Toqayev: Our goal is to fulfill Presidential instructions
At a meeting with the region's public, Toqayev said: "Our goal is to fulfill the objectives outlined in the Presidential Address and achieve the indicators set."
The Senate Speaker emphasized the importance of the President's instruction to raise minimum wage by 1.5times, the measure that will cover 1,300,000 people. Wages of 275,000 public officers will be increased by 35% in average.
In his speech, Qasym-Jomart Toqayev analyzed the region's economic potential. In his words, Karaganda region is a flagship of the country's industrial development, a leader of the Governmental Program of Industrial and Innovative Development. 84 projects have been implemented, investment has reached KZT 252 billion, 6,400 new jobs have been created. The new facilities have manufactured industrial products totaling over KZT 700 billion.
Mr. Toqayev mentioned the need to introduce new approaches to the territorial development of the country. "The akims (heads of regional administrations) need to focus on tackling the hot-button issues in the regions. The financial resources required for that are available," the head of the upper house of the Parliament pointed out.
The Senate Speaker called for making regional development programs in a well-targeted and effective way: "Resources should be mainly allocated to the implementation of socially significant projects. Saving money is of particular importance."
Qasym-Jomart Toqayev reminded of the corporate social responsibility for improving citizens' standard of living. In his opinion, this is primarily the case of such strategic enterprises of the region as ArcelorMittal Temirtau. "The issues of improving labor conditions and occupational safety, ensuring decent wages to the workers should not be taken off the table by big businesses," the Senate Chairman maintains.
In his speech, he also highlighted issues related to the implementation of the Address targets in such fields as housing, employment, healthcare, education, improving the security of citizens.
The Chairman of the Senate elaborated on the execution of the 7-20-25 Mortgage Program and the Presidential instructions to explore the issue of using the local funds to partially subsidize down payments for the preferential mortgage loans.
The ideas expressed in the Address were core at a meeting with professors and students of the Buketov Karaganda State University. In his speech, Toqayev analyzed the new goals the President set for the national education system.
In particular, he dwelt on the digitization, the introduction of the methods used by the Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools, improving the quality of the educational environment, providing conditions for comfortable and safe learning. "All schools and kindergartens will be equipped with video surveillance systems. The work of school psychologists is becoming more active. The profile ministry and the akimats (regional administrations) should start this crucial work," the Speaker underlined.
Speaking about the President's instructions to make the graduates employment rate as the main criterion for assessing the success of a university, Qasym-Jomart Toqayev underscored the need for careful monitoring and exploring the demand in the labor market. "It is important to build a systematic work on the consideration of promising professions and market needs, and then to make each graduate aware of that information in a timely manner," said the Chairman of the Senate.
The education system, as was mentioned in his speech, is a key tool for the preparation and development of human resources. It is crucial in nation building and economic modernization. In this regard, Toqayev urged to explore the successful foreign experience in making educational innovations the key to economic prosperity and building a contemporary state. "The history of Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore shows that nation's education should be aimed at training active, patriotic people who are ready to continue their education and professional development throughout their careers," said the Senate Chairman.
Another subject matter raised in his speech is the transition of the educational system to trilingualism. Qasym-Jomart Toqayev mentioned the vital role of the English language, which is, on the one hand, the language of international communication, and, on the other hand, the main language of present-day information technologies.
"Communication skills are one of the most important factors of the workforce, and English in the 21st century is the language of business, science, and diplomacy. According to some linguists, English is not just a language but a means of global communication," the Speaker said.
Toqayev emphasized that it is necessary to focus on the study of the Kazakh language from kindergarten and primary school. At the same time, we should be fluent in Russian as well. As an example, the Senate Speaker recalled that Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of modern Singapore, called for a good command of English, while not losing cultural identity and understanding his/her place in the world.
During the meetings, Mr. Toqayev presented well-known Karaganda residents, teachers and students of Karaganda State University with the Senate's Letters and Certificates of Appreciation.
As part of the working trip to Karaganda, the head of the Senate also visited Luch Neuro-Rehabilitation Center, KazPlast enterprise (which produces pipes and high-quality polymer products), and Natige Dairy Factory.