At the National Conference in August, Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev outlined key goals for the education system. Among them is that schools should simultaneously provide high-quality education, develop confident personalities and prepare young people for the new opportunities of the digital economy.
More schools - less shortage of space.
The president identified the continued construction of high-quality schools in all regions, especially in areas where there is a persistent shortage of space, as one of his main priorities.
“This is an urgent task of national importance. We must start this work without any delays from next year. In 2027, we must ensure a high pace of construction,“ he instructed. The reform is not an experiment.
The head of state also discussed numerous changes in the education system.
„We must stop empty, meaningless reforms for the sake of reforms themselves. In other words, reforms and changes are certainly necessary, but they should not drain the energy of teachers and stress them out. Before implementing any reform, and this is especially true for education, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive analysis and thoroughly check its effectiveness“, said Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Teachers want to be freed from unnecessary reports.
A separate request was made to free teachers from unnecessary reports, intrusive performance assessments and non-core workloads.
“From time to time, reports appear about teachers participating in repair work and various public events that are not directly related to the educational process. We have long agreed that this is unacceptable. The Ministry of Education and the administrations of the akimats should, first of all, work on improving the legal and regulatory framework, building an effective educational process and careful analysis of educational programs“, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted.
Educating a “nation of winners“
The president devoted a significant part of his speech to the education of children and youth. According to him, the education system should cultivate confident individuals capable of overcoming difficulties.
“The task of the ustashas is to raise new generations of optimists, not suffering from sadness (mün), insecure sufferers who sow the seeds of depression around them. We are a nation of winners, ready to overcome all difficulties and threats, confidently looking only forward, believing in a bright future and not looking for the causes of tragedies, defeats, failures and psychological complexes in the historical past or in other countries and peoples,“, the President emphasized.
Revision of historical narratives
The President also emphasized the need to revise educational materials, which, in his opinion, contain unreliable facts and mythologized characters.
“Educating children in the spirit of patriotism through the dissemination of false and falsified information will inevitably undermine the moral foundations of our people. I have said more than once that we must all abandon the image and character of an eternally grieving nation. Some of our writers have liked the word "mung": "zhuregimde mung, közOmde mung"! Sadness is a bad companion of our youth. I can tell you that for sure. Our youth must correctly understand the history of their people and look to the future with hope and confidence“, emphasized Kassam-Jomart Tokayev.
Digital protection of children
The government has been instructed to expedite consideration of the bill on the ban on registration in social media for users under 16 (the document was submitted to parliament in June) and to pay attention to content filtering.
The president emphasized that relying solely on parental responsibility is inappropriate and ordered to increase the number of mandatory SIM cards for children as a tool for “information immunity“.
Artificial intelligence as a tool for generating income
Tokayev also announced that in his upcoming address he will set a goal to engage young people, including those in rural areas, in the use of digital tools and artificial intelligence to generate income.
“We need to move from a digital state to a digital national economy. In other words, artificial intelligence and its tools are not fun toys, but a means of livelihood. That's how it should be. An inter-university standard is already in effect in higher education, which takes into account the ethical, legal and organizational aspects of the use of artificial intelligence. The government must implement a similar standard in the system of secondary and vocational education“, the president instructed.
The president's main message is that education is not just an industry, but a tool for educating modern people - self-confident, not fixated on past grievances, able to earn money with the help of digital technologies and protected by the state.
The news was published on the basis of an information exchange agreement between Fakti.bg and Kazinform