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How Education in Kazakhstan is Improving

education in kazakhstanIn 2011, the Kazakhstani government requested technical assistance to improve the nation’s educational system. In response, the World Bank Group launched the Joint Economic Research Program, or JERP, in order to enhance the quality of  education in Kazakhstan with particular regards to Kazakhstan’s secondary education student assessment system.

Kazakhstan’s educational system has seen improvements in recent years, including rapid expansion of access to preschool education, nearly universal secondary education completion and improved technical, vocational and higher education.

According to UNICEF and the World Bank, Kazakhstani youth literacy rates currently stand around 99.8 percent, gross primary school enrollment stands at over 100 percent and gross secondary school enrollment stands at around 97 percent.

Improving Education in Kazakhstan

Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement, particularly in terms of preparing Kazakhstani students for the labor market. In particular, gross tertiary school enrollment rates (post-secondary or university education rates expressed as a percentage of the population that completed secondary school in the past five years) stood at 45 percent in 2012. In contrast, U.S. gross tertiary enrollment rates stood at 94 percent for the same year.

Upon launching JERP in 2011, the World Bank provided “research and advisory support” to the Kazakhstani government during the educational reform process.

Specifically, the World Bank analyzed Kazakhstan’s results on educational assessments and provided recommendations for improvements; new benchmarks for student assessments, school autonomy and accountability and teacher policies; and hosted capacity-building seminars.

Recently, the Kazakhstani government requested a new extension of the assistance program, with a focus on implementing the policy recommendations that emerged from the first phase. The second phase, which will continue through 2017, will focus on improving school and teacher/principal evaluations.

– Katrina Beedy

Sources: UNICEF, The World Bank 1, The World Bank 2
Photo: Flickr

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Malnutrition in Kazakhstan Region

malnutrition in kazakhstan
Malnutrition in Kazakhstan? In the heart of Central Asia, a region known for issues with health, Kazakhstan stands as a possible success story in the well being of its people. With child malnutrition rates below five percent, lower than the Central Asian average and well below the rates for some of its neighbors, the Kazakh government and aid organizations working in the country have made improvements in malnutrition efforts worthy of praise.

Born in the post-Soviet world, Kazakhstan is still a relatively new state. Made up of ethnic Kazakhs as well as a large population of ethnic Russians, Kazakhstan is the largest country to come out of the USSR other than Russia itself. It dwarfs its neighbors of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, spanning across almost three million square miles of continent but remaining landlocked. It is the biggest economy in Central Asia and is currently going through an economic diversification process that the government hopes will stabilize and lengthen growth.

Almost all indicators of malnutrition have improved in Kazakhstan in the last decade. From 2004 to 2014, the prevalence of food inadequacy declined from 10.1 percent to 5.9 percent. The percent of children who are stunted declined from 17.5 percent in 2006 to 13.1 percent just four years later.

The prevalence of anaemia in children, which is characterized by fatigue and decreased work output, decreased from 35.4 percent in 2004 to 30 percent in 2011. However, the overall presence of undernourishment had almost no change from 2004 to 2007, leaving 800,000 people vulnerable to undernourishment.

Central Asia as a region has an ongoing battle with undernourishment and malnutrition. Common demarcations of this are anaemia, which is a decrease in the amount of red blood cells in the blood, iodine deficiency, iron deficiency and Vitamin A deficiency.

Kazakhstan preformed well in all of these categories. Iodine deficiency, which was a huge problem after the collapse of the Soviet Union, has been almost completely eradicated in Kazakhstan by iodizing all salt consumed in the country. Anaemia levels are lower in the country than in most of its neighbors. Regional averages for iron deficiencies and vitamin A deficiencies hover around 50-60 percent for women and children.

While by no means in the clear with malnutrition, especially for children, Kazakhstan has continued to improve in most indicators. It is working towards a more stable, diversified economy that will hopefully keep food prices low and unchanging.

– Caitlin Huber

Sources: CIA,  Knoema,  IRIN
Photo: Inter Press Service News Agency

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Education in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan‘s rapidly growing economy has laid the groundwork for the introduction of several economic, social, and political reforms that have improved the quality of life and spurred the development of a strengthened system of education in Kazakhstan.

