The most important strategic direction for updating the educational system of the Republic of Kazakhstan is an educator, who is a significant figure in the modernization of teacher education in accordance with the Law «On the status of the educator». The main goal is to increase the prestige of the educator, recognition by the state of the special status of teachers in society.
Key words: educator, Law «On the status of an educator», social guarantees, state policy
Being an educator is not a service, but a God-given calling. For this one should have a high soul, capable of giving its flame to other people, without demanding anything in return.
Ybray Altynsarin
Главным стратегическим направлением обновления образовательной системы Республики Казахстан выступает педагог, который является важной фигурой модернизации педагогического образования в соответствии с Законом «О статусе педагога». Главная цель — повышение престижа педагога, признание государством особого статуса педагогических работников в обществе.
Ключевые слова: педагог, Закон «О статусе педагога», социальные гарантии, государственная политика.
At all times, an educator played and plays a unique role in human civilization. It is the teacher who builds up and transfers the knowledge and skills accumulated by people to next generation. And not only knowledge, but also in many respects the world outlook and worldview, ways of thinking, the soul of the nation, human values and culture.
Educators are those who pass on to each new generation the achievements and concerns of generations of ancestors and open the doors to the future for everyone.
Our long-standing conviction is that without raising the status of an educator, respect for him or her and ensuring his or her challenging and noble work to the proper level, we will not be able to achieve serious goals. And this living connection of times is largely provided to mankind by educators, which, I think, is their main and very high purpose.
In order to support the work of an educator and provide him or her with maximum efficiency, to ensure the highest prestige of the profession of a teacher, the Law «On the status of an educator» was adopted. While it was still a draft law, this document attracted the attention of both teachers and students and their parents. Already at the development stage, such moments were known as: a decrease in the normative teaching load, an increase in the salary of the teaching staff, the introduction of a system of fines for insulting the professional honor and dignity of an educator, and more.
So let's start in order. Having studied the document, we can conclude that the leadership of the Republic of Kazakhstan perfectly understands the issues within the country. In particular, the aging of the teaching staff and the reluctance of young specialists to work because of low wages. That is why, within the framework of the law «On the status of an educator», the normative teaching load has been reduced from 18 to 16 hours a week. This change will affect not only the workload of teachers, but also the change in salaries in favor of the educatorr. Until 2024, it is planned to spend 5.4 trillion tenge on the implementation of the Law. There is a planned growth in teachers' salaries from 25 % to 50 %, depending on the place of residence (urban or rural area).
Article 7 «The rights of a teacher in the implementation of professional activities» contains paragraph 20 «Respect of honor and dignity by students, pupils and their parents or other legal representatives». Quite a standard wording, but it is backed up by very real fines. The average amount of the fine ranges from thirty to forty monthly calculation indices, and the maximum one reaches one hundred and twenty monthly calculation indices. In accordance with the law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated December 4, 2019 No. 276-VI «On the republican budget for 2020–2022", the monthly calculated indicator in 2020 is 2 651 tenge, which is equal to 7 dollars [1].
Penalties for humiliating the honor and dignity of a teacher are possible in two cases. The first is insult by an individual (thirty monthly calculation indices; repeated insult within a year — forty monthly calculation indices or administrative arrest for up to five days). In the second case, this law provides a fine for insulting an educator by minors, which is imposed on parents or their substitutes (twenty-five monthly calculation indices; in case of repeated insult within a year — thirty monthly calculation indices).
In addition to information above, on protecting the honor and dignity of the teacher, he or she is protected from additional stress from the leadership. A penalty has been introduced for engaging educators in unusual functions. For the first time, the manager can get off with a warning, but if the violation is repeated within a year, then the fine will be calculated from twenty to one hundred and twenty monthly calculation indicators, depending on the region.
Social guarantees for teachers are presented in a separate article (article 12). In the first paragraph, the educator is guaranteed housing. It can be official (an apartment or a room in a dormitory) or private (land plots for individual housing construction). In the seventh paragraph of this article, the option of compensatory payments to the teacher for renting (renting) housing and utilities is considered. In the third subparagraph of the first paragraph of Article 12, an annual labor leave of 56 days is fixed.
Teachers from rural areas felt serious support. Their salary has been increased by 25 %, and social support has been assigned to pay for utilities and purchase fuel from budget funds.
The most important aspect, in our opinion, is Article 13. It implies the institution of mentoring young teachers. For the implementation of mentoring to experienced teachers who carry out this activity, an additional payment is paid (determined by bylaws). During mentoring, a more experienced teacher is responsible not only for conducting classes with a young colleague, but also for fulfilling ethical and moral standards. If they are violated, according to Article 16 «Council on Pedagogical Ethics», the young specialist and mentor will be held liable [2].
In his State of the nation address to the people of Kazakhstan «Constructive public dialogue is the basis of stability and prosperity in Kazakhstan», President of the country Kassym Zhomart Tokayev put the quality of education in the first place in the priority «New stage of social modernization». At the same time, the Head of State instructed to double the salaries of teachers over the next 4 years. We have not yet had such a high rate of growth in wages in education in the 21st century, and this is a wonderful event for the half-million pedagogical units of Kazakhstan [3].
Undoubtedly, such an increase will have a beneficial effect both on the living conditions of teachers and on their status in society. Accordingly, since January 1, 2021, teachers' salaries have already increased by 25 %, and social guarantees for teachers working in rural areas are even wider and more attractive. Starting with the fact that their rates will be 25 % higher than those of their fellow citizens.
All this taken together resulted in a special purposeful attention to the issues of legislative, organizational and resource provision of the status of a teacher. The result of a lot of work was the adoption of the State Program for the Development of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2020–2025. This state program is becoming the main tool for the practical implementation and provision of all measures for the modernization and development of the domestic education system, including in the field of improving the status of an educator.
There has never been such a wide range of areas related to the status of an educator in the legal and institutional practice of Kazakhstan, and this is a truly serious step forward in the legislative certainty and security of our teaching units.
We believe that at the present stage, a state policy has been developed in relation to the creation of a new formation of educators, aimed at creating a community of teachers as a new social elite. These changes will allow attracting a large number of young and competent specialists to educational institutions, not only in the city, but also in the countryside [4].
References:
- On the republican budget for 2020–2022: Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated December 4, 2019. No. 276-VI (with amendments and additions). [Electronic resource]. — URL: http://adilet.zan.kz/rus/docs/Z1900000276
- On the status of a teacher: Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated December 27, 2019. No. 293-VI (with amendments and additions). [Electronic resource]. — URL: http://adilet.zan.kz/rus/docs/Z1900000293
- Constructive public dialogue is the basis of stability and prosperity in Kazakhstan. Message from the Head of State to the people of Kazakhstan dated September 2, 2019. [Electronic resource]. — URL: http://adilet.zan.kz/rus/docs/K1900002019
- Professional activity and personality of the teacher [Electronic resource] / — http://megaobuchalka.ru/3/14209.html — (19.02.2018).
