PHT reforms Kazakh education system

Kazakhstan, the huge country with 19 million inhabitants, large raw material reserves and an emerging economy, suffers, like many other countries, from a shortage of skilled workers. Part of the blame here is an outdated training system that has now been reorganized with active help from Tyrol.

There is no teaching in Kazakhstan like in Austria. In the companies, young people only learn about practical work. In contrast, only theory is taught in technical colleges. Many students were unemployed at the end of their training, although many skilled workers are missing, says the rector of the Tyrol University of Education, Regine Mathies: “There was little exchange between the skills of the graduates and the requirements of the labor market. The consequences are unemployment and less attractive studies.”

Several measures

The goal of the three-year project together with the universities in Magdeburg and Tallinn and the corresponding offices in Kazakhstan was to reform the curricula. Focus was also placed on training teaching staff and training was reformed in companies. For this purpose, trainers at the universities and the usual apprentice trainers were deployed in the companies, says Mathies: “That was a difficult point, for example, to make it clear to the companies that this support is simply very important.”

Law has already been approved for this

The aim is not to continue training young people outside the market. It is also particularly important to get companies across the country on board, says Svetlana Karstina from the University of Karaganda. “And so we asked the companies directly what theoretical training they really need. Accordingly, we have synchronized the training, theory and practice in order to have really well-trained specialists in the future who will then find a good job with prospects,” said Bayan Sapargaliyeva from the Almaty Pedagogical University.

The relevant law for the reorganization and realignment of dual training in Kazakhstan was recently passed by the government and has been in force for a few days.