Students with exceptionalities in Kazakhstan

The support of talented, creative young people has been regarded as a priority by the Ministry of Education and Science in the Republic of Kazakhstan since gaining independence. Talented children are seen as the intellectual potential of the country, and the practical implementation of quality education provision for them has been undertaken under the auspices of the Republican Scientific and Practical Center "Daryn", created by order of the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev "On state support and development of schools for gifted children "(1996). The main goal of the Republican Scientific and Practical Center "Daryn" is a purposeful formation of intellectual elite in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Giftedness in Kazakhstan is defined as a wide range of intellectual abilities and special talents in different subjects (disciplines). Accordingly, the nature of the school determines the admission procedure, which is often highly competitive. Performance-based assessment, prior performance and interviews in the process of identifying giftedness are used traditionally. Nevertheless, the Daryn Centre is identifying ‘motivated and able pupils, who want to know more’ among primary school children. This can be done through online games like a national game called Ak Bota, where a child can demonstrate willingness to study mathematics, Kazakh/Russian language and literature or via their participation in tournaments, Olympiads, various intellectual games, competitions etc. The approach to the definition (what) and identification (who) for gifted education in Kazakhstan are more likely to be under the talent development paradigm (Yakavets, 2013).

On the other hand how gifted education is ensured in our country is related to both the gifted child and the talent development paradigm. The segregation of gifted children confirms the former and the latter is supported by the diverse opportunities for the development of the abilities and talents of students (Dai & Chen, 2013). Education is provided to them through Daryn schools, NIS, Kazakh-Turkish lyceums and other specialized institutions for gifted. Some of the Daryn schools can implement a different curriculum from the one required by the Ministry of Education and Science. This gives schools the flexibility to spend more hours on subjects belonging to their specialization (e.g. physics, maths, languages, music, etc.). However, there is currently a new trajectory in the development of gifted education in Kazakhstan – Nazarbayev intellectual schools (Yakavets, 2013). These schools have internationally recognized, independent curriculum, which supports trilingual policy.

The contribution to the development of intellectual potential of the country is the goal of NIS by offering a curriculum based on internationally recognised standards. Its target school graduate is a patriot of the country with moral values, fluent in Kazakh, Russian and English. He or she is an individual with high intellectual capacity able to think critically and creatively, strong in spirit, able to apply his/her knowledge for the benefit of social progress.

To conclude, Kazakhstani model of gifted education is represented better by the talent development paradigm, however it has a tone of a gifted child paradigm in education and justification. It is quite possible that this is due to the relative youth of the state.

References:

Dai, D. Y., & Chen, F. (2013). Three paradigms of gifted education: In search of conceptual clarity in research and practice. Gifted Child Quarterly, 57(3), 151-168.

Nazarbayev, N. (1996). Order of the President of Kazakhstan “On state support and development of schools for gifted children” (№ 3002). Astana.

Yakavets, N. (2013). Reforming society through education for gifted children: The case of Kazakhstan. Research Papers in Education, 29(5), 513-533.