Kazakhstan employment program to focus on vocational education - PM Massimov

ASTANA-MOSCOW. March 2. KAZINFORM The newly adopted Kazakhstan employment program will focus on vocational and technical education. Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov said in an interview with Russian RBC Channel on March 1.

Speaking about competitive advantages of Kazakhstan and development of education, the Premier noted that "our country has certain competitive advantages ... I believe that during the years of independence we created incentives for the creation of the cult of knowledge, the cult of education."

K. Massimov reminded that at the beginning of the 1990s Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev took a decision on massive training abroad. We have an opportunity to send about 3000 people a year at the expense of the state abroad, primarily to English-speaking countries as the USA. Then we expanded the program. Tens of thousands of people studied aboard and returned to Kazakhstan. The first graduates are now 33-35 years old. Those boys and girls are the backbone of the level of deputy ministers, deputy heads of the national companies, in banking, telecommunications, financial companies. We hope that soon they will reach the level of ministers, heads of national companies.

"Another important aspect in educational policy is vocational and technical training. We open special centers in light of the country's rapid industrialization. Without competent specialists the industrial program will not work."