Kazakhstan government, political system
There is a need for oral exams but for large class sizes in intellectual studies time demands that everyone write in silence. The written papers are easily stored and marked. Oral education misses some of the values of reading and thinking. Nonetheless oral exams are good for in depth evaluation at the PHD level. Fortunately TV failed to destroy our national intellect as it led to the computer monitor and renewed reading skills.
"Our Kazakhstan education system has, in my opinion, a problem - low level of preschool education. It covers only 32 %. Only 32 % of children are involved in some kind of programs of preschool education. This is very bad. In the developed countries - this parameter totals 80 %. And in such countries, as Finland, the Great Britain, Japan, France - 100 %," A. Abishev noted.
As for the secondary education, the rector of Kazakhstan Economic University said that "the secondary education needs to be of 12 years and should be focused on fostering of fundamental knowledge." "Practically 80 % of the countries of the world have 12-year education systems..., he added.
Nazarbayev was the son of Kazakh peasants. He graduated from a technical school in Dneprodzerzhinsk (now Dniprodzerzhynsk), Ukr., in 1960, from a technical school of the Karaganda (now Qaraghandy) Metallurgical Combine in Kazakhstan (1967), and from the Higher Party School in Moscow (1976). He worked as a steelworker and engineer at the Karaganda plant off and on from 1960 to 1977. He joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1962 and rose through the ranks, becoming a full member of the Kazakhstan Politburo in 1979, chairman of the Kazakh Council of Ministers (1984–89), first secretary of the Kazakhstan party (1989–91), and full member of the CPSU Politburo (1990–91). In 1990 the Supreme Soviet of Kazakhstan elected Nazarbayev president of the republic.
After the abortive 1991 attempt by hard-liners to overthrow Mikhail Gorbachev, a step that he opposed, Nazarbayev resigned from the Politburo (August 22). In December of that year, Kazakhstan declared full independence from the Soviet Union and, led by Nazarbayev, helped form the Commonwealth of Independent States, an economic union of former Soviet republics. Having long decried Moscow’s economic exploitation of Central Asia, he carefully nurtured Kazakhstan’s independence in such a cooperative. A 1995 referendum allowed for the extension of Nazarbayev’s term in office to 2000. Confronted by a period of economic hardship, however, he called for elections a year and a half ahead of schedule and was reelected president in 1999 and again in 2005. In 2007 a constitutional amendment rendered Nazarbayev personally exempt from the two-term limit on the presidency, and in mid-2010 the Kazakh parliament issued him the title Leader of the Nation, which further empowered him by protecting his assets and making him immune to prosecution. In December 2010 the Kazakh parliament voted to approve plans for a national referendum to cancel the next two presidential elections, effectively extending Nazarbayev’s presidency until at least 2020. However, the planned referendum was rejected by Kazakhstan’s constitutional court in January 2011. Nazarbayev accepted the ruling and called for early elections.
In April 2011, running against token opposition, Nazarbayev was elected to another term with more than 95 percent of the vote. International observers deemed the election unfair, noting widespread irregularities.
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as theninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of 2,727,300 km² is greater than Western Europe. Kazakhstan is one of the six independent Turkic States. It is neighbored clockwise from the north by Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and also borders on a significant part of the Caspian Sea. The capital was moved in 1997 from Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city, to Astana.
Vast in size, the terrain of Kazakhstan ranges from flatlands, steppes, taigas, rock-canyons, hills, deltas, and snow-capped mountains to deserts. With 16.4 million people (2010 estimate) Kazakhstan has the 62nd largest population in the world, though its population density is less than 6 people per square kilometre (15 per sq. mi.).
For most of its history, the territory of modern-day Kazakhstan has been inhabited by nomadic tribes. By the 16th century the Kazakhs emerged as a distinct group, divided into three hordes. The Russians began advancing into the Kazakh steppe in the 18th century, and by the mid-19th century all of Kazakhstan was part of the Russian Empire. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, and subsequent civil war, the territory of Kazakhstan was reorganized several times before becoming the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic in 1936, a part of the USSR. During the 20th century, Kazakhstan was the site of major Soviet projects, including Khrushchev's Virgin Lands campaign, the Baikonur Cosmodrome, and the Semipalatinsk "Polygon", the USSR's primary nuclear weapon testing site.
Kazakhstan declared itself an independent country on December 16, 1991, the last Soviet republic to do so. Its communist-era leader, Nursultan Nazarbayev, became the country's new president. Since independence, Kazakhstan has pursued a balancedforeign policy and worked to develop its economy, especially its hydrocarbon industry. While the country's economic outlook is improving, President Nazarbayev maintains strict control over the country's politics. Nevertheless, Kazakhstan's international prestige is building. It is now considered to be the dominant state in Central Asia. The country is a member of many international organizations, including the United Nations, the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Kazakhstan is one of six post-Soviet states who have implemented an Individual Partnership Action Plan with NATO. In 2010, Kazakhstan chaired the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
Kazakhstan is ethnically and culturally diverse, in part due to mass deportations of many ethnic groups to the country duringStalin's rule. Kazakhs are the largest group. Kazakhstan has 131 nationalities including Kazakh, Russian, Uyghur, Ukrainian,Uzbek, and Tatar. It has a population of 16.2 million, of whom around 63% percent are Kazakhs.
Kazakhstan allows freedom of religion, and many different beliefs are represented in the country. Islam is the religion of about two thirds of the population, and Christianity the faith of most of the remainder. The Kazakh language is the state language, while Russian is also officially used as an "equal" language (to Kazakh) in Kazakhstan's institutions.
Kazakhstan government, political system