ISSN 0798 1015

Vol. 38 (Nº 40) Año 2017. Pág. 18

Problems of integration of national system of higher education in the world educational space

Problemas de integración del sistema nacional de educación superior en el espacio educativo mundial

Yelena Vasilievna IGNATOVA 1; Oksana Vyacheslavovna USTINOVA 2; Elvira Ali-Kizi PIRVERDIEVA 3; Elvira Venerovna SHAKIROVA 4; Julia Valerievna ZUBAREVA 5

Received: 25/07/2017 • Approved: 02/08/2017

Content

1. Introduction

2. Methods

3. Results

4. Discussion

References

1. Introduction

The processes of globalization taking place in the modern world have significantly affected the technology of management the higher educational system and have reoriented it to subject-subject relationship, by achieving a balance of interests between the individual, society and state (Tokaev, 2009; Gaisina, Mikhaylovskaya, Khairullina, Ustinova, Shakirova, 2015).

One of the main tasks of reforming the system of higher education in the Republic of Kazakhstan is to integrate into the world educational space. At the same time, the most important condition for the integration and educational process is to bring the management of Kazakhstan system of higher education in accordance with generally recognized international norms and standards.

An analysis of papers of Kazakhstan researchers on the problems of higher education in the post-Soviet period by R.A. Alshanov, G.K. Akhmetova, L.Ya. Gurevich, Zh.D. Dadebaeva, Zh.K. Erniyazova, K.E. Kusherbaev, A.A. Nurmagambetova, RA Nurtazina, Kh.M. Rakhimbek et al. made it possible to single out the main stages of its reform.

The first stage (1991-1994) was the formation of the regulatory and legal framework for higher education. The main tasks of this stage were the creation of a network of higher educational institutions and the renewal of specialties of higher education in order to ensure the relative independence of the republic in the personnel training and meet the needs of the labor market. During this period, the legal regulation of relations in the area of higher education was carried out by adopting the Law "On Education" and the Law "On Higher Education". The state supported the higher educational institutions and clearly defined their legal status. According to these laws, both state and private higher educational institutions could function in the Republic of Kazakhstan. As a result, universities gained the right to independently form students’ contingent, to determine the educational activity taking into account the needs and capabilities of the individual. In addition to training in the classroom and without discontinuing job, external studies were introduced. The state standard of higher education in the Republic of Kazakhstan, approved in 1994, allowed the introduction of a multi-level structure of higher education as well as academic degrees of bachelors and masters.

At the same time, by the end of the first stage of the reforming in the management of the higher educational system, problems of strategic importance have occurred: the imbalance in the structure of the personnel training in the context of specialties; the inefficiency of state regulation; the weakness of the national self-regulation of the educational services market and the significant spread of unfair competition in this market, leading to a decline in the quality of higher education and the devaluation of Kazakhstan higher school degrees. The occurred situation required correction in the legal and regulatory framework aimed at the further reformation process.

The second stage (1995-1998) was the modernization of the higher educational management system and the updating of the content. The National Council for Public Policy under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 1995 approved the Concept of State Policy in the Area of Education, the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Licensing" was issued, the Classifier of Specialties of Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan was developed in a new edition, which provided 342 specialties. This stage of reforming the system of higher education was the most significant, since during this period a convention was signed in Lisbon and Law No. 202-1 "On Ratification of the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications Relating to Higher Education in the European Region" dated December 13., 1997 was adopted in Kazakhstan. This allows us to confirm that the period of entry into the world educational space began in the Republic of Kazakhstan. But at the same time, there was a lack of legal regulation in the management of the higher educational system. The universities have been working in new social and economic conditions for a too short time, so the diplomas of specific educational institutions and the quality of specialists’ training of did not gain a real price in the opinion of employers and the public.

The third stage (1999-2000) was the decentralization of the management of educational financing and the expansion of academic freedoms of educational institutions. At this stage, the principles of entrance to higher education institutions were fundamentally changed, the transition to training higher education professionals on the basis of the public educational contract was carried out. Since 1999, a new model for the formation of a student contingent has been introduced by granting state educational loans and grants to prospective students on a competitive basis. During this period, the transition from the principle of "financing the object of education" to the principle of "financing the subject of education" was carried out in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Grant and loan funds are received by a student, not by a higher education institution. Such a system of granting state grants and loans, as well as the practice of centralized organization and state certification, were borrowed from the experience of developed countries. At the same time, it was established that the entrance examinations to state higher education institutions had be to conduct by specialized centers for integrated testing on a single technology. In the new model of organizing entrance exams, technological operations are divided between two independent organizations that have no contact with each other. Admission of students to higher educational institutions is conducted in several stages:

- everyone who wish to get higher education is tested. Those who have successfully passed the tests are given a state certificate;

- The Republican Commission awards gratuitous educational grants on the results of testing to persons who have received the highest scores. Or they are granted by the right to receive a state educational loan. At the same time, a prospective student who has won an educational grant or who has received the right to a state educational loan get the opportunity to study at any higher educational institution of the country conducting training in his chosen specialty;

- Higher education institutions form their own contingent of students entering the training on the basis of the competition of state certificates. Additional exams are held only in the higher education institutions carrying out the personnel training on creative specialties.

