Citation

Uulu BB, Smagulov Y. Mathematics Education 2016; 11(8): 3176-3186.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In 2013 it has been executed 10 years since the introduction of the Unified National Test for graduates of secondary schools in Kazakhstan in 2013. The higher education system in Kazakhstan has changed with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the transition to a market economy economic development. The number of higher education institutions keenly has increased. In 1991 the republic had 55 universities by universities peaked to 182 in 2001. Conducting Unified National Test for all 10 years since its introduction, accompanied by disputes about its feasibility and objectivity. Opponents of this system have argued that the tests is only a form of learning the curriculum, while the paramount importance should be attached to the quality of education. UNT defenders argue that the testing system - it is a well-established and effective form of graduate's examination worldwide, and Kazakhstan as a part of the international community must comply with the advanced world standards. Since 2009, a growing number of graduates in the Kazakh language, and a sharp decline in graduates with Russian language of teaching. Thus, in the coming years we should expect an expansion of application areas of the Kazakh language due to the fact that increase the proportion of people who use the Kazakh language as the core. For 10 years, the UNT average score of rural schools graduates is lower than of city schools graduates. For almost 10 years, all of the UNT graduates from schools with Russian language of teaching in the average gain higher scores than graduates in the Kazakh language. On average, graduates of secondary schools in Kazakhstan (except 2010 and 2011) are gaining 50-60% correct answers. That is the average level of education of Kazakhstan graduates do not exceed 60%, which is very low. Thus, the mean value of the share of the average score to total test tasks for 10 years is 57.4%. The most spectacular scandal connected with the UNT is that some prominent public figures associated growth of youth suicide with the unified national testing. So, for the last 10 years in Kazakhstan the number of suicides among young people increased three times. Annually every 12th teenager aged between 15 and 19 years is trying to get away from life. Accessibility of higher education has led to an increase in the percentage of unemployed with higher education diploma: from 14.6% in 2004 to 26.5% in 2012. © 2016, Gokkusagi LTD. STI. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

High school; Graduates; Kazakhstan; Unified national test