A gloomy picture was drawn by the Ministry of Education – out of 3.7 million pupils, 458,200 children had to seek financial aid to buy school uniform and stationery from the Road to School Public Fund.

Families that had to seek help from the said Fund are:

• Social aid recipients;
• Families, that are not social aid recipients, but with income per member below subsistence rate;
• Orphans and children without guardians;
• Families that sustained damage during emergencies;
• Other categories of families, as selected by school management.

Helping All

Aid varies from KZT 40,600 to KZT 43,700 per pupil from the said group 458,200.  By 30^th of September, local executive bodies will spend 65.3 million tenge to help them.

Rather basic calculations will show that each 8^th pupil lives in a poor family in Kazakhstan.  Those families are not in the position to afford to equip their children for school.

In 2022, the Government ran a pilot poll going under the title of Index of Children’s Well-being, which Index includes 36 statistical indicators and 20 questions.

The analysis of the poll results showed that 3 regions of Kazakhstan were in red zone and 14 of them – in the yellow one.  The average score is 55.6.  The most favorable region, form the standpoint of children’s well-being, is Almaty with the score of 63.6,

reports the Complex Plan of Protection of Children from Violence, Suicide Prevention and Ensuring Their Rights and Well-Being for 2023-2025, which plan is now at the web-site of the Open NGOs for discussion.

There is something off about that Index.  The Complex Plan, for example, reports growing number of crimes against children.  The plan quotes data for the first half of 2023, Almaty.  Almaty is the third most “child-unfriendly”, after Almaty Province and Turkestan Region. 

Broken by regions, the crime against children, looks as follows:

• Kyzylorda Province — growth by 104% (from 26 to 53)
• Mangistau Province — growth by 54.3% (from 35 to 54)
• Almaty — growth by 34.2% (from 79 to 106)
• Atyrau Province — growth by 28% (from 50 to 64)
• Shymkent — growth by 25.9% (from 58 to 73)
• West Kazakhstan — growth by 19.6% (from 56 to 67)
• Aktobe Province — growth by 13% (from 54 to 61)
• Astana — growth by 7.7% (from 65 to 70)
• Turkestan Province — growth by 3.6% (from 110 to 114)
• Kostanay Province — growth by 2.6% (from 38 to 39).

Headcount

So, what is it, that the Ministry offers, as a short-term measure to have that Plan implemented?

The Ministry is now designing the Children’s Rights Protection Interactive Risk Map.

That map is supposed to include statistic data, broken down by provinces, education institutions and with all negative factors taken in account (violence, suicide, child traumas, etc.). Interactive Map is meant to increase the awareness of society, parents, teachers and school administrations about dangers in the regions and general situation in the child community. That will shape the more responsible reaction to problems, as well as facilitate the prevention and elimination of negative trends.  The Map will offer data to help analyze the peculiar characteristics and tendencies of various negative factors in the regions and schools. That will help school administrations and public bodies make informed decisions ad direct resources into prevention and solution,

as written in the said document.

The intention is wonderful, but people in the regions are well aware of their local problems, and those causing trouble – even without the Map.  Besides, that is something under control of various state inspections in the sphere of child protection.

Secondly, our government are introducing the case-management technology, which is the individual case management, within the framework of particular projects. In other words, state plans to effectively settle down each particular case – juveniles committing offences, or about to do so, based on the principle of individual approach and through inter-sectoral involvement.

A group of adults (supposed to be specialists, but not necessarily) will perform the hyper-control of the life and the behavior of each individual juvenile with problems, until such juveniles show positive shifts in behavior.  Is it an absolute cure to children with communication problems?

Thirdly, in addition to case management, the Ministry intends to create the Social Fosterage, which project envisages complex support to children from problematic families by social workers. 

Fosterage will be based on the complex approach – not only work with parents, but support to children, including educational and professional growth. Besides, every school is supposed to have the position of a Social Pedagogue to take care of the social well-being of the children,

the plan says.

The plan does not clarify, whether the new function will be perfume by specifically designated people or teachers will be loaded up with the new responsibility?

We Will Bring You to Prosperity

When our ministries put forward such initiatives, the first thoughts we have are as follows – Let them fail.  Because such initiatives will bring children, not to mention adults, to nervous breakdown.

In the fourth run, the Ministry will introduce the new rules for the Medial-Social registration of families in difficult situation.

The new registration procedure is supposed to catch all problematic families for the complex observation ad support, as well as full-fledged child development. That is supposed to reduce violence against children, child crime, brutality,

says the plan.

All above looks like another round of populism, shown in the course of numerous previous programs and plans, declared by state. Many of them were cancelled – for example Ruhani Zhangyru (Spiritual Renaissance), Educated Nation and Healthy Nation – no reports, no analytics, no results.  And this country is not solving the problematic children issue that roots out from poor social and economic level in the country.  Each 8^th pupil who sought government’s help in the eyes of the new academic year, has a family.