The role of education in the formation of national competitiveness
Table of contents: The Kazakh-American Free University Academic Journal №3 - 2011
Author: Zakirova Dilnara, TURAN University, Kazakhstan
The role of education in the sustained development of countries’
competitiveness and for the strengthening of countries’ positions in the world
economy is becoming very important. The educational sector is one of the main
“trouble spots” of the sustained development of the world economy. Under the
conditions of globalization all economically developed countries consider the
attraction of the most promising scientists and highly-skilled professionals as
the main priority of their policy. “Brain drain” is one of the main factors of
slowdown in economic development in the post-Soviet countries. Kazakhstan will
not be able to take an adequate place in the world without stabilizing the
situation and increasing the education level in the country. Nowadays, economic
growth is identified with scientific and technological advance, and, in the
first instance, with professionalism of manpower. A man’s knowledge, abilities,
and health together with scientific knowledge materialized in a new technology
are one of the wealth forms of the country.
Nowadays one of the main tendencies of the world economy development
is the competitiveness for the high-quality human capital which is one of the
main features of the world innovative development and the growing mobility of
the highly-skilled professionals to provide the spreading of knowledge. [3] The
President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N. Nazarbayev stated in his Message to
the People of Kazakhstan, “Almost all successful modern countries integrated to
the system of the world economic relations counted on “intelligent economy”.
Therefore, first and foremost, it is necessary to develop the human capital of
the country.” [5]
The development of human potential is one of the main objectives of
the Republic of Kazakhstan. The competitive advantages of the economy and the
possibilities of its modernization are directly determined by the human
potential accumulation and usage in the country. It is highly-skilled
professionals who determine the possibilities and bounds of necessary changes
of social development.
The system of education of Kazakhstan is to become dynamically
developing and able to react to the world processes of globalization and
informatization. The clear state policy in the sphere of education reforms and
professional training (especially technical education and innovative
management) is of great importance. The state policy in the sphere of education
carries out the following objectives: reproduction and development of national
culture; strengthening of the state’s status on the world market; reproduction
of human capital in accordance with the economy needs; satisfaction of
educational needs in accordance with the culture peculiarities and the stages
of personal socialization.
The necessity of the educational system’s state support results from
its capability to produce not only human but also social capital. Schools form
social norms and ethical values reducing transactions and other costs and
lowering social tension between different groups of population. The given
normative aspect of education requires a direct administrative control.
As foreign precedents show, the innovative activity requires the
adequate level of higher education. Therefore, the educational reform must
involve all levels and areas of professional training. The state policy in the
sphere of education and professional training is to solve the following
objectives:
- to determine professional training for innovative activities as
one of the priorities of the educational development;
- to found institutions for professional training, certification,
and retraining of working and technical specialists with the participation of
the state and private sector;
- to enrich material, technical, and methodological resources of
all kinds of education;
- to work out and implement educational standards fitting with the
world requirements;
- to collaborate with other countries in the sphere of professional
training and for the attraction of highly-skilled specialists to Kazakhstan;
- to found (on the basis of international precedents) new higher
educational institutions and to change the specialties of current institutions
(universities) to specialized ones for professional training in the sphere of
high tech industries;
- to train the specialists for the development of innovative spheres
such as managers and experts of innovative projects; specialists for
international marketing, patent law, potential risk assessment and ways of its
decreasing, venture financing organization, etc. [2].
The human capital formed by the system of education is considered as
an indispensable factor of the economic growth and so it is supported by the
state almost in all countries.
On the one hand, the sphere of education is the most important
factor of the economic growth and the increase of labor productivity. On the
other hand, it is of great importance for the solution of a number of social
problems connected with the life quality improvement, namely, with the optimal
employment of the population and the more rational spreading of national
income. Scientific approach to the formation and accumulation of the human capital
can promote the development of the given tendencies in the economy of Kazakhstan.
There upon, education is to be of high importance in the system of social
priorities.
In the Republic of Kazakhstan the progressive development and
modernization of education are possible due to the all-round support at the
initiation and implementation of the educational reforms. Education is
recognized as one of the most important priorities of the long-term Strategy
“Kazakhstan-2030”. [1] The common aim of the educational reforms in Kazakhstan is
the adaptation of the system of education to a new social and economical environment.
