Private Education in Kazakhstan

At the ending of 20 century many government objects, manufactures and public sectors in Kazakhstan are begun to privatize. Privatization means the changing property from public to private. Of course, privatization is concerned education system too. Government is interested in well-educated population, because it is one of the main factors that create economy development country. Education in Kazakhstan has some problems such as quality of education children received in schools, colleges and universities, price of this education and etc. Today it is divided into two systems: public and private. Now it is hard to say which is more reliable, and whether the privatization of public education is become the best solution of the problems.

Each of these education systems has its’ own advantages and disadvantages. Of course we can exactly say that private education in Kazakhstan has a lot of benefits in their system such as the models of new technological devices, advanced methods of teaching, new books and materials and more comfortable conditions to get knowledge. But a big drawback of private schools and universities is that they cost a huge amount of money, which not each parent can afford. In additional it is not still acceptable for Kazakhstan citizens that for education we need to pay, because in the past we were the part of the USSR, where education was free. For parents who cannot afford the cost of private education, the privatization of education will be a big trouble. (Where would they find money to afford it?).

Moreover in the private system there is the absence of equality between students, because some students in private schools have enough money to buy what they want, (new clothes, mobile phones, new technology, accessories and etc.), and other students, who try to save every coin, feel themselves more aggrieved.

Also drawbacks of the private education are lack of respects to teachers and less opportunity to get information about public competitions, which named like “Olympiads” (the competition in which every student can participate, and winner does not have to worry about choosing future university and passing exams, because government give a rewarding (grants) for all public universities for the best knowledge of student). One teacher from private school mentioned that sometimes students ignore when it comes to getting information about Olympiads; there were some events when smart pupils in the private schools even did not know about them. Of course, it is the unfair from the government side, as our country is the democracy republic, everyone is equal to everyone, and students must be known right information in the right time regardless in what kind of private or public school are they studying.

In public system of education all is the opposite of the private system. In public schools or universities we can see the equality between students (for example, same uniform), respect to the teachers (in some cases pupils call their teachers “second mother”) etc. But in public system we cannot close the eyes for the problems such as old books, old technology, and uncomfortable conditions. The parents do not want their children to get low quality of education anymore, because after the graduation from public school or university it is too hard for students to find the well-paid job. A public education system is so poor in quality and in the services it provides that only those who cannot escape them are resigned to sending their children to this schools Nevertheless, policy about public education in Kazakhstan is improving day to day. For example, consider that the best result on ENT (obligatory public exam after graduated from school) was in public schools not in private schools. Statistic of this exam on 2005 is the same: over than 15 thousands pupils of public schools get more than 90 points, and 42 pupils get the highest result 120 points .

Today in Kazakhstan most of schools are public, but most of universities are private. Why we have this situation? Maybe, it is because the students interests in getting better education and comfortable getting the high payment job is rising. That is why students, which think about their future, prefer to get high education in private universities. So the quality of knowledge is better in private universities. Better the condition to study, more opportunity to meet and communicate with foreign students, masters, professors and etc. Privatization in this case gives a lot of advantages.

And the predominance of public schools is because the education received in public schools much better than in the private, as mentioned before that the best results on ENT exam was appeared by the public school students. Of course perfect result will be when students could get the same good quality of education regardless of what sort of school or university they graduated from.

The privatization is the grave step, because it is the risk with unexpected results. And it must go step by step, by stages, not like a suddenly event, because people can be frightened of privatization system. To begin the privatization as the whole it is necessary to know economic stability, the market system, the stability of population, all conditions of living, and then analyzing all possible benefits and drawbacks, if it is possible to predict all negative effects and net profits. And the privatization of education is the very important step in developing of country. To establish the privatization of public education is very laborious work, which requires a lot of endurances, skills and knowledge. Government must take into the consideration almost everything about structures in population, whether it will be acceptable for people or not.

The privatization of public education in Kazakhstan depends on economic situation. Of course the economic situation in Kazakhstan is improving year by year, but the income not so high to afford the private system of education for majority of citizens. If we see for the proposal of privatization from economic view, we can say that private education is better, more suitable to government, rather than public. (Government only received money from private sectors (taxes) that is all; government does not make fuss over methods of teaching, of the teacher’s income, of the students’ scholarships, of their education and etc.).

Government should take into account all advantages and disadvantages and make the best determination. The privatizing of whole public education in Kazakhstan will be only after the society will be ready for this decision.