A meeting was held between the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan and representatives of Michigan State University on strategic partnership issues.

The goal is to consider the possibility of developing a memorandum on the training of highly qualified teaching staff.

As the President of State noted: “The training of qualified teachers remains a priority. Pedagogy has become one of the most important branches of science. Therefore, fundamentally new approaches are needed in this area.” As part of the execution of the President’s instructions, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, during negotiations with a leading US university, raised issues of partnership in the training of teaching staff. In this regard, the issue of creating a branch of Michigan State University has also become relevant.

“The focus of pedagogy in the first stage was teacher training. Now schools are experiencing a large shortage of personnel, especially in the capital, the population is growing, and the demand for quality education is growing. Apart from government schools, we have various international schools and all of them need qualified teachers. Today, an institutional transformation of teacher education is underway. Improving the quality of teacher training is carried out in three directions. Thus, measures are being taken to provide regions with teaching staff in accordance with their needs,” emphasized S. Nurbek.

The head of the department put forward a proposal to representatives of Michigan State University to consider the possibility of developing a memorandum on strategic partnership in the following areas: hybrid learning, leadership of school teachers, and professional development of university administrative staff.

In turn, the American side expressed gratitude for the meeting and noted its interest in potential cooperation with Kazakhstan.

“On a global scale, we also see that Kazakhstan is becoming a regional leader. We are engaged in professional development of teachers, conduct real research, and are also engaged in inclusive education. From our side, a hybrid model, a certificate program, etc. are available. If there are specific school leaders, teachers who want to come to Michigan for a longer or short-term program, then we can become a permanent member of the Ministry's partnership. After discussing all the details, we will create a specific project for you,” said Sakil Malik, senior advisor for global education engagement at the College of Education at Michigan State University.

In this regard, active cooperation with Kazakh universities that train teaching staff plays an important role.

Following the meeting, the parties agreed to develop a draft memorandum and a road map for its implementation.