The President of Kazakhstan set the problem of Kazakhstan’s entering the number
of the 50 most competitive countries of the world [4]. Therefore, the
improvement of the educational system is of great importance for it.
A number of state programs such as “State Program of Education
Development in the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2011-2020”, “State Program of
Science Development in the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2007-2012”, “State Program
of Technical and Vocational Education Development in the Republic of Kazakhstan
for 2008-2012”, “Program “The Children of Kazakhstan” for 2007-2011”, and “Program
of Provision the Children with a Pre-School Education and Training “Balapan” for
2010-2014” are adopted to meet new objectives.
The “Strategic Plan of the Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan up to 2020” pays
much attention to the education support. By 2020 a cardinal modernization of all
levels of education (from pre-school up to higher education)
will have been implemented. Everyone will be provided on a regular basis with
the possibilities of getting knowledge and skills at every educational level
and advanced professional training.
The state will provide all children regardless of the place of their
residence and the income of their families with a pre-school education and
training. The secondary level will be transformed to the 12-year model of
education stipulating ten-year universal compulsory education and two-year
vocational education. At the same time the content of educational programs will
be reconsidered for the purpose of necessary competence development.
Professional training will be linked to the plans of country’s
industrialization. Technical, vocational, and higher education will be
transformed to the system fitting with the requirements of modern labor market.
At the same time, the educational standards will be formed on the basis of
professional standards by means of National Qualification System. A new system
of E-Learning will be implemented in the systems of secondary, technical, professional,
and higher education. Higher educational institutions will be provided with
academic freedom and the introduction of corporate management principles. The improving
of educational services will be realized together with the increasing of
education financing, with the widening of educational system infrastructure by
means of foundation of non-government and non-commercial agencies, creation of
the independent national system for accrediting educational institutions according
to the world standards and independent ratings, introduction of the elements of
corporative management in the educational institutions, and by means of improvement
the mechanisms of education quality control. Due to the considerable state
support the prestige of being a teacher will grow up [7].
The main objective of modernization in the sphere of education is
the revival and development of the best traditions of domestic enlightenment,
the strengthening of Kazakhstan’s positions among the highly educated
countries, and the integration of the country to the world educational
society.
According to the UNESCO recommendations for sustained development
education expenditures are to make up 6-7% of the gross domestic product (GDP)
of the country. The expenditures of Kazakhstan make up only 4% (Table 1).
Table 1 –
Education expenditures from the State Budget of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2007-2010, million USD.
|
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
Total costs |
3261,2 |
4349,1 |
5064,3 |
5409,9 |
% of GDP |
3,7 |
4,0 |
4,4 |
4,1 |
Note – made
up by the author on the basis of the data of the Agency of Statistics of the
Republic of Kazakhstan at the rate of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan
on December 31, 2010 |
In Kazakhstan the expenditures per pupil is lower than average
expenditures in the countries of the third group (countries with less than
$1000 per capita GDP) such as China, Turkey, and Russia. The evolution of
budget expenditures per pupil at different levels of education is presented in
Table 2. It is obvious that educational expenditures grow to a very little
degree.
Table 2 - Budget
expenditures per pupil at different levels of education (USD per pupil)
|
Pre-school education and training |
Secondary education |
Technical and vocational education |
|
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
Total costs |
825,6 |
732,0 |
951,8 |
747,6 |
886,0 |
1106,5 |
376,5 |
404,3 |
481,0 |
Note – made
up by the author on the basis of the data of the Agency of Statistics of the
Republic of Kazakhstan at the rate of the National Bank of the Republic of
Kazakhstan on December 31, 2010 |
The difference between the expenditures in Kazakhstan and in the second group countries (countries with $10000-20000 per capita GDP) such as Spain, Korea, Czech Republic, and Israel is much more considerable. The same situation takes place
with the countries of the first group (countries with more than $20000 per
capita GDP) such as USA, Japan, Luxemburg, and Australia.
The ratio of Kazakhstani teacher’s salary to per capita GDP is still
much lower than in OECD countries and lower than in Russia. [6] The data of the
educational workers’ salary are presented in Table 3.
