The Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Kazakhstan is considering the introduction of shortened forms of study in higher education institutions. This was reported by infohub.kz.
During a press conference following a government meeting, Minister Sayasat Nurbek answered journalists' questions about possible changes to the higher education format. Currently, students study for 4-5 years, and the minister agreed that four years is a long time.
"Since 2022, the first thing we did was change the state educational standard. Now universities can determine up to 92% of the content themselves, including the duration of study. We had a pilot at Astana IT University - three years for a bachelor's degree, two and a half years, three years for a bachelor's degree, we give permission. Universities are gradually starting to experiment with study durations," he said.
According to him, the ministry has already submitted a proposal to the government to introduce applied bachelor's degrees. "We submitted a proposal to the government to also introduce applied bachelor's degrees - a shortened form of study in universities. We will launch a pilot format with higher colleges - so that a child after school enters college, and in an applied format gets a very smart specialty, but at the bachelor's level, yet shorter in content and duration. He can then continue studying in a modular format at a university, continue for a bachelor's or master's degree. We are also moving towards flexible formats," the minister explained.
Overall, he predicts that new formats will appear in the near future. "And more flexible formats, hybrid formats. We have already prepared the regulatory framework for this. We tested dense projects. In principle, it works," concluded Sayasat Nurbek.