It should be noted that this approach made it possible to increase the objectivity of assessing the knowledge of prospective students and to select the most gifted and trained youth. At the same time, the system of grants and loans put the level of accessibility of higher education in a strong dependence on the current social and economic situation in the country, which led to a significant reduction in the contingent of students studying at the expense of the budget. This is due to the fact that there was no clear definition of the principles, tasks and functions of forming a state order in the legislative framework of the Republic. The volumes of the state order had been connected exclusively with the current needs in the personnel of state institutions and enterprises. If we take into account the tendency of a steady decline in the public sector in the economy, social sphere, science and culture, it becomes evident that only the state's education needs were met during this period. Whereas the state should finance, first of all, those areas for specialist training which can not fully adapt to market conditions, but are important for the future of the country.

The fourth stage (2001 - 2007) was the strategic development of the higher education system. This was the period of defining the strategic goals and main directions for further reforming and developing the system of higher education for the formation of a new national model, the which management had to ensure the interaction between the state and society in the interests of dynamic development, as well as orientation to satisfying the needs of the individual and society (Tokarev, 2009). At the same time, it was a difficult period of the establishment of market relations in the republic, reflected in the system of higher education. The State Program "Education", approved by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, details and develops the provisions of the Law "On Education" in the part of innovative reforms of the educational system and the introduction of new teaching technologies (The Decree Of The President Of The Republic Of Kazakhstan, dated 30.09.2000 №448; The Law Of The Republic Of Kazakhstan, dated 27.07.2007 №319-III). All aspects of an entire and continuous education system are comprehensively addressed there for the first time. The program defined the main directions of the development of the educational system for the period up to 2005. The main aspects of preschool education, general secondary education, primary and secondary one, higher and postgraduate professional education were covered, the real state of education in the country was assessed, prospects were outlined, priorities for further development of the educational system and the content of specific activities for achieving the goals set for each level of education were determined. But at the same time, as shown by the studies carried out by UNESCO, the Kazakhstani system of education had developed in the conditions of an outdated methodological base, structure and content that was not enough for a phased integration into the world educational space (Rogosin, 1989). Along with this, the processes of modernization of the Kazakhstan higher school in the post-Soviet period, considered in the papers of Kazakhstan researchers by K.E. Kusherbayeva, A.K. Akhmetova, Sh. Erniyazova, A.A. Nurmagambetova, G.D. Zakirova, M.N. Narenova, T.I. Kenshinbay and G.D. Usenbayeva lead to the conclusion that integration into the international educational space through modern technologies, new forms of organization of teaching practice of higher educational institutions is necessary (Kusherbayev, 1998; Erniyazova, 2004; Nurmagambetov, 2002; Liferov, 2002; Rogozin, 1989).

We can agree with the opinion of researchers, that the globalization processes require a new target orientation from national higher educational systems, taking into account the needs for international solidarity, the all-round convergence of national educational systems and their complementarity. It can also be argued, that the nature of the performance of managerial functions changes in the management of the modern system of higher education, new forms of interaction between subjects of management arise, which stimulates the transition to a new policy of its management (Ignatova, 2013; Belonozhko, Lavrischev, 2013).

Thus, the lack of mechanisms to harmonize the goals and results of the activities of higher educational institutions with the needs of the state and society, the cardinal renewal of teaching technologies as well as the change in organizational and economic mechanisms for managing the higher educational system create the need for a model of public and social management of the higher educational system.

2. Methods

In order to identify the specifics of reforming the system of higher education in the Republic of Kazakhstan, an analysis of the documents was carried out, namely the regulatory and legal acts, adopted in the period from 2000 to 2009. There were the State Program "Education", approved by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated September 30., 2000 No. 448; the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Education" dated 2007; the State Program for the Development of Technical and Vocational Education for 2008-2012; the State Program for the Development of Science in the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2007-2012; the State Program for the Development of Education in the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2005-2010; the program "Children of Kazakhstan" for 2007-2011; the Concept of the Development of Education until 2015.

Strategically important documents that had influenced the reform of the higher educational system in the Republic were chosen for the analysis. They determined the main principles of the state policy in the area of education, as well as the principles for the formation of a national model of multi-level continuous education integrated into the global educational space and satisfying the needs of the individual and society.

