12 February 2018
The UNESCO Cluster Office in Almaty, in collaboration with the UNESCO Headquarters and the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, organized a national workshop on Expanding Open Educational Resources (OER) for Lifelong Learning in Astana, Kazakhstan, on 11-13 December 2017. The workshop contributed towards the development and implementation of national OER policies in Kazakhstan.
The workshop gathered together a large and diverse group of participants, who work in different capacities on OER in Kazakhstan as well as experts from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Germany and the Soros Foundation. Experts and participants shared their national experiences, presented existing policy frameworks, compared them with the best international practices, identified existing gaps, and prepared a draft OER Policy as well as further plan and recommendations on the next steps.Open Educational Resources provide a strategic opportunity to improve the quality of education as well as to facilitate policy dialogue, knowledge sharing and capacity building.
Krista Pikkat, Director of UNESCO Almaty Office and UNESCO Representative to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan
Krista Pikkat, UNESCO Representative in Kazakhstan, highlighted the importance of universal access to quality education for sustainable social and economic development. “Open Educational Resources provide a strategic opportunity to improve the quality of education as well as to facilitate policy dialogue, knowledge sharing and capacity building. The adaptation process of Sustainable Development Goals implies that it can be adapted and calibrated in a manner that can help expedite the country’s effort to achieve the 2030 and 2050 strategies’ objectives, including meeting the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) standards that will support Kazakhstan’s calibrated to join the ranks of top 30 most developed countries by 2030.”
As a result of the workshop, Kazakhstan National OER Committee drafted the OER Policy.
This workshop is in line with the international, regional and sub-regional policy dialogue on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in education and OER. These fora have been calling for urgent attention to significant benefits of OER in the Central Asian context for enhancing educational practices for all. Development strategies of Kazakhstan also mention OER as a benefit to the modernization of the country.
In 2015, Kazakhstan and other members of the United Nations agreed to ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning by 2030. Opening up educational resources for use and adaptation by everyone, is a great opportunity to achieve quality education for all.
Workshop Agenda_en.pdf
Links:
Central Asian Symposia on ICT Education:
Permanent link: http://en.unesco.kz/expanding-open-educational-resources-for-lifelong-learning-in-kazakhstan-2018-02-08