School Update: How Technology Has Changed the Capital's School Education

The situation with school education has changed significantly due to the uncertainty caused by the pandemic. However, some reforms have helped its development. Per-capita funding was tested by capital schools four years ago, and now it is being introduced in cities across the country. We tell you how technological progress was launched in schools.What was thereFive years ago, the Education Department of what was then Astana faced a problem: schools could not keep up with the rapid growth of the capital's population. The quality of knowledge was assessed at 59.6% based on the results of olympiads, competitions, and tests. The former head of the Capital's Education Department, Zhanugin, directly linked the increase in the number of schoolchildren to low figures. According to his estimates, there should be 120,000 free places by 2023, which is equivalent to 50 new schools. At the same time, the Department's budget for 2016-2018 was 34 billion tenge. According to Zhanugin, these funds were not enough to implement programs.In June 2016, the akimat announced the birth of the millionth resident. This became another argument to revise the budget. Therefore, already in the following year, for 2017-2019, it was increased to 41 billion tenge.[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="400"] Source: dossybayev.kz[/caption] New fundingIn 2018, the Department introduced per-capita funding, which gave directors the right to manage funds themselves. The reform made schools local startups. On average, 224 thousand tenge is allocated per child. For comparison, under the previous budgetary funding, an average of 157 thousand tenge was allocated per student. Independence in managing funds attracted investors, which led to an increase in the number of private schools in the city. This also has its downsides: the budget does not allow for the purchase of new furniture and equipment. Therefore, schools can only acquire them with saved money, which is now not small. The second problem is internal migration. Many citizens move but do not register in their new place. If they enroll their child in a new school during the academic year, it will be difficult to adjust the budget.UpdatesBudgetary funding clearly separated funds for, for example, stationery, cosmetic repairs, and salaries. Per-capita funding, on the other hand, allows for the redistribution of the budget if funds run out for one need and remain for another. To monitor this process, the Department created a unified cloud accounting system to track fund expenditures. It saved 200 million tenge in the first year of launch.The second innovation: the school transport card "Astana LRT". It allows schoolchildren to pay for transportation, meals in cafeterias and buffets, and pass through turnstiles in schools. Cashless payment gives parents the ability to monitor their child's nutrition and movements around the city. At the same time, this strengthened school safety and solved a nationwide problem in Kazakhstan - school cafeterias and the fact that they throw away 80% of dishes.[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="427"] Source: vechastana.kz[/caption] In conclusionPer-capita funding has shown how a different approach to state investments can help integrate new technologies. The capital system, introduced during the time of Isekeshov and Zhanugin, is now being introduced across the country. Unresolved issues remain: internal migration of parents and their children; capital repairs, which are needed by more and more schools each year. But the advantages of per-capita funding and new technologies in education administration are obvious: meaningful spending and a unified accounting system.