KazDual project - in action!
On April 11-13, 2023 in Astana, Nazarbayev University, the Consortium of KazDual project held a workshop "The results of dual programs piloting and preparation of recommendations for changes in the National Legislation Acts of Kazakhstan”. The organizers of the workshop were the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MSHE) of Kazakhstan and the Independent Quality Assurance Agency in Education (IQAA). The event include 30 participants - project partners from Austria, Germany, Estonia, also Kazakhstan HEIs, colleges and IQAA, ACQUIN and CEENQA quality assurance accreditation agencies. Ms. Indira Abilmazhinova, Head of the Department for the content of higher and postgraduate education of the MSHE, and Ms. Sholpan Murtazovna Kalanova, President of IQAA, noted the relevance and importance of the project in the modernization of the higher education system in the country and gave a positive assessment of its implementation. Ms. Laura Paluanova, coordinator of the Erasmus+ National Office in Kazakhstan, Ms. Lyazat Zhabbarovna Shonayeva, Deputy Director of the Human Capital Development Department of National Chamber of Entrepreneurs “Atameken”, and Mr. Carlos Machado, external expert of the project, were among those invited to the seminar. There were presented the topics on the Priority areas of Higher Education in Kazakhstan, on coordination of dual training within the framework of "Atameken", the partner universities presented the reports on their packages: Main results of KazDual project and plans for the future implementation (Abai KazNPU; Organization of the employer survey and tools to enhance the effectiveness of stakeholder feedback (Pedagogical University of Tirol in Innsbruck); Analysis of the results of the survey on the implementation of pilot programs (Buketov KarU); Analysis of the questionnaire on quality of the project implementation results (Tallinn University of Applied Sciences); Features of dual training infrastructure on the OVGU campus (FabLab) (on the example of Magdeburg University). The participants noted that the University of Tyrol together with the University of Magdeburg showed the best practices of the European dual system from the beginning of the project and developed questionnaires in order to know the labor market needs and stakeholders' interest in the implementation of dual education. The recommendations of the project encouraged the Kazakh team to further implement the following work packages (2,3). Kazakhstan university - Karaganda University named after academician Buketov - one of the large multi-profile universities in Central Kazakhstan - responsible for the work package № 3 together with M. Auezov SKU and Shakarim University, carried out great work in the framework of project implementation - pilot program survey. Thanks to IQAA in the project, there will be a positive effect for the revision of quality standards and the development of standards for accreditation of dual programs, which will be a know-how in the system of higher education of Kazakhstan. The main purpose of the workshop was to discuss the analysis of the self-reports and prepare recommendations for changes in the National Legislation Acts of Kazakhstan. Based on the analysis of the work in groups, the project teams presented their recommendations. Abai KazNPU, KarU named after academician Buketov in their presentations showed models of dual training in the system of HE and VET and received expert comments.
In general, the project will propose the Guidelines for the regulation of dual education (the combination of vocational and higher education), labor legislation for internships and other regulations, which can support the revised regulatory framework for the implementation of dual vocational education.
The KazDual project will undoubtedly be able to provide support in this direction: to improve the quality of higher education and its compliance with the needs of the labor market in the organization and planning of teaching, operational and strategic management of universities and internationalization of universities.
In addition, the project will allow HEIs and colleges to become competitive through practice-oriented education and closer ties with business. The close cooperation of the MSHE of Kazakhstan and the independent agency IQAA in the project has a positive effect on the revision of quality standards.
