BACKGROUND:Kazakhstan entered independence on terms quite different from that of many developing countries. Unlike some states in Africa and Asia, the literacy rate in Kazakhstan was about 99 percent, and was backed up by the vast Soviet state-controlled network of schools and about 100 tertiary education institutions. The educational institutions trained professional cadres for the country largely free of charge and their network reached every corner of this vast republic. This network is the cause and the product of the high prestige of education in the Kazakh society. Every parent will go the extra mile to educate their children, both girls and boys. For many years the strongholds of Kazakh education have been in a strong emphasis on science, mathematics, and engineering, on a strong sense of discipline among students and on teamwork. Students were expected to be obedient and often were obliged to spend days and nights mastering the most difficult formulas, theories and diagrams. The teamwork was always highly valued and the ability to think and work in highly centralized and tightly controlled working collectives was especially important, though this was achieved at the expense of individual creative thinking and innovation. This system produced a large number of highly qualified professionals, though there were many shortcomings. One of the major shortcomings was that the educational system of Soviet Kazakhstan was highly politicized; and college and university curricula required substantial numbers of hours to be devoted to the communist ideology and communist philosophy, while such subjects as business management, international trade, and corporate governance were ignored and were not taught at all. For decades, innovative education and creativity were discouraged, while educators were forced to follow blindly the Communist Party ideology and instructions from bureaucrats in the Soviet Ministry of Education. The newly independent government of Kazakhstan undertook substantial efforts to change its educational system as there was an urgent and growing demand for experts in all kinds of fields – from management to accounting. Among its first steps was the de-politicization of the educational system as the official branches of the Communist party that controlled the educational process were removed from educational institutions, and all Communist Party-endorsed courses were removed from the curricula. As the next step, the Kazakh government attempted to reform the educational system through establishing new faculties and departments and introducing new curricula and subjects such as banking, accounting, international trade law, etc. As the country experienced post-Soviet economic chaos and steep recession, the government concentrated all its efforts and resources on fixing immediate economic needs, pushing aside the needs of the education sector, considering it a low priority. Very often, official decrees and changes were not supported by appropriate financial resources. There were no sufficient resources (financial and human) capable of supporting and sustaining new subjects and curricula, as the salaries of educators were too low to create an attractive environment for the inflow of trainers and educators in those new fields. The effects of the so-called shock therapy and hyperinflation of the early 1990s hit the general population hard, making education unaffordable for middle-class Kazakhstani citizens.

IMPLICATIONS:Rapid economic and structural changes and the steep downsizing of state expenditures on the education system put enormous pressure on the educational institutions in the country. First, the work in the educational sector lost its financial appeal. The salaries of teachers and professors became the lowest among public sector employee. Hundreds if not thousands of well-trained and highly qualified professionals left public schools, colleges and universities in a search for better incomes in the private sector. Second, throughout the 1990s, falling salaries, failing morale and the fading prestige of working in the educational sector turned the young generation of educators away from the field. Moreover, many universities were largely unprepared for the challenges of globalization and the rapid advancements of technology. For example, the Internet was practically unknown in the early 1990s and came into use only during the last five years; yet, even still fast DSL or T1 connections are practically unheard of even at the largest universities in the country. Kazakhstani educational institutions also lag behind in teaching innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. The latest managerial techniques and approaches to understanding and working in the complex business environment of the 21st century are either not known or not implemented. Yet, the rapidly growing national economy demands a large inflow of specialists trained in new fields, such as western-style banking, accounting, management, public and corporate policy, etc. In this context, the ‘Bolashak’ program was introduced in 1994 as a short-term solution in order to get young specialists into new fields as soon as possible while at the same time, Kazakhstan’s education system would get ready to produce its own qualified professionals. This proved to be a brilliant solution – within a short period, hundreds of young and talented individuals from all over Kazakhstan were sent to leading European, East Asian and American universities exclusively to study business-related subjects under the condition that they come back to work in their home country. In 2005 the number of students sent to foreign universities was increased to 3,000 – that is, about one percent of the total number of students in the country. Upon graduating, many of these students returned and joined leading corporations and government agencies, bringing back important expertise and knowledge. However, there was a drawback, as between five and fifteen percent of those students chose not to return.

CONCLUSIONS:There is no doubt that Kazakhstan needs a large inflow of highly educated and well trained professionals, as the country has been experiencing an economic boom and rapid economic expansion since 2000. Its economy has been growing at an annual rate of 7-10 percent, due to the significant increase of oil revenues and the opening of new sectors of the national economy to international competition. The rapid economic transformation of the national economy and the development of a new business environment require unorthodox solutions to solve the cadre deficit. Sending Kazakhstani students abroad has been one of the most successful steps, as they not only brought back knowledge and gained professional expertise, but also became exposed to the western-style business environment and culture. However, it is important to remember that the Bolashak was created as a short-term solution for an emergency situation. With the stabilization of the national economy, there is a need to continue working on the long term solution by reforming the national educational system by making it capable of training world class specialists within the country. It is very important to remember that not only the business sector, but also the educational sector in the country require a new breed of highly trained, innovative and creative talents who have broadened their horizons through education in the west. There is a need for a new type of educational manager and administrator who would introduce international standards and a new managerial style in colleges and universities across the country. Some of these goals can be achieved by adjusting the Bolashak program and by training more educators and education managers in the world’s leading universities, including universities in the United States.

AUTHOR’S BIO:Rafis Abazov, PhD, is an adjunct Assistant Professor at the Harriman Institute at the Columbia University (New York). He is author of the Historical Dictionary of Kyrgyzstan (2004) and The Cultures and Customs of the Central Asian Republics (2006, forthcoming).