State must encourage and develop all schools, likewise it does in regards to NIS.  But there are many questions about NIS voiced by Nurken Khalykbergen, a famous PR-expert and businessman.

Literal translation below:

Schools for Officials – Nothing But Expenses

Non-stop investment in education is a mandatory condition for successful development and improving competitiveness of our country.  This is where we find ourselves in a mental trap – what are the finances directed into education – investments or expenses.  While businessmen consider state contribution in education, as investment, officials consider them pure expenditures.

But the difference between the two notions, or financial approaches is enormous. The purpose of investments is to create value and profit, while expenses are ongoing spending to maintain operations and daily activities.

In other words, for governmental officials, budgets for education are not contributions or investments into the future of nation and competitiveness of state, supposed to yield fruits useful for the general evolution of a nation, but day-to-day expenditures.  The latter must be fulfilled and then appropriate reports must be made to confirm that a certain fiscal period was a success. Not many of them think about effectivity of financial investments and neither do they think about result forecasts.

How to Invest in Schools?

Can we change the situation?  Yes, we can, if officials responsible for the budget planning and finance management resort to principles of investment, and if their performance bonuses are paid in the same manner as bonuses paid to investment managers – for achievement of certain target indicators.

So, what are those principles, and what do I have to share about NIS effectivity?!

Investment Principles, Simple and Clear

Project effectiveness assessment.  Before deciding to finance projects and programs, officials can and must run the cost-benefit analysis, consider risk factors, as do investors before making investment decisions.

Finance (enough funds, to be exact). It plays key role in investment projects.  Start-up capital for implementation, equipment, estate, R&D, design of new products, technologies and other resources, as well as expansion of production and infrastructure, maintenance of growth and competitiveness.

Participation and Autonomy: Investors do not mingle with operations management, they do not interfere with the development of the projects. But they render active help through finance, expertise, connections and resources that will help projects grow and develop.  Investors give maximum freedom to operators, help to manage risks and work hard to make a project a success.

Long-Term Perspective: Any investments are long-term.  Short-term are speculations.  A success of a project may require time, so investors must be ready to contribute the funds and support projects for periods of time.  Investors design their strategies based on long-term considerations or capability to sell their shares in start-ups or release them in circulation at exchanges.

Diversification and risk management in the course of distribution of resources for various projects and programs. In other words, investors do not count on one particular project, they avoid storing “all eggs in one basket”.

Investment in NIS and Education Quality

Now, let us analyze NIS in the light of principles discussed above.  First of all, let us acknowledge, that the key factor irritating society is the name (Nazarbayev). But, we should evaluate NIS based on their quality of education and academic performance of its pupils.

OK, let us first discuss facts and figures:

Each second 2022-2023 NIS graduate scores 6,9 IELTS. 79% of graduates scored 6,5 IELTS and higher. Average value for admission to a foreign university is 6,0-6,5.

91% of all graduates are recipients of state and university scholarships in Kazakhstan and abroad, with 80% of  them studying in Kazakhstan and 20% — abroad. 80% of university students chose technical, engineering, medical, teaching, agricultural and economic majors.  It is a pity, we do not have data about employment of NIS youth graduating from Universities.  I would personally be very interested in that to assess their contribution in the economy of the country.

For each pupil, NIS spend KZT 1,6 million or some USD 3,5 thousand a year. A regular secondary school in Kazakhstan will spend for one pupil the amount, which is 5 to 6 times smaller – some KZT 300 thousand or USD 700.  The OECD countries (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development that incorporates 38 countries) spend USD 9,800 or KZT 4,5 million.

Education Disaster

Given above, we conclude, that Kazakhstan does not as much invest too much in NIS pupils, as it does catastrophically under-invest in pupils in regular schools.

Considering that urban schools are the priority, the level of under-funding for rural schools is supposed to be catastrophic.  I am most certain that regular schools will easily catch up with NIS, if they are funded well.

If to evaluate NIS from the standpoint of the cost-benefit analysis, it will turn out that we spend less than OECD countries, but produce similar product, i.e. pupils boasting certain level of education and academic performance.

Kazakhstan, at the same time, possesses tremendous growth potential.  Those are 7,500 secondary schools that could educate children, which children could show high results at global level.  The key pre-requisite is to allocate funds for regular schools, as funds directed in NIS or KZT 1,6 million. There is money for that, we just need to analyze the effectivity of the educational budget of the country!

Now, let us discuss autonomy.

Autonomy for Schools

One key issue, that put myself contrary to the position of the Ministry of Education was the autonomy for academic institutions. 

Let me explain – autonomy for universities is the freedom of management of their affairs.  They must capable of making their own strategic and tactical decisions, as well as managing their academic and scientific activities.  That means, that all institutes and universities must be free from state interference, as well as other types of exterior interference in their academic and research affairs.

It is like autonomy of a commercial enterprise.  Imagine a governmental official call you every day and instructing you how to conduct your business.  That is nonsense.  Ministry of Trade does not visit each local convenience store to tell them how to sell goods, for what price, what particular products to sell and how to do the chores?! Survival and success of such a store are purely the auspices of its owner – they way the owner reacts to market challenges and demands of the clients. 

Education officials inspect academic institutions all the time.  In Finland, for example, their educational regulators do not have the right of interference with annual academic plans, not to mention itineraries of the universities.  Not Minister, nor his officials – nobody shall come and direct teachers and school principals!

Ministry as Maintenance Personnel

The Ministry must help in the form of service providing.  It must improve infrastructure, simplify the life for schools, universities and the teaching staff, eliminate administrative barriers, augment processes and introduce digital management instruments.  The target is to transform the education system into resemblance to Kaspi digital eco-system, in which all data will be stored in one place – analysis of the academic performance of the pupils, plans how to further develop children, lessons, lectures, audio and visual documents, textbooks, tasks, lists of graduates, questionnaires, test results and awards.

It will be convenient for the Public Service Agency to select best graduates for employment.  So, it will be for small and middle businesses seeking most suitable candidacies.

Our Public Servants Are Heros

And the final thing – Diversification and Long-Term Perspective.

Our official are confident that their chosen way of educational development is the best.   If you read their reports, it appears that our schools are the most advanced in the world, and things like PISA, PIAAC and PIRLS  are nothing…

But no!  Our education system is in stagnation.  We still must identify the most optimal way for its development.  Finns say that it is impossible to replicate their education system in other countries.  Some countries tried, but failed, with some individual and limited positive shifts.  Optimal way should be sought by means of diversified quest.

Various projects aimed at trialing various ways for development should be sought.  NIS is one way, private schools are the other way.  All those projects need enough time and resources, including finance, need lack of interference and full-fledged help.

One impatient gardener kept pulling the leaves hoping to accelerate the growth.  Concluding the above – we need to mobilize all resources.  We must avoid scaring-off investors and making things worse for private education – the particular sphere that helps to unburden the education system, in general.  We must think about sufficiency of the finance, which we must seek, optimize and control robustly.

If our Education Minister and his team start working, as investors, I will be the first one to demand that they get paid bonuses.   Very much hope it will happen, but at present all we have left is running after them and crunching their backs…