Intl experts discussing education internationalization in Almaty
Delegates of the ministries of education and rectors of universities of Central Asia as well as experts from Europe and Asia-Pacific region gathered in Almaty for the event.
Director of the Director of the UNESCO Cluster Office in Almaty Krista Pikkat addressed the forum participants. "In 2015, the UN member states adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Higher education is one of them. As per SDG 4, inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities should be ensured for all. And internationalization of higher education is required to achieve this goal. For this purpose we are holding this forum," Krista Pikkat said.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan sets an objective of becoming an educational hub for such countries as Afghanistan, India, China, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, Russia and others.
"Kazakhstan has a considerable experience in internationalization process. We are interested in academic mobility of applicants. The government allocated 160 educational grants for foreign students this year and 124 - for master's degree students. Our objective today is to upgrade qualification of university faculty. We will expand our borders and educational system in whole," Director of the Bologna Process and Academic Mobility Centre of the Ministry of Education and Science Almagul Kultumanova said.
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan made a presentation of their experience of higher education internationalization.
Kazakhstan's governmental programme of education development sets a goal to increase the total percentage of foreign students. As many as 14,000 foreigners including those from Uzbekistan and India are studying currently in our country.
According to Libing Wang, Chief of Educational Innovations and Skills Development (EISD) Section at UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, (Bangkok, Thailand), the world has quite different approach to the higher education development to date.
"In previous years we evaluated higher education system by the number of universities built, the number of personnel, libraries etc., while now we focus on quality of education, mobility, recognition of qualifications etc." he noted.
The regional leadership forum "Politics and Practice of Internationalization in Asia-Pacific Region" will last in Almaty till May 24.