Under Article 30 of the 1995 Constitution, Kazakh citizens have the right to free secondary education as well as free higher education in state institutions on a competitive basis. The state has implemented several measures of education reform in recent years. Kazakhstan adopted an updated version of the Law on Education in 2007, with components focused on strengthening national regulation of education and improving upon the nation’s existing education system. One particularly significant component of the new law increases the years of compulsory education to 12. The law also improves upon existing vocational training structures and creates a three-stage model of higher graduate and post-graduate education.

Reform targeting education spending has also been introduced, with total expenditure on education jumping from 2.5 percent to 3 percent in 2006. This commendable improvement nevertheless remains one of the lowest figures of education spending in the CEE/CIS region. The Kazakh government has also indicated its commitment to establishing more educational institutions— it opened 80 new schools in 2008 and is scheduled to establish 245 more within the next five years.

Access to primary and secondary schools across different genders, regions, and income levels is impressively high in Kazakhstan. The total student enrollment rate within primary schools was 91 percent in 2005, with an attendance rate of 98 percent. These figures remain similarly high in secondary schools, with 2005 figures of 92 percent for net enrollment and 95 percent for net attendance. Kazakhstan boasts the lowest number of children lacking access to education levels than any other country in the region. However, Kazakhs benefit far less from access to early childhood education—a mere 33 percent of Kazakh children attend preschool, a disadvantage that leaves many children without regular health checks and immunizations while also making the task of identifying learning disabilities far more difficult.

Access to schooling for children with special learning needs continues to pose a daunting problem to education in Kazakhstan. Disabled children have yet to be fully incorporated into the public education system; a dire lack of resources coupled with few trained professionals in this particular field prevents such needs from being adequately addressed.

Girls enjoy equal access to primary and secondary schooling as do their male counterparts, with a disparity in attendance ratios comprising less than one percentage point. Similar parity applies to children of different regions and income groups, with only a small gap prevailing between students from the wealthiest and poorest income groups upon reaching secondary school.

Kazakhstan has succeeded in keeping a relatively low student-teacher ratio of about 11-to-1. However, several important problems relating to quality continue to pervade the structure of education in Kazakhstan. The country currently lacks a viable method with which to measure learning outcomes, an insufficient supply of teachers remains grossly overworked and underpaid, and the large shortage of schools serves as a persistent disadvantage. The national curriculum and instructional materials, largely remnants of the Soviet era, also need updating along with a reliable set of uniform standards, which must be developed in order to ensure accountability and equality from one school district to another.

– Shenel Ozisik

Sources: UNICEF, IBE
Photo: Flickr

Ten Most Unhealthy Countries

top_ten_most_unhealthy_countries
Every year, the Social Progress Imperative comes out with an index that measures how individual countries perform in basic human needs, foundations of well-being, and opportunity. One subset of the foundations of well-being category is health and wellness. This subset takes into account life expectancy, non-communicable disease deaths between the ages of 30 and 70, obesity, outdoor air pollution attributed deaths and suicide rates. Below is a list of the world’s ten most unhealthy countries in the world, based on this subset.

10. Bulgaria, 60.63

Bulgaria is in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The country has a high mortality rate from cardiovascular disease. Additionally, Bulgaria has the worst air quality in Europe, with some of the highest concentrations of particulate matter, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide.

9. Mozambique, 60.40

Mozambique’s main health problems are to due with high mortality rates due to drought, poverty and HIV/AIDS, as well as a lack of experienced health workers in the country. The HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to decimate portions of the population in the country. In addition, capacity building and risk reduction expertise are both low.

8. Swaziland, 60.29

Located in southern Africa, Swaziland has an extremely high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, reaching over 26 percent. Swaziland needs the most improvement in life expectancy and non-communicable disease deaths between 30 and 70.

7. Latvia, 59.97

Latvia, too, has problems with air quality that cause long-term health problems. Latvia also needs to address substance abuse problems such as alcohol and tobacco, which both contribute to ill health in the country at a disproportional rate.

6. Armenia, 59.36

Armenia’s health issues revolve around a broken, extremely expensive health care system that cannot meet the burden of care. With economic downturn, basic medicines and doctor visits can become too expensive.

5. Moldova, 58.00

Moldova is currently experiencing negative population growth. The two main causes of death are heart disease and cancer. Moldova has high rates of substance abuse-related deaths, like alcohol and tobacco. Tuberculosis, especially multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, is rapidly becoming a major health concern in the country.

