs need no local partners, although they are also subject to similar regulation and quality assurance as on campus programs. Regulators do not worry much about any kinds of online programs, since the quality programs is the same for local and overseas. They are concerned with establishing and operating an international branch campus because as the authors believe “they in practice succeed where they have support of both home and host governments” (p. 132). As for the third type, they are franchising, twinning and joint degrees. Partner - supported programs are less risky in terms of finance and reputation though lays burden on authorities to ensure that recognized national qualifications offered offshore meet the expectation. The fourth mode of delivery is validation recently causing problems for regulatory agencies, as it poses reputational risk, as stated by Healey “in the wake quality assurance agencies and media scrutiny, some institutions are closing programs as university leaders become more aware of the risks involved” (as cited in Ziguras and McBurnie, 2015, p. 135)

The high rise of TNE delivery and poorly assured quality has forced governments to reconsider regulations about accreditation system of sending and receiving countries. Hence, the risks that might be appeared in TNE do not damage the reputation of the university itself as well as the provider country. Until a decade ago, transnational education was not monitored by external quality assurance agencies. The attempts to audit quality of TNE were first taken by UK in 1995. The effects of quality assurance agency on university’s inbound and outbound flow of students endanger transnational education of many universities. Therefore, UNESCO Guidelines give recommendations about strengthening collaboration between hosting and sending countries as well as discussing quality assurance issues, mutual involvement of both sending and receiving countries and universities .Understanding the scale of this form of cross-border education is difficult because there is no intergovernmental agency that collects data on transnational enrolments. Notwithstanding that cross-border, academic cooperation and transnational higher education are characteristics of the 21st century, it is recommended to carefully examine the realities in order to assess quality and effectiveness (Altbach, 2013).  He argues that protecting culture, intellectual independence, and the values of civil society are simply not at the same level as free trade in automobiles or equal access to market for soya beans or even other services that are included in the GATS agenda. I admire the author’s incredible contribution in this highly controversial politico-intellectual space. His arguments are staggering in understanding the potential dilemmas in the globalization and internationalization arena. Moreover, UNESCO, WTO and other individual organizations proclaim that HE exists to serve the public interest, not a commodity.

References

Altbach, P. G. (Ed.). (2013). The international imperative in higher education. Springer

Science & Business Media.

Ziguras, C., & McBurnie, G. (2015). Governing cross-border higher education. New York:     Routledge.