Analysis of how Inclusive Education in Kazakhstan being implemented according to the State programme 2011-2020

Analysis of how Inclusive Education in Kazakhstan being implemented according to the State programme 2011-2020
Introduction
Kazakhstan is still in a state of transition from the Soviet system of educating the children with disabilities. Since independence Kazakhstan was simply following the method of educating those children in special institutions as it was done in Soviet period. This was an example of an extremely segregated way in terms of isolating the children with disabilities from the society. After signing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by the President N.A. Nazarbayev in 2008 Kazakhstan started towards inclusive form of education for children with special needs.
Inclusion means each learner should be educated in the least restrictive environment, preferably in the school and the classroom he or she would ordinarily attend, barring an enormous mental or physical handicap. Inclusive education is a process of strengthening the capacity of the education system to reach out to all learners and can thus be understood as a key strategy to achieve education for all.
From European perspective inclusion concerns not only disabled children or children with special needs, but takes into account the needs of the poor and the disadvantaged, including working children, remote rural dwellers and nomads, ethnic and linguistic minorities, children, young people and adults affected by conflict, HIV and AIDS, hunger and poor health. It also emphasizes the special focus on girls and women education, whereas inclusive education in Kazakhstan mainly focuses on educating children with disabilities. (Jadrina, 2007) For this to happen, there is a political will for reform based on the core principle that no child is uneducable. This is a central idea of various international agreements, as EFA, to which Kazakhstan has committed itself. The challenge that still remains is creating the necessary conditions to meet these commitments. Especially if we take into consideration the current issues with the idea to be central to achieving high-quality inclusive education for all children, including those with disabilities and other special educational needs (OECD, 1999).
Identifying the differences among different types of education
Regular education

“Regular” student;
Curriculum meets student’s ability (round holes for round stick);
Regular teachers;
Regular schools.

Special education

Special student;
Different curriculum (square holes for square sticks);
Specially qualified and trained teachers;
Special schools (with different facilities).

Integrated education

Adaptation of a student for the system requirements;
The process of square stick becoming round;
The system remains the same;
The student either changes and accepts the system or becomes inappropriate.