4. Belarus, 56.56

The main areas that need improvement in Belarus are non-communicable diseases and suicide rates. The country, located in Eastern Europe, is also relatively polluted, which can cause long-term ill-health.

3. Russia, 51.99

Russia needs improvement in almost all categories, including life expectancy, non-communicable diseases, air pollution and suicide rates. Additionally, Russia experiences high rates of mortality due to smoking for both men and women. HIV/AIDS is also becoming more of a concern.

2. Ukraine, 51.82

Ukraine, located in Eastern Europe, has similar problems as its neighbors, mainly bad air quality, high levels of tobacco and alcohol abuse and high suicide rates. Additionally, Ukrainians spend about 13 percent of their lives in ill-health, which is much higher than most of their neighbors. Ukraine also has the highest rate of infectious diseases in Europe.

1. Kazakhstan, 49.93

Kazakhstan, located in Central Asia, is ranked as the unhealthiest country in the world, according to the Social Progress Imperative. Kazakhstan needs dramatic improvement in life expectancy, deaths related to non-communicable diseases, air quality and suicide rates. HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis have become growing concerns; TB, especially, is of great concern because of drug-resistance.

– Caitlin Huber

Sources: Social Progress Imperative, World Health Organization 1, World Health Organization 2, World Health Organization 3, World Health Organization 4, World Health Organization 5, New York Times, UNICEF, National Center for Biotechnology Information, Common Dreams, World Bank, University of Pittsburgh
Photo: Flickr

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Hunger in Kazakhstan

hunger_in_kazakhstan
The problem of hunger in Kazakhstan is no longer considered urgent. As of 2004, the country has successfully achieved the first target, within the framework of Millennium Development Goal (MDG) one: halving the proportion of people suffering from hunger. However, the larger issue remains that a majority of the proportion still suffers from poverty and lacks access to a balanced nutrition.

In Kazakhstan, four percent of children under five are underweight, while almost one percent are severely underweight. Another 13 percent are stunted for their age, illustrating measures of both acute and chronic malnutrition. Hidden hunger, or deficiencies of vital vitamins and minerals in a diet, is common among children in Kazakhstan and often leads to their morbidity and mortality.

In related news, women are likely to obtain iron-deficiency anemia, with almost 50 percent of reproductive age women suffering from the condition. High rates of anemia during pregnancy have led to large numbers of children in Kazakhstan suffering from slow brain development, stunted growth and a decrease of intellectual capacity. Mothers who suffer from iron deficiencies also create a greater chance of death for their child during pregnancy and childbirth.

Lack of Vitamin A for pregnant women has also caused concern in Kazakhstan, due to the fact that roughly 20 percent of children are born with depressed immune systems. Consequently, the children are more prone to infectious diseases without the capability of fighting it off.

Poverty, especially in rural areas, is to blame for the remaining starvation in the country. Levels of rural poverty are currently twice as high as urban poverty, leaving many children in remote villages with inadequate food intake. Children in West Kazakhstan are more likely to be underweight than any other children in the country. However, the percentage decreases depending on the level of education of their mothers.

Although hunger in Kazakhstan is well on its way in being eliminated, the country still has work that needs to be done. Kazakhstan is active on the regional and international arena in achieving development goals and objectives. Given Kazakhstan’s success within the framework of MDG 1, this bodes well for social service delivery in the future.

– Leeda Jewayni

Sources: UNDP, UNDG
Photo: Flickr

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Poverty in Kazakhstan

kazakhstan
While Sacha Baron Cohen may have put Kazakhstan on the map with his fictitious role as a journalist in the movie “Borat,” Kazakhstan today stands as a country that continues to face hurdles despite consistent economic growth over the past few decades.

A Central Asian country of nearly 18 million people, Kazakhstan is no stranger to economic uncertainties. Since gaining independence in the early 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan has experienced relatively steady economic growth, thanks in part to its expanding oil sector.

The country’s poverty rate declined by more than 50 percent between 1999 and 2004. Between 2004 and 2013, the nation’s GDP increased by more than 500 percent.

Nevertheless, nearly half of the country is considered to be in a low income class. Roughly 47 percent of the population maintains a monthly income of approximately $70.

