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There are four Kazakhstans, and each has its own education level - World Bank

15 february 2021

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All "Kazakhstan" has a different level of income, life expectancy, quality of education, and so on. In terms of income, the difference reaches fourfold.

The same gap is in the quality of education, but it is also influenced by socio-economic inequality within the regions. Pupils of elite schools are ahead of their peers from ordinary schools by about three years of study.

Jean-François Marteau, World Bank Resident Representative in Kazakhstan, warns that the coronavirus could worsen the situation. Measures need to be taken now.

He published his opinion on the website of the World Bank in Kazakhstan.

The gap will only widen.

The impact of the pandemic on learning outcomes will be very serious, the expert believes. At the same time, our education system had problems even before it began.

Before the outbreak of COVID-19 in Kazakhstan, 6 out of 10 students were "functionally illiterate."

- Functional literacy is not the same as “regular” literacy. Literate students may well memorize most of the capitals of the world or memorize the periodic table. However, they cannot apply the knowledge gained in mathematics, science, reading, etc. in everyday life in order to work at a professional level and succeed as an individual and a citizen, ”explained Marteau.

In his opinion, the pandemic "threatens to lead to functional illiteracy in more than 100 thousand students."

Marteau referred to recent World Bank estimates for Kazakhstan. They showed that as a result of the pandemic, learning outcomes will decrease by 8 points on the PISA (International Program for the Assessment of Educational Achievement of Students, which assesses the skills in math, reading and science among 15-year-olds - approx.).

The consequences of this are negative and far-reaching. In particular, school closures will widen the gap between children from poor and rich families.

The Northwest is similar in life expectancy to Africa

Marteau also noted that social inequalities are often exacerbated by geography.

“Uneven landscape of human capital development in Kazakhstan was presented by the Center for Research and Consulting in early October 2020,” he added.

The author referred to the analysts of the Center, according to whom “four Kazakhstani coexist”.

All have different levels of income, fertility, life expectancy and other indicators that affect the Human Capital Index.

“It was amazing to see the huge differences between the four regions. For example, in terms of income, there is a fourfold difference between high and low performing regions. In terms of fertility, the north of the country can be compared with Europe, while the south reflects the trends of low-income countries, and the northwest of Kazakhstan is similar in life expectancy to African countries, Marteau writes.

A PISA study found that low-performing regions lag behind high-performing regions by an average of four years of schooling. There is poor performance in both rural and urban schools. And in regions with the highest academic performance, there is already a large gap between rural and urban schools.

“Northern Kazakhstan is an inspiring example of a region where both the overall level of achievement in the region is high, and the gap between urban and rural schools is one of the smallest,” the author noted.

There is also a significant difference between the best and the low-performing students. Students of Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools (NIS) are 124 PISA points ahead of their peers, which corresponds to almost three years of study.

- In terms of functional literacy, the performance of NIS students is also strikingly different from the national average. According to the 2018 PISA results, only 6.2% of NIS students were found to be functionally illiterate, compared with 64% nationwide. A small number of students are good at performing well and should be pursued further. However, Kazakhstan also needs to improve the average level of skills, the author noted.

How to overcome growing inequality?

He recalled that the quality of school education affects future income.

“According to our estimates, in Kazakhstan, as a result of 4 months of school closings in March-June 2020, the future income of this generation may decrease by 2.9%. This is the equivalent of total economic losses of up to $ 1.9 billion annually,” Marteau emphasized.

Kazakhstan plans to increase funding for education from the current 3.4 to 7% of GDP by 2025. It is important to ensure that the investment is effective and benefits all children.

- Kazakhstan will need to address the growing learning gap that has been exacerbated by the closure of schools during the pandemic. The recovery program in terms of training should include:

• an in-depth assessment of this gap,
• accelerated teacher training,
• increasing the coverage of students in need of support,
• implementation of an intensive additional training program,
• constant monitoring of the learning recovery process.

Such an approach can help to effectively confront the challenge of the “four Kazakhstans” in the post-pandemic period and overcome the growing inequality in education, especially among the poorest and most vulnerable segments of the country's population, the author stated.

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