Inclusive education

All children are different;
All children are able to study;
Children are different:
With various capabilities,
Ethnic groups,
Origin,
Heights,
Gender,
And age;
The system changes and adapts according to these diversity types.
Problems
It is clear that Kazakhstan has an impressive array of provision already in place and plans already being realized to make substantial further improvements for inclusive education but there are still many obstacles taking place. One of them is absence of the adapted or suitable curricula for inclusive education. The regular curriculum and the special education curriculum are not compatible. Bringing the curriculum for children with disabilities fully in line with the regular school curriculum is impossible. Standards should be agreed. Apparently, there is no formal pre-school, primary school or higher school curricula for inclusive education (OECD, 1999). Adjustment is essential as the state standards demands are really high. Would it be possible with current curriculum for students with special needs to catch up with their regular-peers? (Jadrina, 2007)
Next issue is also concerned about the school documentation it is about assessment. All the school achievement assessing standards and examinations are made to assess regular students. There are no specific standards to monitor students with special needs. You cannot find special accommodations, such as oral exams for blind students; for example, for the united national test for the student to enter the university.
Another problem is the lack of staff working in inclusive educational institutions. Apart from regular teachers schools should hire special tutors or teaching assistants who would work on better adaptation of the special student on the regular environment. Inclusion of children with special educational needs into the general educational process envisages obligatory correctional, pedagogical and psychological assistance targeted to control the development of a child, success in education, assistance in the problems of adaptation to the environment of healthy peers. (NHDR, 2009) This may be possible if a psychological and pedagogical service is set up in every educational institution and specially qualified staff. Assistants help is also demanded to catch up with the studying material when students are absent due to health problems.
Another issue that arises with the staff is their qualifications. They are teachers of regular schools and they should have some experience dealing with disabled children. The government needs to make sure they train teachers who are already working and pay more attention on higher education in pedagogical universities’ preparation of professionals. (Jadrina, 2007) The problem of correctional and pedagogical training of pedagogical universities students to work with special needs classrooms is not found its proper expression, didactic bases of their training are still not disclosed, theoretical model is not developed, target program and process components of this training are not defined.
School facilities should be appropriate and easily accessible for disabled children. Regular schools should have tables, chairs, hallways and toilets suitable for different students with special needs. Report of OECD (1999) stated that even new schools have not been designed taking universal design requirements fully into account, with the result that, for example, newly installed wheelchair ramps were not usable.
Schools lack not only special facilities for inclusive education but also resources for education. Braille books for blind students or special hearing apparatus for deaf ones are essential in building equal educational process for all children. (Jadrina, 2007)
The inclusive education is not one sided process and it will obviously require support from parents’ side. However, parents can also face some obstacles. Most parents do not know their rights and rights of a disabled child. Parents are afraid to demand any special conditions for their child to make the educational accessible. Parents are not aware and do not have clear explanation of what is the inclusive education and what to expect. (OECD, 2009)
Parents from lower income cannot fully afford some expensive facilities to make sure that their child will go to school. In addition, health care expenses also require money. For poor families it is easier to leave their children in orphan houses or in special centers rather than adapting them in regular schools. The current level of provision falls well short of the demand, and growing inequalities in access to health services, predominantly affecting children from poor families and in rural areas, represents a serious concern. Access to public health care is even more important for the poor because wealthier citizens now have the means to use privately provided medical services (UN MDG report Kazakhstan, 2005).
There is no connection between key stages of education for children with disabilities. What happens after school? For example, children receiving home schooling have no access to vocational education; and students with disabilities who complete vocational training have virtually no access to employment. Even within ministries, problems arise (OECD, 1999).There are at least there Ministries (Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labour and Social Protection) responsible for social, medical and educational services for students with special needs. However, they have no connection among them in the process of adapting special students in the social life through inclusive education.
Talking about Ministry of Labour and Social Protection I should mention the employability problem of the educated children with disabilities. In 2006, there were 21 000 potential job seekers with disabilities, but only 1 300 (6%) employed because of a lack of competitiveness in the labour market.
Another issue that arises is absence of reliable data of how many students of special needs do we have in Kazakhstan. Data from the Ministry of Statistics reports (NHDR, 2009) that 17 600 children with disabilities are in education facilities in grades 1‑11 (ages 7‑18). However, the country report notes that there are 24 246students in special schools, 7 582 in special boarding facilities and special classes. In addition there are, 3 925 children in regular schools receiving support, and a further 26 623 children not receiving support. In total we can see there would then be 62 376 in schools supported by the Ministry of Education and Science. (MOES) The data from the Ministry of Statistics (17 600) are substantially lower – by more than two-thirds than those provided by the country report (62 376).
The final but essential problem is that the society is not ready to admit students with disabilities to study together with a regular student. It is necessary to mention that the actual main obstacle for inclusive education of disabled and a serious problem all families of the disabled face is the lack of respect for disabled persons and lack of knowledge about their abilities and rights. Therefore, the absence of social awareness and respect from people should be considered when establishing inclusive education. (NHDR, 2009)
Description of the State Program 2011-2020 on Inclusive Education
The Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan formulated the state program for 2011-2020 in order to increase the quality of education in the country. The goal of the program is increasing competitiveness of education and development of human capital through ensuring access to quality education for sustainable economic growth. It includes several tasks to complete and one of them is to improve inclusive education system in schools. (State program, 2010)
The analysis current situation shows that inclusive education has not been developed yet. Out of 149, 246 children with disabilities 29, 212 or 19.5% are preschool-age children. 10 thousand of these children, that is 32.8%, are covered with preschool education and training in 37 special kindergartens and 240 special groups (State program, 2010). The number of children with disabilities is increasing. In 2005 there were 124 thousand children with disabilities; in 2010 this figure exceeded 149 thousand, 41.4% of them only are engaged in special educational programs.
The implementation period consists of two stages: the first stage: 2011 – 2015 and the second stage: 2016 – 2020.
