Krymbek Kusherbayev took part in the presentation of the project «New humanitarian education. 100 new textbooks in the Kazakh language»

State Secretary, Chairman of the National Commission for the Implementation of the Program for the Modernization of Public Consciousness under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Krymbek Kusherbayev held an expanded meeting of the National Commission. The presentation of the project «New humanitarian education. 100 new textbooks in the Kazakh language», implemented within the framework of the "Rukhani Zhangyru"program.

In his speech Krymbek Kusherbayev noted that the «Rukhani Zhangyru» program, initiated by the First President of Kazakhstan – Elbasy N. A. Nazarbayev, is a very important and comprehensive initiative for the Kazakh society. Several large-scale projects have been implemented within the framework of the program. They contribute to the new rise of science and education, public consciousness in the country. For this purpose, an unprecedented and complex scientific translation project has been developed in the intellectual history of Kazakhstan.

One of the most significant for the society is the project «New Humanitarian Education. 100 new textbooks in the Kazakh language», implemented by the National Translation Agency. Each of the 100 textbooks has been translated into Kazakh and published in a circulation of 10 000 copies, and the books have been transferred to all educational institutions of the country, including private universities.

- Scientific literature and academic bestsellers included in the programs of the best universities in the world have been translated into Kazakh. They have already been translated into dozens of languages and distributed in huge circulations in developed countries. It is a great achievement that our teachers and students have access to such content. This is, in fact, a large-scale continuation of the «Bolashak» program. Thanks to the «Bolashak» program, about 20 000 of our students have been trained at leading universities in the world. And now almost 500 thousand Kazakh students studying in our country have the opportunity to study in the Kazakh language according to the best textbooks of the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and Harvard, - the Secretary of State said.

Krymbek Kusherbayev thanked the National Translation Agency for the large-scale implementation of such an important project for our society.

Thanks to 100 new textbooks, the content of a number of areas of humanitarian education, which are very important for public consciousness, has been radically updated. Many sciences, such as philosophy, history, sociology, political science, law and jurisprudence, journalism, culture and art, linguistics, Oriental studies, literary theory, pedagogy and psychology have received a new interdisciplinary, evolutionary and humanistic content.

At the same time, thanks to this project, new opportunities have opened up for expanding the scope of the Kazakh language. There are completely new directions for the development of the language environment. For example, economics, micro-and macroeconomics, management and marketing, financial literacy, English law, statistics, quantitative and qualitative research methods, ethics and aesthetics, anthropology, Internet psychology, media ethics, art history, theater and cinema, and others.

- It is very important to get new content by translating it from another language without a password. But it is also important to present our identity, Kazakh culture and spirituality in other languages in order to become open to the whole world. This exchange should be two-way. Several successful projects have already been implemented through the National Translation Agency. In particular, the best works of 60 Kazakh poets and writers have been translated into 6 official UN languages and distributed in libraries of 90 countries. Last year, on behalf of the Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the collections of the great Abai dedicated to the 175th anniversary of the poet were translated and distributed in 10 languages of the world, - Krymbek Kusherbayev said.

The event was attended by the Cambridge University Press, the Cervantes Institute, the Organization of Education, Science and Culture of the League of Arab States, the Publishing House of the Nations of China, the Publishing House of Moscow State University and other reputable international partners.

The Secretary of State noted that the work started on the project should be continued, not limited to textbooks and fiction.

 During the presentation, it was noted that 200 online courses in Kazakh and Russian were prepared on the basis of 100 textbooks and more than 5 000 video lectures were recorded. Leading teachers of Kazakhstan took part in this work. In the future, these educational materials will become the basic basis of the Open University of Kazakhstan, will give a good impetus to the development of distance learning technologies, digitization of education and further movement towards technological progress.

- Thanks to the project «100 new textbooks», we have provided every student of Kazakhstan with the opportunity to get acquainted with the best textbooks, ideas and works of the most famous scientists of the world. They are open and available in the form of a book and an online course. All this is evidence of the State's concern for young people who want to study and get a good education, - the Secretary of State said.

At the meeting, Krymbek Kusherbayev also gave a number of instructions on behalf of the National Commission.

First, all works of art created with the support of the state within the framework of the «Rukhani Zhangyru» program should be freely distributed as public property and should not belong only to state institutions or individual organizations.

Secondly, it is necessary to ensure the effective use of textbooks and scientific literature translated within the framework of the project «New Humanitarian Education. 100 new textbooks in the Kazakh language», including them in the curriculum.

Thirdly, it is necessary to amend the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan «On Education», regulating the activities of educational organizations for distance and online learning.

Fourth, it is important not to lose the experience and potential of specialists accumulated on the basis of the «National Translation Agency». Taking into account the current demand and needs, it is necessary to develop and implement a permanent work plan, including the translation into Kazakh of children's and youth literature, humanitarian and technical textbooks, business literature and other areas.

Fifth, the Kazakh-English and English-Kazakh Oxford Dictionary (Qazaq Oxford Dictionary), prepared by the National Translation Bureau and the University of Oxford, should be published and distributed in all libraries of secondary and higher educational institutions.

Sixth, as part of the plan for a phased transition to the Latin alphabet, the electronic texts of 100 translated textbooks should be published in the new Kazakh alphabet on the platform of the Kazakhstan Open University. In addition, classical works of Kazakh literature included in the school curriculum should be translated into Latin on the Kitap platform.kz - Open Library of Kazakhstan.

– The main goal of the 100 textbooks and other events presented today is to create conditions for our youth to grow strong, competitive and become the backbone of our society and the whole country, - Krymbek Kusherbayev said.

Minister of Information and Social Development Aida Balayeva, Minister of Education and Science Askhat Aimagambetov, Director of the National Translation Agency Rauan Kenzhehanuly, Dean of the Almaty University of Management Moldiyar Ergebekov, Rector of the Kazakh Women's Pedagogical University Gulmira Kanai, as well as Director of Education Reform of the University of Cambridge Jane Mann (Great Britain) had the presentaions at the expanded meeting.