Education of Kazakhstan

Science and Culture of Kazakhstan

The modern scientific and educational system of Kazakhstan includes: institutions of the National Academy of Sciences, established in 1946; 177 higher educational institutions (including such large ones as the Kazakh State University (Almaty), Turkestan International University, Karaganda, etc.), in which 597.5 thousand students studied; 335 colleges (211 thousand students); 8334 day general education schools, where 3115 thousand people studied. The system of secondary and higher vocational education continues to operate in the republic, and the first is formed on the basis of colleges, most of which (47.1%, or 158) were non-state. The release of specialists by educational institutions of secondary vocational training in 2002 amounted to 52.9 thousand people.

According to educationvv, there were 177 institutions in the field of higher professional education (8 less than in 2001). In the 2002/03 academic year, the total number of students in universities increased by 82.7 thousand people, which was observed in almost all regions of the republic.

The number of teaching staff of universities amounted to 37.6 thousand people, of which 78.9% work on a contract basis.

In the field of culture in the country in 2002, there were: 44 theaters, 3220 libraries, 103 museums and 4 zoos. Over the past decade, the library economy has significantly decreased, where the number of libraries and registered readers has decreased (almost 3 and 2 times, respectively), and the attendance of national theaters has also decreased (almost 3 times – 1321 against 4009 thousand people) and zoos (235, 3 against 620 thousand people).

General information about Kazakhstan

The official name is the Republic of Kazakhstan. It is located in the central part of the Eurasian continent. The area is 2,724.9 thousand km2, the population is 14,863 thousand people. (2002). The state language is Kazakh. The capital is Astana (493 thousand people, 2002). Public holiday – Republic Day on October 25. The monetary unit is tenge.

Member of the CIS (since 1991); Customs Union (since 1995); UN (since 1992); EurAsEC (since 1996); World Bank, EBRD, IMF, etc.

Population of Kazakhstan

The total population in 1992 was 16,427 thousand people; in 2001, 14,846 thousand people. The current demographic situation in the republic, which clearly manifested itself in the 1990s, is characterized by two main trends: a decrease in the rate of natural growth (due to a decrease in the birth rate and an increase in mortality) and an increase in dynamics within the ethnic structure.

Two main stages can be traced in the change in the number of inhabitants of Kazakhstan: the first – until 1991 – a period of steady growth in the country’s population, which peaked in 1991 (16,451 thousand people); the second – 1991-2001 – a ten-year stage of constant regressive dynamics of the population of the republic. The decisive role in the latter was played by the factors of a decrease in the birth rate, high mortality, and intensification of migration processes, which resulted in a decrease in the country’s population (by 2002) by 563,000 people, with the most intensive rates of decrease observed in 1994–95.

Thus, the birth rate in the republic in 1991-2002 decreased from 21.5 to 14.8‰, while the death rate remained high (although its dynamics was undulating) – 8.2‰ (1991). Child mortality until 1995 remained quite high – in the range of 26.0-28.3 people. per 1000 newborns. In the future, it began to constantly decline and reached the level of 17.0 people. (2002). The natural increase accordingly steadily decreased: from 13.3‰ (in 1991) to 4.6 (1998-99), and then began to gradually grow to 5.3‰ (2002). Migration outflow of the population (thousand people): 1994 – 25.4, 1997 – 17, 2002 – 4.2.
The average life expectancy in 1991 was 67.6 years, in 2002 it was 65.6 years. The number of rural residents of the republic was constantly decreasing from 7047.3 thousand (1991) to 6446.3 thousand people. (2002) A steady decline in the urban population was observed from 1991 (9404.0 thousand people) to the end. 1999 (6542 thousand people), then there was a certain increase (8416.2 thousand people) in 2002.

At the same time, there was a decrease in the economically active population of the country. So, in 1991 its number (i.e., the employed population and the unemployed) was 8816.2 thousand people, in 1995 – 7359.8 thousand people, and in 2002 – 7400.3 thousand people. The total employment of the population of the republic (able-bodied minus the unemployed) also decreased over a more than 10-year period: in 1991 – 7706.2 thousand people, in 2002 – 6709.6 thousand people. (although the crisis threshold of 1995 – 6551.5 – was surpassed).

One of the key demographic characteristics of Kazakhstan is the diverse ethnic composition of the country’s population, which was formed under the influence of a number of historical factors: stable migration processes provoked by the Stolypin reform of the early 20th century, collectivization of the 1920s, ethnogenocide of the 1930s, deportation and military evacuation of the population in the 1940s. and, finally, the campaign for the development of virgin lands, launched in the 1950s and 60s.

There are more than 130 nationalities in the modern ethnic structure of the population. The most numerous ethnic groups are Kazakhs, Russians, Ukrainians, Germans. The dynamics of the multi-ethnic structure of the population of Kazakhstan is distinguished by its specificity and heterogeneity.

Growth in 1989-99, both in percentage and in absolute terms, was observed among the Kazakh population, i.e. ethnic group, more prone to settled way of life. Due to natural growth and the influx of Kazakh migrants to their historical homeland, the number of Kazakhs increased by 2000 to 7.57 million people, amounting to 50.6% of the total population of the
country. The dynamics of development of the other three main ethnic groups inhabiting the republic turned out to be directly opposite. The number of Russians in 1989-99 decreased from 6.2 to 4.7 million people, or from 37.8 to 32.2%; Ukrainians from 880 to 750 thousand people, or from 5.4 to 4.5%; Germans from 950 to 300 thousand people, or from 5.8 to 1.9% of the total population of the country. The number of other ethnic groups living in Kazakhstan has remained almost unchanged.

Education of Kazakhstan