The achievement of the objective will be measured by the following indicators: the share of schools that created favorable conditions for inclusive education 2011 – 10%, 2015 – 30%, 2020 – 70% (out of their total number); the share of children covered with inclusive education of the total number of children with development disabilities 2011 – 9%, 2015 – 25%, 20120 – 50%; the percentage of schools that created “barrier-free access” for disabled children will make 20% (of total amount of school); the percentage of children covered with inclusive education – 50% (of the total number of disabled children).
In order to address the problem with the lack of highly qualified teachers the state will raise the percentage of highly-qualified teaching employees with highest and first category to make: in 2015 – 47% out of total number of teaching employees, and in 2020 – 52% out of total number of teaching employees. For the purpose of providing the distance teaching, the educational organizations implementing retraining and qualification upgrading programs will be equipped with interactive facilities. The government grants for upgrading pedagogical staff’s qualification for preschool and secondary educational institutions will be increased including the specialists for: integrated education of preschool and school-age children (inclusive education); work with disabled children;
The lack of inclusive education in preschool will be addressed by establishing special and inclusive education classrooms to provide special pedagogical assistance to children. By 2015 the number of such classrooms will be raised from 8% to 30% out of the total number of kindergartens. To preserve and expand the network of special preschool organizations, special kindergartens will be opened in Akmola, Almaty, West Kazakhstan, Kyzylorda and North Kazakhstan regions. The share of special preschool educational organizations will reach 2% by 2015 and 2.5% – by 2020 in Kazakhstan. The share of kindergartens providing unimpeded access to the organization will be raised from 1% in 2011 to 10% in 2020 (of the total number of kindergartens).
The situation in secondary schools will be improved by 2015: modular programs of integrated education for children with disabilities will be developed; rules of integrated education for children with disabilities in general education environment will be elaborated, and forms of integration for disabled children will be defined; rules of organization of distance learning for disabled children will be elaborated.
By 2020 the schools will establish barrier-free zones for disabled children by means of installation of lifting devices and ramps, special equipment in sanitary rooms, installation of handrails, special desks, tables etc. 3,030 schools will create favorable conditions for ensuring equal access to teaching and upbringing of disabled children (availability of teachers defectologists, psychological-pedagogical accompaniment of children, and special individual technical and compensatory facilities). The disabled children studying at home will be provided with a set of computer hardware and software. Lifelong education will let the people get education beginning from preschool to post-retirement age including the whole range of formal and informal forms of study and inclusive education.
The analysis of the program of inclusive education implementation
The program makes attempt to address key problems with inclusive education’s implementation in regular institutions. It gives us target indicators with percentage of how 2,5% of kindergartens and 70% of schools with favorable conditions for inclusion omitting any information on technical-vocational schools and higher education at all. Without this, inclusion will be questioned and children with disabilities will face inequity in labour market opportunities and social inclusion in general. The idea of inclusion is to provide the equity among all children and it is not possible if they cannot get equal education.
The lack of the teaching staff who can teach in inclusive schools is not addressed at all. In the part of Teacher’s Status the program mentions about retraining teachers and raising the percentage of highly-qualified teachers. However, it does not talk about any special trainings or workshops for teaching in inclusive institutions.
The program states that by 2015 there will be 30% of special kindergarten raising from 8%. The number sounds promising good benefits for children with special needs, but it again omits the vital aspect of who will be teaching there. What kind of curriculum will be used? Raising percentage from 8 to 30 requires huge number of well-trained staff, specialized in inclusive education.
The inclusion in secondary schools are promised to build up barrier-free zones by 2020 through installation of lifting devices and ramps, special equipment in sanitary rooms, installation of handrails, special desks, tables etc. The problem with assessment of those special children and the standards of state curriculum are not addressed. 3,030 schools will create favorable conditions for ensuring equal access to teaching and upbringing of disabled children states the program, but what about the graduates of all those schools? Where will the disabled children go after finishing 12 years of education? There are no higher educational institutions with favorable conditions for ensuring equal access to them.
Another problem with 3, 030 school’ there were not mentioned resources. Apart from special facilities those schools need books, special textbooks and other educational aids which were not mentioned in the program.
In the steps of implementation the program states that by 2015 it will integrate the school and university programs. However integration does not mean inclusion. So, should we note that until 2015 there is nothing going to happen on the way to inclusive education?
The program gives us increasing numbers of children with disabilities and the number of children getting special education in special institutions (41, 4%) not giving any information on how inclusive education will change those numbers. What institutions and mainly who will chose the students who will continue studying in in inclusive school and the one who will remain studying in special school?
From looking at the implementation plan we can see that Ministry of Education was not considering the demands of Ministry of Labour and Social Protection. There is no connection between key stages of education and employment of the disabled students.
The part of financing is not clear as there are given only numbers without telling where the budget is going to be divided.
Recommendations
Considering the changes currently taking place in education there is a real need to develop a fully inclusive education system. This should apply to every child, no matter where he or she is located. First of all, full consideration should be given to promoting the rights of children with disabilities. There should be clear law about the rights of children in the society. Also, this should be publicly known, raising social awareness will increase the good attitude to students with special needs.
Families who raise disabled children face greater expenses than those who do not, and this should be borne in mind when calculating benefits. The state should take into account the expenses of parents when sending a child to regular schools. The funding should come not only through pensions. The question about money also raises up when we talk about teaching staff in school. The teachers with special qualifications who can teach in inclusive institutions should be recognized by the government with additional bonuses for their payment. Their job will be more challenging comparing to regular teachers.
The huge change should be in the standardization of the curriculum and assessment requirements. The teachers of special schools who taught before disabled children and have experience should work together with teachers of comprehensive schools. They can build up appropriate requirements meeting the demands of both regular and special need students.
Building new schools with better facilities will also require a lot of funding. The government should involve community and private sectors on this way. The social view is better as they know what is best in the community perspective rather than building ramps and other lifting devices with inexperienced workers.

