Ministry of Education and Science: 139,887 people with special educational needs live in Kazakhstan

At the government session chaired by Prime Minister Askar Mamin on social protection of persons with disabilities, the Minister of Education and Science Askhat Aimagambetov spoke about the creation of conditions for the training of persons with special educational needs.

According to Aimagambetov, in Kazakhstan at the moment there are 139,887 people with special educational needs. Among them, 37,970 are preschoolers, 95,497 are students in secondary educational institutions, 2,900 are those who are receiving vocational education, and 3,520 are enrolled in higher educational institutions.

Among the measures of state support provided to citizens with special educational needs, the minister named:

  • a preferential queue for kindergartens;
  • free meals;
  • choice of the form of study;
  • for visually impaired and hearing impaired students - an increased scholarship of 75% (29,328 tenge);
  • allocation of at least 1% of the quota for disabled people in the distribution of grants;
  • free places in hostels.

As for the creation of a barrier-free environment, by 2025 it is planned to bring the share of educational institutions prepared to receive persons with disabilities to high rates: preschool educational institutions — 70%, schools — 100%, colleges — 100% and universities also up to 100%.

For clarity, the minister showed how things are in preschool and school institutions in different regions of the republic in the context of readiness to work with children with special needs. Thus, in Almaty, kindergartens and schools demonstrate 100% readiness. The situation is not bad in Pavlodar (preschool — 67.2%, schools — 83.9%), Kostanay (preschool — 59.4%, schools — 75.8%), Zhambyl region (preschool — 56.5%, schools — 81.9%), in the cities of Nur-Sultan (preschool — 42.2%, schools — 77.8%) and Shymkent (preschool — 62.2%, schools — 55.1%). In the Atyrau region, only 3% of preschool institutions have created conditions for children with special educational needs.

It should be added that in the country as a whole, in special preschool educational institutions, coverage is 13,360 children, in special organizations — 25,505 students, in general preschool institutions — 17,096, in general education schools — 51,435 schoolchildren, 12,864 students receive coverage at home 117 children are not covered by preschool education.

Askhat Aimagambetov also noted that the problems of insufficient early screening, late identification of special needs in children and low detection of children with special educational needs in the countryside, as well as the lack of modern correctional support for children of early and preschool age lead to an increase in the number of people with special educational needs, including with a disability by school age.

According to the head of the department, within the framework of supporting inclusive education through the per capita funding standard, in secondary education, the cost of the educational process is multiplied by 2 per 1 student with special educational needs per year. Also, the coefficient of pedagogical supplements and allowances for students of special (correctional) classes and students at home from Sep. 1, 2020, will be 2,752, in 2021 — 3,136.

Also 452,668 tenge is equal to the average per capita standard for one student of the general education class, and 731,701 tenge is the average per capita standard for one student of the correctional class.

Separately, the minister noted the public initiatives that various charitable foundations show. So, thanks to the Fund of the First President — Elbasy, Qamqorlyq, 16 inclusion rooms were opened, more than 400 teaching assistants underwent appropriate training. With the support of the Dara charitable foundation, 45 correction rooms and 30 resource centers were opened, 250 teachers were trained.

In conclusion, Askhat Aimagambetov spoke about new initiatives to support children with special educational needs. So, at present, a draft law "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Inclusive Education" is being developed. According to the amendments, it is assumed that managers will be held accountable for not creating conditions for training people with special educational needs; a government order should be placed for special psycho-pedagogical support; expanding the functions of corrective support for children with spacial education needs; educators will be given the right to adapt curricula to the individual needs of children.

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