Kazakhstan - Nonformal Education

To provide proper conditions for the development of versatile interests and abilities of children in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the government has arranged a network of nonformal educational establishments, which include 790 institutions attended by 383,000 students. Subsidized by the government, they provide opportunities to children to become engaged in car design clubs, drama studios, various clubs of young mathematicians, chess players, and physicists. Stations for Young Naturalists, Technicians, and Tourists provide 47 facilities for students to develop techniques of working with various instruments, camping, and preserving and learning about nature. Schools, as many as 531, offer classes for those who are interested in music, fine arts, dance, and sports, so it is common for a student to attend two schools a day. Due to the financial problems, the state system of nonformal education began charging parents for the use of the materials and facilities, making these institutions unavailable to the poor families. The private system of nonformal education is in the initial stage of its development.

At the level of higher education, the system of bycorrespondence courses was highly developed in the Soviet Kazakhstan. The government of the Republic provided students with additional two-week paid leave and travel expenses to the site of the institution twice a year for exam sessions.

Distance learning via high technology, including the internet, a personalized system of instruction, computers, and television instruction is a new challenge for the country. The assistance for its development comes mostly through international organizations, joint ventures, and foreign companies and organizations. In 2000, a pilot project called National Educational Television began broadcasting on Kazakhstan-1 Channel. For four weeks, National Educational Television launched a daily two-hour educational program for the distant and under-populated regions of the republic. According to the sponsors of the new television program, the latest pedagogical ideas, works of outstanding scientists, the funds of museums, libraries, and archives become available for a wide scope of the population. The project aims at restoring the traditions of educational television, which has taken place in Soviet Kazakhstan's history when the government subsidized educational television programs. The program is a voluntary action designed to draw attention to solve the problem.