Overall there are still many not addresses issues in inclusive education that awaits for the solution.

References:
(2009). UNESCO policy guidelines on inclusion in education. France: the United Nations Educational.
Approved by the president of the republic of Kazakhstan, Leader of the Nation, N.Nazarbayev The strategic plan for development of the Republic of Kazakhstan until the year 2020 No. 922 dated February 1, 2010. from http://www.akorda.kz/en/category/gos_programmi_razvitiya
Jadrina, M. (n.d.). Development of a framework for inclusive education in kazakhstan (details). Retrieved from http://www.inclusive-education-in-action.org/iea/index.php?menuid=25&reporeid=146
Jadrina, M. (2007). School education in kazakhstan: Possibilities of all children’s equal approach to education.. (Master 's thesis)Retrieved from http://www.ibe.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Inclusive_Education/Reports/minsk_07/kazakhstan_inclusion_07.pdf
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz republic and Tajikistan: students with special needs and those with disabilities. (2009). Reviews of National Policies for Education. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/countries/kazakhstan/43851447.pdf
Organization of health, recreational and employment of children during the summer vacation 2013. (2013). Retrieved fromhttp://www.edu.gov.kz/en/dejatelnost/doshkolnoe_i_srednee_obrazovanie/ob_organizacii_ozdorovitelnogo_otdykha_dosuga_i_zanjatosti_detei_v_period_letnikh_kanikul_2013_goda/
Zholtayeva , G., Stambekova, A., Alipbayeva, A., & Yerzhanova, G. (2013). Inclusive education in kazakhstan: selected issues. (Master 's thesis, I. Zhansugurov Zhetysu State University ).
(UN MDG report Kazakhstan, 2005) - UNMDG (2005). Millennium Development Goals in Kazakhstan. Astana: UNDP and Government of RK.

MOES - http://www.edu.gov.kz/ru/dejatelnost/doshkolnoe_i_srednee_obrazovanie/ob_organizacii_ozdorovitelnogo_otdykha_dosuga_i_zanjatosti_detei_v_period_letnikh_kanikul_2013_goda/

Report, N. H. (2009). From exclusion to equality: realising the problems with persons disabilities in Kazakhstan. Almaty: TOO "Agrozidat".
РАЗВИТИЕ ИНКЛЮЗИВНОГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ. (2011, Aprill 6). Retrieved November 28, 2013, from www.edu.gov.kz: http://www.edu.gov.kz/ru/news/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=2455&cHash=ad54b0d9673d9e0a7f87aec62ca05a5e

References: (2009). UNESCO policy guidelines on inclusion in education. France: the United Nations Educational. (UN MDG report Kazakhstan, 2005) - UNMDG (2005). Millennium Development Goals in Kazakhstan. Astana: UNDP and Government of RK. РАЗВИТИЕ ИНКЛЮЗИВНОГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ. (2011, Aprill 6). Retrieved November 28, 2013, from www.edu.gov.kz: http://www.edu.gov.kz/ru/news/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=2455&cHash=ad54b0d9673d9e0a7f87aec62ca05a5e