Prestige, status, and esteem of educational occupation in Kazakhstan: temporal, regional and gender analysis of payroll data

Kuanysh Tastanbekova

doi:10.15549/jeecar.v7i2.345

Abstract

Since gaining independence after the dissolution of the USSR, the education system in Kazakhstan has undergone significant reformations. Retention of highly qualified teachers is crucial for successful reforms. However, educational occupation that employs almost one million people, the majority of the workforce (26.5%) in the economy, is one of the lowest paying sectors. Low pay causes unpopularity of teaching profession among youth, aging and high feminization of the personnel, harms prestige, status and esteem of teachers and thus intensifies turnover and makes retention of qualified teachers a difficult task. This study proposes to use temporal, spatial and gender three-tiers payroll data to analyze prestige, status, and esteem of educational occupation in Kazakhstan. It argues that while improving a social package is important, fundamental reforms of the payment system in education are likely to be the most effective measure to improve the prestige and status of teachers.

Highlights

Kazakhstan is one of the five Central Asian republics that gained independence following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991
Reforms of the ongoing decade have been implemented under the slogan of developing Kazakhstan's original way of educational innovation (2011 – ongoing), which is represented by an establishment of 21 secondary education schools for gifted children and opening a brand new university with focus on innovative education and research, all named after first president Nursultan Nazarbayev
This paper argues that an economy with high dependence on natural resources, such as in Kazakhstan, does not prioritize education (Cockx & Francken, 2016), resulting in low prestige, status and esteem of educational occupation

Summary

Introduction

Kazakhstan is one of the five Central Asian republics that gained independence following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. As a newly independent state, it has faced challenges of political, economic and social transformation. An education system that was built and developed under the Soviet rule has undergone three stages of reformation. The first stage (1991 – 2000) was a period led by the rhetoric of international donors and focused mainly on the reduction of public education expenditures. Reforms of the ongoing decade have been implemented under the slogan of developing Kazakhstan's original way of educational innovation (2011 – ongoing), which is represented by an establishment of 21 secondary education schools for gifted children and opening a brand new university with focus on innovative education and research, all named after first president Nursultan Nazarbayev.

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