Table 3 – The
salary of educationalists, USD
|
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
Pre-school teachers |
131,3 |
170,6 |
184,9 |
231,1 |
288,9 |
Secondary
school teachers |
134,3 |
175,0 |
189,6 |
236,9 |
296,2 |
College
teachers |
179,5 |
233,3 |
252,8 |
316,0 |
395,0 |
Teaching staff of higher educational
institutions |
208,1 |
274,6 |
297,5 |
371,9 |
464,9 |
Note – made
up by the author on the basis of the data of the Agency of Statistics of the
Republic of Kazakhstan at the rate of the National Bank of the Republic of
Kazakhstan on December 31, 2010 |
The main objectives of the State Program of Education Development in
the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2011-2020 are the increasing of education
competitiveness and the development of human capital by means of people’s provision
with high-quality education for the sustained development of the economy. The
State Program suggests a complex of measures covering the changes in the
structure, content, and technologies of education and training, management
system, organizational and legal forms of educational subjects, financial and
economic mechanisms. The given program suggests the solution of current
problems. According to it a new model of teachers’ labor remuneration will be
worked out. The new model will include the following:
- introduction of differentiated coefficients for the calculation of
teachers’ salary and additional payment for qualification category;
- introduction of the result-oriented salary mechanism.
As a result of the taken measures by 2015 the average teachers’
salary will have been equal to the salary in private sector.
The result-oriented financing will be the component part of the
reforms in the sphere of state expenditures management in secondary
education.
By 2015 the mechanism of per-capita financing will have been
realized in all educational institutions. It will allow of increasing the
effectiveness of budget expenditures and will promote the accessibility of
high-quality education for different layers of population. Teachers will be
suggested the mechanism of per-capita financing of their professional development
- a voucher-module system. Teachers will be given the opportunity to choose the
place and time of their professional development course by means of
transferring the sum of payment to teachers directly.
To promote the accessibility of paid educational services it is
being planned to work out the mechanism of State Educational Accumulation
System. With the help of the given system all citizens of Kazakhstan will be
provided with the possibility to regularly accumulate the means for their child’s
tuition fee in colleges and higher educational institutions in future. The
given system suggests the accrual of state bonus to the savings of citizens.
Moreover, for the development of the effective educational system it
is necessary to increase the educational expenditures by means of investors’
attracting. The attraction of private investments to the sphere of education
and science will be implemented through the current mechanisms of private and
public enterprise. [8]
In future economic benefits will be closely connected with
educational investments considerably increasing the quality and efficiency of
labor force. [7] Any capital investments in the sphere of education are the
investments into profitable human resources corresponding to current and
perspective needs of an individual, region, country, and the tendencies of the
world development. Close cooperation of scientific thought and the practice of
education together with the improvement of educational structure and the principles
if its management at different levels with regard to social and productive
needs of the society is of great importance for the given correspondence. The
role of education also consists in predetermining the future states of the
society.
In recent years favorable economic conditions have emerged in Kazakhstan.
According to the macroeconomic growth characteristics the republic is
considered as one of the leaders not only among the CIS countries but also among
the countries with economic systems transformation.
Radical changes of Kazakhstani economy ensured the formation of
market relations and the consecutive integration of the country into the world
economy. Stabilization and economy development allow of raising the educational
expenditures making it possible to constantly refresh the infrastructure and
the resource base and to improve the quality of education. A new course of Kazakhstan’s
economy oriented to the use of natural resources and the development of
science intensive productions on the basis of latest scientific research and
human capital use has been approved. Hereby, under the current conditions the
necessity of education and the investments’ increasing is of great importance.
Nowadays it is quite necessary to make use of all human potential to
help our country achieve an intellectual breakthrough. It is recommended to
invest considerably to healthcare, culture, and education to form the
intellectual and creative potential of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Nowadays the
researches on modern human potential are of great practical and theoretical
value. Therefore, the application of the world precedents accounting cultural
and national traditions could promote rapid integration of Kazakhstan into the world
society. One of the objectives of Kazakhstan is to lay the
scientific-education foundation for the economy and to fill in all gaps in
education. Education is to be considered as the main means in the struggle for
competitive recovery.
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Table of contents: The Kazakh-American Free University Academic Journal №3 - 2011
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