Five regions in Kazakhstan lack identified school directors, according to the Ministry of Education.
In a bid to enhance the quality of education and address the persistent shortage of leading school personnel, regional education departments in Almaty, Karaganda, Abai, Pavlodar, and Turkestan are actively working towards utilizing their existing talent pools.
The Ministry of Education, led by Minister Ganymbet Beysembayev, has emphasized the importance of filling all remaining vacancies by August. The Minister has also pointed out that the potential of the talent pool is not fully utilized in these regions.
To tackle this issue, a talent pool of educational leaders has been created by the Ministry of Education. Over two years, 583 candidates have entered the republican talent pool and have gone through rigorous selection stages to become part of this pool. Currently, 400 of these candidates are undergoing training to prepare them for leading positions in schools.
These strategic steps aim not only at appointing directors but also at systematically renewing the management culture in education. The project has resulted in the appointment of new, motivated school managers, bringing fresh perspectives and energy to the educational landscape.
The heads of regional education departments have been tasked with filling the remaining vacancies by August. The shortage of school directors has been reduced more than threefold, but the challenge persists in these regions.
The regional education departments are focusing on full utilization of the existing talent pool. They are working on measures that are yet to be detailed, but broad initiatives in Kazakhstan aim to improve teacher recruitment and retention, especially in rural and underserved areas. These include support programs launched by organizations such as the Foundation for Sustainable Development of Education and partnerships with Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools.
These initiatives aim to bring educator distribution closer to national needs, aligning with the government’s priority to ensure full utilization of talent pools by August 2025. The government's objective likely involves deploying available qualified teachers and enhancing working conditions to reduce attrition.
The persistent shortage is compounded by factors such as teacher job dissatisfaction and salary delays, issues Kazakhstan and neighboring countries are addressing through policy reforms and financial incentives. However, specific salary increases or incentives in these regions were not detailed in the results.
In summary, regional education departments in these key Kazakhstan regions are addressing the shortage through strategic education support programs and partnerships designed to maximize the use of their talent pools by August, supplemented by broader system enhancements aimed at improving retention and recruitment, particularly in rural and underserved areas.
- To further strengthen the education-and-self-development sector, the government is focusing on politics by working towards maximizing the use of the existing talent pools in regional education departments, especially in Kazakhstan regions such as Almaty, Karaganda, Abai, Pavlodar, and Turkestan, with an aim to fill all remaining vacancies by August 2025.
- In the field of general-news, the ongoing efforts to improve the quality of education in these regions include broad initiatives, such as policy reforms and financial incentives, to address factors like teacher job dissatisfaction and salary delays, as well as partnerships with organizations like the Foundation for Sustainable Development of Education and Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools, with the ultimate goal of ensuring full utilization of talent pools by August 2025.
