Additional Education of Children – the Example of the Republic of Kazakhstan

One of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN for 2030 is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all [Organizatsiya Ob"edinennykh Natsii].In the Kazakh education system, alongside compulsory school education, there is an additional education for children (AEC).A crucial function of the AEC is that participation in it helps children to better understand themselves, develop their abilities, and unleash their potential.By combining various programs and formats within the AEC, it is possible to highly individualize a child’s development trajectory [Kosaretskii, 2019], taking into account their unique characteristics and potential.

The purpose of this article is to initiate a discussion and raise awareness of specific issues related to AEC in Kazakhstan, proposing an authorial approach to improving the accessibility of AEC in the country.

Issues and problems related to the development of children's abilities and giftedness, as well as the fuller realization of a child's potential, remain among the most pressing concerns in fields such as psychology and education.

When discussing the child education system in Kazakhstan, it must be acknowledged that the foundations of educational systems in the post-Soviet space are generally based on compulsory secondary education.In the Republic of Kazakhstan, AEC acts as a process of upbringing and education aimed at moral, intellectual, cultural, and physical development.AEC is designed to meet diverse needs and create conditions for personal development, self-determination, creativity, the development of abilities, social adaptation, the formation of civic consciousness, general culture, a healthy lifestyle, and the organization of meaningful leisure activities.In Kazakhstan, the provision of AEC and the approval of the state educational order for AEC fall within the competence of local executive bodies (the Akimat) [Zakon Respubliki Kazakhstan].

It is worth noting that in recent years, a trend has emerged in the general secondary education system where, alongside compulsory subjects, so-called elective subjects have begun to appear.And, perhaps taking into account the importance of the right to choose that exists in the AEC system, certain opportunities for the realization of this right have begun to appear in the state general education standards of the Republic of Kazakhstan.For example, relatively recently, there have been certain shifts in the education system, and in the general education standards, along with the invariant component of the academic load, i.e., the compulsory one, a variable component, i.e., elective, has begun to appear [Prikaz Ministra prosveshcheniya].If earlier practically all components of the academic load were compulsory, now a process of revision and introduction of the variable component of the academic load is underway, and based on their educational needs, students have the right to choose elective courses.

General pedagogical practice demonstrates that by the sixth or seventh grade, children, their parents, and teachers have already formed a certain understanding of the child's abilities and the types of activities for which the child is more inclined.Starting from the seventh or eighth grade, it makes sense to focus on choosing a specific direction of activity for which the child has abilities.This is why, in Kazakhstan, enrollment in various specialized schools, such as the Republican Physics and Mathematics School [Pravila provedeniya konkursnogo] or the Republican Specialized School of Olympic Reserve [Pravila priema v], usually begins around the seventh or eighth grade.In other words, in such schools, specialization begins from the seventh or eighth grade, which implies that children have already made their choice.

As is known, one of the indicators of the success of social policy in the field of education is the percentage of coverage of AEC.It is no coincidence that this particular indicator is used in annual National Reports on the state and development of the education system of the Republic of Kazakhstan [Baekeshova, 2023].Speaking of such an indicator as the coverage of AEC, it should be noted that we have previously conducted a number of studies, the results of which, on the one hand, indicate that there is a certain correlation between the level of coverage of AEC and the proportion of juvenile delinquency.In some regions of Kazakhstan, the correlation coefficient was so high that it allows us to call this correlation deterministic, i.e., it can be said that the level of AEC coverage is interrelated with the level of juvenile delinquency.At the same time, the obtained results showed that in those regions where there are higher rates of AEC coverage, there are lower rates of juvenile delinquency, and in those regions where there are lower rates of AEC coverage, there are higher rates of juvenile delinquency [Abdullakhanov, 2024].On the other hand, the results of our other study show that regions of Kazakhstan with higher rates of AEC coverage also have higher average scores on the Unified National Testing (analogous to the Unified State Exam), and in those regions where there are lower rates of AEC coverage, there are also lower average scores on the Unified National Testing [Abdullakhanov, 2024a].That is, at the state level, the special value and importance of the AEC system is evident, when, on the one hand, it contributes to the prevention of juvenile delinquency, and on the other hand, it helps in career guidance.As experts note, it is precisely in career guidance of students based on the integration of general and AEC that the very important role of AEC is also manifested [Chaikina, 2021].

It is advisable to develop a system AEC where children would have the opportunity to attend various clubs (intellectual, creative, physical, etc.) in the afternoon after school.Moreover, we believe that the types and forms of AEC activities throughout the day and the school week should be coordinated with the school schedule and with each other in terms of the types and forms of academic load.

Given the critical importance of the age up to 12 for determining the direction in which a child should develop, it is necessary to create a system AEC that allows children to attend a wide variety of clubs where they can find activities that suit their abilities.There is a need to increase the variability of clubs attended by children under 12.Accordingly, children will have the opportunity to try their hand at a greater number of activities.

Given the factors of urbanization, we believe that one way to improve the organization of AEC in populated areas is to create a system AEC based on the material and technical base of the general education system, such as schools, colleges, universities, etc.In one of our previous works, we highlighted possible options for organizing a system AEC in order to optimize its work, increase the coverage of children, and provide children with broader opportunities to reveal their potential.In particular,