TEMPUS DOQUP in Kazakhstan: Strategic Impact on the National Level Saule Aidarova, Project Coordinator Kazakhstan

WORLD EDUCATION SPACE Globalisation of the world economical processes, active involvement of all the countires of the world in the production of goods and services requires a unified educational space. Kazakhstan universities will inevitably integrate with the world research and education community under the open information and state of the art information technologies. The Bologna process reveals an aspiration of different countries towards the world educational space.

State Education Development Program of Kazakhstan for 2011- 2020 adopted by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan No.1118 in December 7, 2010. The main purpose of the program: increase of education competitiveness and human capital development through ensuring access to quality education for sustainable economic growth; integration into the world educational space; high quality education to meet the needs of the labor market and fulfil the tasks of industrial and innovative development of the country, best international practices in the field of education and maintenance of lifelong learning system.

Key indicators to be achieved as a result of implementation of the State Education Development Program the share of university graduates under the governmental grants to be employed in the first year after graduation – 80%; the number of Kazakhstani universities listed in the ratings of the world’s best universities – 2; the share of universities to undergo the independent national institutional accreditation based on the international standards  – 65%; the share of universities to undergo the independent national specialized accreditation based on the international standards – 30%.

Revision of structure and content of higher and postgraduate education in Kazakhstan to the State Education Development Program for 2011-2020 Higher education institutions got more academic freedom in the formation of study programs The content of study programs is updated towards the employers needs and demands. Since 2011, the academic freedom of universities in Bachelor programmes has been risen up to 55%, Master's up to 70% and in PhD doctoral programmes up to 90%. This enables universities to develop their own study programs involving employers and social partners. As a consequence, RK universities now offer a wider range of study programs, a variety of relevant disciplines and address the needs of the regional labor market.

Study programs design The State programme presumes that along with compulsory and elective courses universities will develop and offer individual study programs. By 2020, the higher education standards will include elective component up to 70%, education standards of Master programs - up to 80% and those of PhD Doctoral standards - up to 95%. The elective component may include a variety of study programs for training in related specialties. Universities are free to identify the list of electives in accordance with the requirements of the labor market. This improves academic freedom and mobility of universities and takes into account the needs of the local labor market in relevant specialists.

ACCREDITATION Since the target indicators of SEDP for 2011-2020 are related to the implementation of the principles of the Bologna Declaration, independent accreditation is reflected as an important area of ​​quality assurance. According to the program, by 2020, 65% higher education institutions should have passed independent national institutional accreditation according to international standards. Also, the number of high schools that have passed independent national specialized accreditation according to international standards in 2015 should rise up to 20%, and in 2020 be increased to 30%. Recent innovations in the system of quality assurance enhance the competitiveness of Kazakh universities and facilitate their integration into the European Higher Education Area.

ACCREDITATION a process by which an accreditation body evaluates the quality of the university as a whole or individual study programs of the university to recognize their compliance with certain standards and criteria. The RK Ministry of Education and Science approved and entitled the local and foreign accreditation agencies to conduct institutional and specialised accreditation. As a rule, a study programme is accredited only after getting a state license or permit. Institutional accreditation - accreditation of educational organization as a whole carried out by independent national accreditation agencies. Specialized accreditation - accreditation of individual study programs of the university by international and national agencies. National accreditation - accreditation of education or educational program by an accreditation agency within the country while international accreditation is an accreditation of educational programs to foreign accreditation agency. Independent accreditation is conducted in accordance with the State Education Development Program for 2011-2020 and the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan of 2007 “On Education" (with amendments and additions as of 13.01.2015) by accreditation bodies within the National Register.

The National Register 2 national accreditation agencies - IAAR and IQAA 4 international accreditation agencies - ASIIN, ACQUIN, AQA, and ABET. Independent Agency for Accreditation and Rating of the Republic of Kazakhstan (IAAR) is a nonprofit organization and a legal body set up in 2011 to improve the competitiveness of higher education institutions, as well as technical and professional organizations of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the national and international levels by conducting the procedures of accreditation and academic rankings. Independent Kazakhstan Quality Assurance Agency in Education (IQAA) set up in 2008 provides accreditation and rankings of higher education institutions, conducts workshops and consultations to higher education institutions for quality assurance and improvement of the higher education system in Kazakhstan. Both are members of the Kazakh Agency International Network for Quality Assurance in Education (ENQA, IREG, INQAAHE, APQN). 12 KazNTU study programs are accredited by ASIIN and ABET.

STUDY PROGRAM STANDARDS and THEIR CORRESPONDENCE TO THE DOQUP Study program standards in Kazakhstan were worked out in compliance with the state rules, European standards and international practice under the overall control by the state, and each study program should be in line with the following standards: 1) Aims 2) Learning outcomes, efficiency 3) Students 4) Content 5) Teaching staff 6) Facilities and information resources. Each standard has main provisions and assessment criteria for the quality assurance of study programmes. According to the opinion of MSE and IQAA representatives, careful comparison of the DOQUP project standards revealed that each standard offered in the DoQuP Model (A -“Needs and Objectives”, B- “Educational Process”, C – “Resources”, D- “Monitoring”, E - “Management System”) corresponds to the content of specialised accreditation standards.

DOQUP in Kazakhstan after the official closure The results of Tempus DOQUP project were approved by the Ministry of Education and Science The Letter of Recognition is to be signed Bilateral and multilateral agreements to be signed by the DOQUP consortium member universities and Ministries Further dissemination meetings supported by MES: one for the North Kazakhstan universities (Kokshetau), another for the uni in the South Kazakhstan (Almaty, Shymkent) in May and August 2015 respectively. Papers in the international educational journals with IF about the Tempus DOQUP experience and achievements