LABOR MIGRATION IN KAZAKHSTAN: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

This article considers the legislative basis for the implementation of labor activities in the Republic of Kazakhstan by citizens of foreign countries. The article provides an analysis of quantitative indicators of labor migrants, the conditions of their stay in Kazakhstan, as well as the difficulties associated with labor migration. Special attention is paid to informal labor migrants, the overwhelming majority of whom are citizens of Central Asian countries. The article was prepared within the framework of the grant financing of scientific research of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2018–2020, project No. AR05136246 «Modernization of the migration policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the context of the development of the country’s intellectual potential

Preventing Brain Drain: Kazakhstan’s Presidential “Bolashak” Scholarship and Government Regulations of Intellectual Migration

This article considers the Republic of Kazakhstan's internal intellectual migration within the scope of the Bolashak International Scholarship Program which aims to train highly-skilled specialists at the best universities in the world. The analysis covers mechanisms of public investment in training of highly-qualified specialists, regulatory measures to promote employment opportunities nationally and the geographical scope of internal-intellectual migration of Bolashak graduates. A survey of Bolashak graduates assesses the country’s labour market capacity and detects factors affecting migration among Kazakh youth. The study showed that most graduates of the Bolashak program want to contribute to the development of the country, but they are not satisfied with the level of wages in Kazakhstan. Migratory moods were noted only among graduates aged 23-28 years, while older graduates aged 29 to 35 still preferred to stay at home. Moreover, among the first group of graduates, the priority was given to the standard of living in the country of destination rather than professional opportunities. Graduates from the second group were more interested in career prospects rather than in the standard of living in the country of destination

IMPLEMENTATION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONTECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF KAZAKHSTAN:CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Information and Communication technologies (ICT) play a significant role in the educational processbecoming a powerful tool of interaction between teachers and students; computer applications are used to presentuseful teaching resources and to improve knowledge of students.This article aims to examine the educational policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan within the framework of Informationand Communication technology implementation. In this regard, we analyze the level of computerization of schoolsand universities in Kazakhstan, the teachers’ competencies, and computer literacy of population. Based on data andinformation from official documents, reports, and official sources of education, we concluded that the Government ofKazakhstan tries to create the “digital society” and to increase the quality of education using ICT.The results of the analysis reveal that Kazakhstan make greater effort on using ICT in the education process and thepolicy is aimed at increasing the number of computers in schools, opening new specialties at the universities relatedto information and communication technologies, as well as enhancing computer literacy of the population. However,due to the lack of funding and the comprehensive work on the training and retraining of teachers, the low speed ofthe Internet in some regions of the country, this process needs to be improved

Affecting International Migration Trends through a Multi-Faceted Policy: Kazakhstan within Central Asia and the EAEU

This article assesses the implementation of migration policy in Kazakhstan over the past twenty years, focusing on the results attained through attempts to reverse Kazakhstan’s net negative migration trends. Our analysis traces the impact of socio-economic conditions on migration processes, using the example of the Central Asian and Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) member states including Kazakhstan. Consideration of further factors, such as ethnic repatriation, also points to the uphill battle that Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries face in maintaining their skilled workforce and encouraging high skilled migrants to come into the country. The results of the analysis reveal the causes of the low level of efficiency in the Republic of Kazakhstan’s migration policy. Undocumented workers continue to play a major role in industries outside of the highly skilled and household workers, yet they are often denied their labor and human rights. The authors propose new approaches in the regulation of migration activities aimed at improving the quality of life of prospective migrants, improving the socioeconomic conditions of the native population, and mitigating the further outflow of highly qualified specialists from the country. These approaches recognize that solutions must not only address barriers to economic success in Kazakhstan, but also must inspire confidence in Kazakhstan’s improving economic situation even when per capita income remains relatively low

Distance learning in Kazakhstan: estimating parents’ satisfaction of educational quality during the coronavirus