The analysis of statistical documents reflecting the development indicators of the education system in the Republic of Kazakhstan was also carried out.

3. Results

In general, legal coverage for the reforming of higher educational system meets the international requirements, but at the same time, the detailed analysis reveals the imperfection of a number of regulations.

So, the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Education", adopted in 2007, defines the management bodies for the educational system, which include the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan, local representative and executive bodies, the local executive body of the district and akims (heads) of districts, cities, regions. At the same time, the management of the higher education system itself is carried out only by the central government bodies with distributed competences for managing the higher education system.

The executive body in the area of education performs the following functions: ensures the observance of constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens in the educational area; implements a unified state policy in the educational area, implements inter-sectoral coordination, develops and implements targeted and international programs in the educational area and science; provides objective information on the education system state and the effectiveness of its activities to society and state through the preparation and publication of an annual report about the state of education development; carries out educational monitoring and information support of the education management system, approves the rules for organization and functioning of the unified information system of education; manages the quality of education, methodological and methodical support of the quality of educational services provided by educational organizations; organizes development and approves state compulsory education standards; conducts the state certification of educational organizations implementing professional training programs of higher education, regardless of the form of ownership and departmental subordination, organizes accreditation of educational organizations implementing professional training programs of higher education; in coordination with interested in ministries as well as other central executive bodies, employers and other social partners, lists of professions and specialties for the personnel training according to the levels of professional training programs and approves classifiers of professions and specialties; performs the state control over the implementation of the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan and regulatory and legal framework in the education area, state compulsory education standards in educational organizations, regardless of the form of ownership and departmental subordination, as well as budgetary and financial discipline in subordinate organizations in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan; approves regulatory and legal acts for the organization and conducting of state certification of education and accreditation organizations.

The carried out analysis of the given legislative act showed that the competencies of the central government declared the participation of employers and other social partners in the management of the higher education system, but at the same time, there was no mechanism to involve them in management. Proceeding from this, it becomes obvious that the management of the higher education system is the prerogative of the state. This indicates that the development of the higher educational system will be effective if it will be possible to solve the following main tasks in the sphere of its management:

- ensuring the balance of state, public and personal interests in the management of higher education;

- ensuring the participation of employers and other social partners in solving the problems of higher education;

- introduction the legislative norms providing for the distribution of competences and powers as well as functions and responsibilities of various subjects of management of the higher education system.

At present, the world community has recognized Kazakhstan as a state with a market economy. The development of education has become a top priority for independent Kazakhstan.

At the beginning of 2015-2016 academic year in the Republic of Kazakhstan there were 127 higher educational institutions, the total number of students was 459 thousand people, 414,000 of which did the bachelor's degree, 39,000 people did the specialist one. There were 50 state higher educational institutions, 47.2% of the total number of students studied there.

The analysis of statistical documents made it possible to identify the following trends:

1. The higher education area is characterized by a tendency to increase the number of students, graduates and the state educational order, while reducing the number of higher educational institutions (Table 1).

Table 1. The dynamics of the contingent of students, graduates, the number
of higher educational institutions, public educational contract

In 2012, 134,000 people got education due to state educational grants, which amounted 21.3% of the total number of students, 11 thousand people (1.8%) did it due to the state educational order and 484 thousand people (76.9%) did it on a contractual basis.

360,000 people (57.3%) of the total number of students were enrolled in the full-time study, 259 thousand people (41.2%) studied by correspondence and 9 thousand people (1.4%) got the evening-time education. The proportion of Kazakhstan students was 78.3%, those of Russian 14.6%, those of Uzbeks, Ukrainians, Tatars was within 0.8-1.5%, those of other nationalities was 3.8%. (over 600,000 students trained at the universities of Kazakhstan in 2012).

2. The classifier of specialties harmonized with the International Standard Classification of Education and corresponds to the main provisions of the Bologna Declaration. State compulsory educational standards have been developed on its basis, which represent a set of state standards and requirements for the level of education and training of graduates. It should be emphasized that the content of state compulsory educational standards is intended to ensure the quality of education, the unity of the educational space, the recognition of the equivalence of the relevant documents, as well as an objective assessment of the educational level and qualifications of graduates.

3. The structure of the educational program consists of general and professional disciplines. The general specialists’ training is aimed at the formation of general education as well as social and personal competences. Vocational training is aimed at the formation of general major and special competencies, each of which determines the list of disciplines, united in cycles: there are cycle of general educational disciplines; cycle of basic disciplines; cycle of profiling disciplines and other types of students’ academic work (practice, military training).

