In the 21st century, the contingent of the field of education is becoming more and more diverse, which is a challenge for higher education. The report on human development of the UN (2019), based on global research, states that serious barriers to access to education, academic success, and the well-being of many students from socially vulnerable groups remain in higher education [Undp.org, 2020]. The trend of introducing inclusive and fair practices in higher education and maintaining high academic standards are the goals that determine the discourse about the university in the 21st century. Inclusive excellence is the concept of excellence in a broad sense, including a set of strategies and practices of the university aimed at achieving the best results in teaching, research, and service through the support of diversity and inclusion. Diversity is understood as “the totality of individual and group/social differences that can be taken into account in the learning process”; and inclusion is understood as “active, intentional and constant interaction with diversity to improve the quality of the learning process and achieve interaction of individuals within systems and institutions” [Clayton-Pedersen and Musil, 2009].
The first model of inclusive university excellence was developed in 2005 by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). The basis for this concept is the idea that diversity, fairness, and inclusiveness are integral parts of the educational experience and success of all students, staff, and the university as a whole [Volosnikova et al. 2021]. At the beginning of its initiative, AAC&U identified the main elements of inclusive university excellence:
– focus on the intellectual and social development of students;
– offering the best training courses for the relevant context;
– targeted improvement of the quality of student education and use of organizational resources for this purpose, which means creating a favorable environment for every student and every employee of the university;
– attention to cultural differences that students bring to the educational experience and that strengthen the community.
The authors of this concept believe that such a university will not only occupy high positions in world rankings, which is also important but will also serve to overcome social inequality and achieve social justice. The number of socially vulnerable groups includes not only students with disabilities, as it seems to many, but also students from families with low income, immigrant status and residents of rural areas. Many of them face a lack of support, social isolation, and other forms of alienation, discrimination and marginalization.
In the international educational space, the understanding of the great importance of inclusive education is recognized and recorded in the documents of leading universities in the USA, Australia, Great Britain, Canada, Germany, Finland, and other countries.
Since the independence of Kazakhstan, the educational sphere has become the domain of permanent and quite significant reforms. Ultimately, the then Ministry of Education and Science (MES) strived to create state programs aimed at improving the education system and integration into education at the international level. At the same time, the attractive idea of inclusiveness and justice is actively promoted in education. Kazakhstan recognizes inclusive education as the most effective means of combating discriminatory attitudes, as well as for creating a favorable environment in society and ensuring education for all.
In this regard, a legislative framework was created over the years in the form of, for example, the Law on Education of 2007 (with amendments of 2019), in which inclusive education is defined as a process that provides equal access to education for all students taking into account their abilities and special educational needs (SEN), laws “On the rights of the child in the Republic of Kazakhstan” of 2002, “On social protection of the disabled in the Republic of Kazakhstan” in 2005, “On social-medical and pedagogical and correctional support of children with disabilities”, 2002, which ensure the rights of children, including children with disabilities, to education. Along with this, the government adopts state programs in the field of education, which outline the strategic vision of educational reforms for 2011-2020 and 2016-2019, where the goal of Kazakhstan is again proclaimed “to ensure equal access of all participants in the educational process to the best educational resources and technologies” [Adilet.zan, 2016].
Kazakhstan has supported such global initiatives as “Education for All” (EFA), the Salamanca Declaration on Principles, Policy, and Practice in Education for Persons with Special Needs, and the Dakar Framework for Action. It was established by law that all citizens have the right to free preschool, primary, general secondary, and professional education, as well as free higher education on a competitive basis, regardless of gender, nationality, social and economic status, language, religion, state of health and other individual characteristics.
So, inclusive education is a natural stage in the development of the education system, which is connected with the rethinking of the attitude of society and the state toward persons with limited health opportunities, with the definition of their right to receive opportunities equal to others.
In the Kazakh discourse, the concept of inclusive perfection is still at the stage of study and institutionalization. At the same time, researchers most often discuss the revision and change of the process of training specialists for raising children with special educational needs in school [Baimenova et al., 2015]. Narrowing down the problem to the school level, however, is characteristic not only for Kazakh researchers, many foreign experts also focus their attention on children of preschool and mostly school age [Göransson and Nilholm, 2014; Qvortrup and Qvortrup, 2017]. However, if the situation at the school level of education is solved in some way, even within the limited framework, inclusion at the level of higher education, unfortunately, is in more difficult conditions.
According to the National report on the state and development of the education system of the Republic of Kazakhstan, tertiary education coverage in Kazakhstan is 62% [Gov.kz, 2021]. Higher education in Kazakhstan has transformed from elitist to mass education. This was facilitated by changes in the Unified National Testing (UNT) system for university admission, an annual increase in the state educational order, an increase in the number of scholarships, etc. Diversification of the student contingent became the result of the expansion of access to higher education. The government has taken significant measures to expand the participation of underrepresented groups in higher education, including applicants from families with low socio-economic status, rural areas, migrants, etc.