This article examines the benefits and drawbacks associated with distance/online learning in Kazakhstan during the Covid-19 pandemic. The responses of the 31,300 parents surveyed, as well as in-depth interviews with 65 parents, are used to construct several regression models to better understand how parents perceive the educational quality of distance/ online learning in today’s circumstances. The regression results show that the age of the parent and the level of family income are positively correlated with the parents’ level of satisfaction with the provided distance/online learning, while the number of children in a family is negatively related to the parents’ satisfaction with the learning process. The study finds a statistically significant association between parents’ satisfaction with the quality of education and their assessment of teachers’ competencies, and the level of government readiness to switch to the distance/online learning format

Exposing policy gaps: the experience of Kazakhstan in implementing distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose – The purpose of this study is analysing the experince of Kazakhstan in implementing distance/ online learning during pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all areas of social and economic life, including education. More than 1.3 billion students worldwide have switched to online/distance learning. In Kazakhstan, more than 6 million active participants in the educational process are navigating this online migration. There is significant criticism of the process among the general population, demanding scholarly investigations into the government’s actions. Design/methodology/approach – This paper examines the re-organization of education in Kazakhstan during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods to uncover this included an express survey of 31,300 households, in interviews with 65 parents, 15 children, 9 school/college/university administration and teachers and 15 representatives of the Government of Kazakhstan, and in analyses of statistical and regulatory documents. Findings – This study finds that the government of Kazakhstan has faced significant issues in the transition to distance/online learning due to weak internet infrastructure and a lack of effective interaction with all stakeholders, as well as biased statistical and analytical information. Originality/value – The pandemic has functioned as a test of government readiness for crisis and has exposed several fault lines where official development policy has been ineffective. While the “gap” between policy and outcome is often attributed to failures in local implementation, the unique factors at play here – an interested citizenry and committed teachers – show that considerably more work has to be put into bringing “best practices” fromdeveloped countries to developing ones

MIGRATION TRENDS IN KAZAKHSTAN: EXPLORING MIGRATION CAUSES AND FACTORS

The article examines the issues of emigration of the population of Kazakhstan, the reasons and factors influencing the decision of citizens to leave the country. The results thus obtained showed that labor migration predominated: people were driven by the desire to earn more, to realize their professional potential, to receive better education and professional training. We have also discovered that the low quality of education and lack of favorable conditions for the development of the younger generation are the two other causes of the outflow of Kazakhstanis from their homeland. The state is not doing enough to persuade young specialists and scientists to remain in the country, which explains the gradual increase of intellectual migration and brain-drain. The results brought us to a conclusion that certain political factors, including poorly protected legitimate rights, corruption and certain related reasons, are fairly important for those determined to leave. Many of those who are ready to leave, the older generation in particular, are kept back by family and friendly ties and the habitual life style. The analysis was based on the fall 2018 sociological poll results, which comprised responses from 3,215 Kazakhstani citizens and in-depth interviews with 143 experts in different civil service, science, education, and economics branches

Transforming E-government in Kazakhstan: A Citizen-Centric Approach

The paper aims to analyze digitalization policy in the Republic of Kazakhstan within the framework of e-government services implementation. While the digitalization services are innovation dissemination, the comprehensive plan is an innovation. In this paper special attention is given to the role of citizens in the process of digitalization and their satisfaction with the provision and quality of public services. Based on results of an analysis of state programs and public surveys of the population in 2017-2019, popular sentiment was found to indicate that the Kazakhstani government placed emphasis on the digitalization of public services without adequately considering whether their actions addressed the most pressing needs of society. The state digitalization programs were aimed primarily at automating the government’s business processes and creating state information systems and databases, processes that did not directly impact the day-to-day needs of citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan. As a result, while the government’s business processes were automated, the number of documents required for many functions was reduced, and the timeframe for the provision of public services to the population was shortened, the concept of digitalization optimization itself was not fully implemented, for several reasons. One problem leading to failures in the implementation process is using the top-down policy creation approach. Thus, the research concludes that Kazakhstan should apply the citizen-centric approach to increase the readiness of the population to use the tools of digital government and improve their satisfaction