Each cycle consists of the disciplines of the obligatory component and the elective component. The list of compulsory components is determined by the state, which ensures satisfaction of state requirements, the list of elective components is determined by higher educational institutes independently. This creates conditions for attracting employers to determine the content and differentiation of specialists’ training taking into account the needs of the labor market and meet the requirements of the individual and employers. However, state compulsory standards still regulate the educational process and its content strictly. The structure of the state compulsory standards was inherited from the Soviet higher school and does not allow flexibly reaction to the current changes in the economy, while the quality of the state compulsory standards and the quality of educational programs are assessed by the state. The mechanism of developing the state compulsory standards on a tender basis in the Republic of Kazakhstan has led to a violation of the collegiality principle, since as a rule only one higher educational institution was engaged in the standard creation. There are only opportunities to make certain changes in content of education in accordance with the required specifics at the regional and local levels of the educational institution. This makes it possible to believe that neither students nor employers are involved in determining the content of specialists’ training. Thus, it becomes obvious that there is no interaction between state authorities and public regulation institutions in determining the content of higher education.

4. At the level of higher education, the Kazakhstani model meets the requirements of the Bologna process, namely, the basic and major components are studied for at least 3 years and the requirements of American model with two steps of 2 years each (Table 2). 

Table 2. Degree structure of higher and postgraduate
education of the Republic of Kazakhstan

5. For the international recognition of national educational programs, specialists are trained on a unified credit training system, which is based on the principle of selecting and self-planning by students the sequence of studying disciplines using credit as a unified unit for measuring the amount of academic work of the student and teacher.

6. Internal and external assessment procedures have been introduced according to the framework of the National System for Assessment of the Quality of Education. As the last ones, the procedures for attestation, accreditation and planned inspections for compliance of higher educational institution activities with licensing requirements are provided. The listed procedures can be considered as regulating and legal requirements for higher education. To solve this problem in the management of the higher education system, it is necessary to regulate in detail at the legislative level the procedures for each type of state control and determine the scope of the issues to be checked. In addition, it is necessary to include employers into commissions for the conducting of inspections. This will ensure the principle of objectivity and democratic character in the management of higher education (Ignatova, Omarova, 2014).

High educational institutions are guided on performance of the state requirements reflected in state compulsory standards as well as indicators of the state certification and accreditation at the organization of the activity. However, employers are the main consumers, and the result of education can indicate namely in the sphere of real economy, expressed in the knowledge and skills of graduates. At the same time, not all employers objectively and skillfully formulate their own requirements for graduates.

4. Discussion

Thus, the carried out analysis of normative, legal and statistical documents pointed out that the interaction of the individual, society and the state in determining the uniform requirements for graduates was in its initial stage, which negatively affected the management of the higher educational system of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Table 3). 

Table 3. Interaction of subjects in the management of higher
education system in the Republic of Kazakhstan

Thus, the main problems in the management of the higher education system are following:

- lack of public and personal components in the management of higher education system;

- lack of a regulatory and legal basis for involving the individual and society in the management of higher education system;

- lack of interaction between state authority bodies and institutions of public regulation in determining the content of higher education.

Conclusion. To solve these problems, two aspects must be taken into account. Firstly, the level of knowledge of students and graduates should correspond to the requirements of the state and employers (Frolov, Belonozhko, 2015). Secondly, the monitoring in the higher education area should be carried out by state, students, public organizations and employers (Barbakov, Belonozhko, Siteva, 2015; Ignatova, 2013). At the same time, the assessment of the professional qualifications of graduates and the appropriation of qualifications should be carried out on the basis of the creation of professional standards system and take place with the participation of training centers established by higher education institutions in cooperation with employers' associations, which may include national companies, ministries, branch departments, professional communities, etc.

Along with this, the analysis of the reforming processes of the higher education system of the Republic of Kazakhstan made it possible to identify the main positive characteristics that meet international requirements. A new model for the formation of a student contingent providing the equal access to higher education was introduced. The classifier of specialties, harmonized with the International Standard Classification of Education and corresponding to the main provisions of the Bologna Declaration, was improved. A three-stage model for specialists’ training was created based on the credit system of training. A national system of quality assessment was established.

References

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1. Pavlodar State Pedagogical Institute, 140002, Pavlodar, Kazakhstan, Mira Str., 60. E-mail: nursafa@inbox.ru

2. Tyumen Industrial University, 625000, Russia, Tyumen, Volodarskogo Street, 38

3. Tyumen Industrial University, 625000, Russia, Tyumen, Volodarskogo Street, 38

4. Irkutsk National Research Technical University, 664074, Russia, Irkutsk, Lermontov Str., 83

5. Northern Trans-Ural State Agricultural University, 625003, Russia, Tyumen, Respubliki Street, 7