Socially vulnerable students, who study according to the quota, make up 11.5% of the total number of students. Rural youth (88.8%) are the most represented in the structure of socially vulnerable students studying under the quota. Among other socially vulnerable categories studying under the quota, the contingent of students is represented by students of Kazakh nationality who are not citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan (3275), orphans and students left without parental care (2761), disabled people (1349), persons equal to benefits and guarantees participants in the war and invalids of the war (34).
The creation of conditions for inclusive education remains a “priority direction” of the State Program for the Development of Education and Science for 2020-2025 at all levels of education. In 2020, the share of civil universities, which created conditions for inclusive education, was 15%. Nevertheless, despite significant changes in the creation of conditions for students with SEN, several barriers remain to their full involvement in the learning process. Some conducted social studies show that the process of implementing an inclusive society in Kazakhstan is not very successful yet [Sailauova, 2020]. It is necessary to develop a comprehensive policy supported by appropriate resources.
Thus, a survey of directors of technical and professional colleges in Kazakhstan showed that the shortage of personnel is an acute problem in the education of people with disabilities, as well as the lack of education and psychological unpreparedness of teachers, lack of appropriate conditions, low awareness of parents about accessible colleges that provide inclusive education, weak career orientation of youth. In addition, it is necessary to provide colleges with the appropriate equipment, to regularly organize advanced training courses for teachers of inclusive education. The same problems, but to an even greater extent, are characteristic of universities, which are currently also unable to satisfy the needs of this group of students due to the lack of material, infrastructural and human resources.
Some applied studies show that, for example, students with disabilities in universities face numerous obstacles, which can be conditionally divided into three groups; problems related to the surrounding space, related to attitudes, and related to access to information.
Barriers related to the environment are difficulties in accessing buildings, the location of classrooms, and inconvenient infrastructure. Despite the worldwide transition to an inclusive environment, favorable for all people with disabilities, the reality of Kazakhstan shows that educational locations are still physically difficult to access. For this reason, students with disabilities are dependent on external factors, such as the weather, which often forces them to miss classes, and the impossibility of participating in social activities on campus, which, in turn, hinders their social integration.
Attitude-related barriers are “social barriers”, meaning the influence of the relationships of peers, teachers, and staff with whom students interact. They often have a negative character when those around them do not want to provide reasonable support to students and/or do not understand their additional needs. Teachers often tend to underestimate the expectations of students with disabilities or, on the contrary, do not take into account the individual health conditions of students. Barriers to relations entail the necessity of consulting services for employees and teachers. Moreover, to minimize negative consequences and make the educational environment more favorable for people with disabilities, it is necessary to train teachers and employees.
As for difficulties in accessing information and educational materials, they include assistive technologies and pedagogical approaches. Even for students without disabilities, it is a difficult task to cope with a large volume of educational material accompanying studies at the university. The so-called “inability to perceive printed information”, including on the part of the blind and students with visual impairments, means that they are deprived of basic access to these resources, which puts them at a disadvantage and significantly limits their learning opportunities. At the same time, this means the inability of universities to provide equal access to educational materials for their students. New technologies and electronic sources expand the possibilities of student learning but require special applications, processing techniques, and additional time [Abdykaimov, 2021].
The disadvantage of inclusive policy in the field of the education system is the fact that although the aforementioned legislative documents contain references to inclusion, the provisions of the documents seem vague and do not prescribe external mechanisms for the implementation of inclusiveness in practice [Makoelle, 2020]. The Law on Education (Kazakhstan, 2007) stipulates that universities in Kazakhstan cannot discriminate against students with disabilities, but the legislation does not establish legal mechanisms and procedures for overcoming existing barriers to access to universities. In Kazakh universities, there are no established inclusive services and transitional programs taking into account the special needs of students with disabilities [Ontario Human Rights Commission, n.d.].
The lack of available educational resources in the Kazakh context is aggravated by the lack of qualified and well-informed administrators and teachers. According to the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan on education (2007), persons with disabilities have the right to a 75% supplement to the monthly student scholarship. However, this financial assistance is insufficient. There are no rules binding on university staff and teachers to meet the needs of students related to their studies, students depend on the goodwill and awareness of individual teachers and administrators.
To conclude, to realize the rights of people with disabilities to access education without discrimination and based on equality of opportunity by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and under the Message of the Head of the State to the people of Kazakhstan dated September 2, 2019, the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On amendments and additions to certain legislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on issues of inclusive education” was adopted. In the issue of accessibility of higher education, it is necessary to note the gradual increase in the number of students from among persons with disabilities. Since 2010, this indicator has increased by 2.5 times and amounted to 1,349 people in the 2020/2021 academic year. However, a centralized institutional policy is required to comprehensively solve the problems of vulnerable students. Thus, the inclusiveness of education is a political, economic, and social issue that remains an important aspect of the development of modern Kazakhstan in the wider world community.
References
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Note: The views expressed in this blog are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the Institute’s editorial policy