Nazarbayev criticizes program of training civil servants abroad for lack of effectiveness

Mr. Baimenov briefed the Kazakh President on main directions of the agency's activities and aspects of the Kazakhstani model of civil service, praised by international experts.
President Nazarbayev noted the creation of the Corps A and highly skilled candidate pool was the key stage in the reform of national civil service.
"In this context, utmost attention should be paid to the training and professional development of civil servants. The regional training centers for civil servants are poorly supervised by local akimats (administrations). The problem of training and professional development of our civil servants abroad also demands attention. Instead of well-prepared people who do have extensive knowledge in their field, we see mainly misfits who are not even proficient in English to be trained under the professional development or other training programs abroad. As a result, these people cannot learn, they are unable to adopt the best practices of our foreign colleagues. We've spent KZT 170 million on the program of training and professional development for our civil servants, but get no results, zero," Nursultan Nazarbayev emphasized.
The President stressed the need to perfect quality of training under specific majors.
"Nowadays there are many universities that offer degrees in public administration. Students are mostly offered to study Economy and Law, whilst public administration requires knowledge of a wider spectrum of problems. The Agency in conjunction with the Ministry of Education and Science should look into the matter and analyze the situation," the Kazakh leader noted.
Mr. Baimenov, in turn, informed the Head of State of implemented instructions in terms of further modernization of the civil service and substantial cuts in number of civil servants.
In conclusion, President Nazarbayev gave a number of specific instructions related to improvement of civil services quality and training of civil servants.