Arguably most frustrating to many Kazakhstan citizens are the disparities in gross regional product (GRP.) Because some parts of the country are more resource-rich than others, inconsistencies in wealth have affected some Kazakhstanis more than others.

Even though the country has seen substantial economic growth in recent years, specifically in the oil, gas and minerals industries, employment levels in these industries have not matched the nation’s economic growth.

Following the turn of the century, much of the nation saw considerable gains in employment and labor productivity. Yet, the agricultural region of Kostanay and North Kazakhstan did not experience the same growth as others parts of the country. West Kazakhstan saw significant economic gains in the late 1990s following the introduction of an oil pipeline stretching from the Caspian Sea to China.Perhaps surprisingly, Kazakhstan’s oil-rich areas have also become the nation’s most impoverished.

The minimum income level below the subsistence minimum in Kazakhstan is $35 per month. Any amount below the minimum is considered as poverty. Between 1998 and 2003, the number of people living in poverty in the country fell from 5 million to 3 million.

According to a recent U.N. Development Programme report, unemployment and low income remain the primary causes of poverty in Kazakhstan.

Yet, it is hard to overlook the respectable economic gains the country has seen over the past two decades. Kazakhstan has made considerable headway in its attempts to cement its standing on the world stage. Last month, President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a new law to lift to visa restrictions, enact tax exemptions and help stabilize tax rates to interest foreign investment, especially with the United States and other Western powers. These moves, among others, will help the country in the long-term as it continues to make strides against poverty.

– Ethan Safran

Sources: The World Bank, World Health Organization, CNBC, IRIN, USAID
Photo: Breitbart

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3 Facts About Education in Kazakhstan

Education in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan is the size of Western Europe with a wide variety of natural resources available within it. Although the economy is thriving due to the vast availability of these resources, the people of Kazakhstan have to live with the health effects of many of the Soviet-era decisions.

The people of Kazakhstan have to deal with the after-effects of nuclear testing and toxic waste dumping in addition to a higher incidence of HIV/Aids and increased addiction to drugs. In addition, due to poor irrigation plans during the Soviet Union, the Aral Sea is heavily polluted and shrinking quickly.

Kazakhstan has one of the fastest growing economies out of Central or Eastern Europe. This growth in the economy has led to the creation of a strong education system.

 

Here are 3 facts about education in Kazakhstan:

 

1. Education Reform.

In recent years, the Kazakhstan education system has been undergoing reform. There has been increased expenditures on education as well as an increase in requirement for the minimum years of education.

2. Increasing Attendance.

Around 9,000 children in Kazakhstan are not in school. This is the lowest rate of no school attendance for countries in eastern and central Europe. The rate of primary attendance is 91 percent while the rate of secondary attendance is 92 percent.

3. Quality of Education.

A survey that monitors the amount of learning reports that around 75 percent of students are proficient in literacy and mathematics. However, the performance of students in urban areas is much higher than for those in rural areas. In addition, teachers are underpaid, which is significantly harming the education system.

Although Kazakhstan has vast resources and funds available to them, there are still parts of the education system that are lacking. However, the government has worked on changing the education system in recent years, and will continue to reform the system until the students have a better quality and greater access to education.

– Lily Tyson

Sources: BBC, UNICEF
Photo: Telegraph

UNDP Recognizes Recent Kazakhstan Growth

UNDP Recognizes Recent Kazakhstan Growth
On Monday, a UNDP global report regional presentation was held in Astana at the Kazakh Foreign Ministry. The UNDP is a global development network that advocates giving people a better life through knowledge, experience, and resources. Its main focuses center around poverty alleviation, democratic governance, crisis prevention and recovery, and more.

During the presentation of the report, Adam Oliver, the director of the Bratislava regional center of the UNDP (United Nations Development Program), stated that Kazakhstan is ahead in human development in comparison to other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries and Europe. Oliver went on to add that Kazakhstan is a “transforming country” because it supports other neighboring countries’ economies as well as their own.

Amie Gaye, the chairperson of the UNDP Human Development Department suggested that Kazakhstan has shown “excellent results [in human development] during the last ten years and ranked 17th among 122 countries.” In addition, she also claims that the country is ahead of others in terms of the ratio between education and income levels. Hence, in 2012, it placed 69th out of 187 countries.

– Leen Abdallah 
Source: Azer News