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On the Impact of COVID-19 on the Development of Scientific Literacy in the Republic of Kazakhstan 

Lazzat Kusainova, President of the International Center for Scientific Collaborations  (ICSC)

Update time ：2020-12-31

COVID-19 has established a new world order, both within each state and the entire world community. A clear understanding of the fragility of life, the value of human health, its needs and future social, economic and opportunities of states has emerged.

This year has shown that the level of literacy is openness to the quality of health care, by governments of country policy decisions, and of course, at the level of transformation of education from primary grades to universities.

In this regard, I would like to emphasize the importance and timeliness of the initiative to establish the World Organization for Science Literacy.

New challenges are always new opportunities.

Since March 2020, in connection with the lockdown announced in the Republic of Kazakhstan, all educational organizations have completely go to online and distance learning. This was a serious test for the economy of our state, also changed the way of life of every Kazakh family. Since the children stopped going to kindergartens, schools, colleges and universities, some of the parents were forced to move to remote work. It also influenced the reduction of working hours, and in some cases, the closure of enterprises.

The entire education system was forced to urgently look for new formats of education, rebuild the mode of operation of educational organizations, promptly retrain teachers, develop new content of curricula adapted to distance learning. Telecommunication systems were transformed, which became the provision of access for schoolchildren to educational programs on national television. The solution of the set tasks began to depend on the information technology preparation of the state IT industry.

State and private forms of education operate in the Republic of Kazakhstan, science museums, schoolchildren's palaces are owned by the state. Both state organizations of continuing education and various non-profit organizations are engaged in the development of scientific and creative skills in children.

In order to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection during a pandemic, not only schools, but also organizations of additional education, including palaces of schoolchildren and science museums, whose task is to spread scientific literacy, were transferred to remote work.

Along with teachers of public schools, teachers of out-of-school organizations were provided with computers for distance learning for schoolchildren. In order to ensure the quality of distance teaching for teachers, parents and schoolchildren, training seminars were organized on the use of tools and distance learning methodology.

So, for example, according to the information of the Republican Center for Continuing Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 95 training webinars were held for teachers of additional education on the ZOOM platform, in the following areas: artistic and aesthetic; social and pedagogical (palaces, school houses); tourism and local lore and ecological and biological; scientific and technical.

As part of the activities of organizations of additional education, since the beginning of the announcement of the pandemic, 62 distance contests for schoolchildren were announced, of which 48 contests were completed, there were 3,765 participants, 1708 winners, including children under 6 years old - 139, 7-10 years - 1172, 11-14 years old - 1961, 15-18 years old - 533, from rural areas - 1584 participants, with the state (Kazakh) language - 1657.

Among 2343 parents, a sociological survey “The effectiveness of using distance forms in additional education” was conducted, which showed that 79.9% of parents were satisfied with the quality of distance learning conducted by organizations of additional education.

Distance classes and events in the following areas are most popular among respondents:

intellectual and cognitive - 46.9%;

artistic and aesthetic - 34%;

physical culture and sports - 27.6%;

scientific and technical - 15.2%.

tourism and local lore - 13.8%;

ecological and biological - 6.9%.

One of the largest non-profit organizations operating in the field of STEM in Kazakhstan is the Association for Robotics "KazRobotix", its branches operate in 16 regions of our country.

According to the results of a study of the level of teachers working with scientific projects "KazRoboProject", serious gaps in knowledge and skills necessary to work with school projects were identified, which are focused on competitions outside the main school curriculum - hackathons, meikatons, competitions of scientific projects (Kazakhstan and international).

With the support of American Corners in Kazakhstan, a training course was held for teachers of organizations of additional education - computer scientists and robotics, on the topic: "Project mentoring in STEM: intensive for school teachers."

The legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan provides that citizens who have reached the age of 14 have the right to be recognized as authors of intellectual property, including in the field of science and invention.

In this regard, the International Center for Scientific Collaborations (of which I am the head), in order to spread scientific literacy and popularize science, for the teachers of this course, conducted a training on ensuring the intellectual property rights of schoolchildren. Such work is carried out on an ongoing basis with the aim of encouraging and developing scientific skills both among teachers and the children themselves.

We have our first successful experience in this direction. So, in 2019, two schoolchildren from Kazakhstan became silver medalists of the international competition for children's scientific projects "CASTIC-2019" (Macau, China). After participating in an international competition, both projects were applied for patenting. Currently, both of them are the youngest patent holders in Kazakhstan, at the age of 16.

The presence of intellectual property rights to scientific developments of schoolchildren is a factor indicating the quality of the knowledge provided from school, as well as the level of scientific literacy in society.

At the same time, it should be recognized that the quarantine revealed the existing problems in information technology equipment and the lack of high-quality Internet in rural regions of the country, revealed the unevenness of the level of computer literacy among the population.

Lack of access to the Internet creates discriminatory conditions for the quality of education provided between urban and rural students, as well as teachers, and the level of their scientific literacy directly depends on this.

For example, during the republican competition in robotics, which was organized during the quarantine, schoolchildren from rural areas did not have access to the Internet, or did not have access to a school computer. The lack of access limited their ability to complete competitive scientific tasks. We understand that the speed and quality of the Internet affect the ability to demonstrate and defend a scientific project, as well as the assessment of judges, which, as a result, is reflected in the success of the final result.

On November 24, 2020, the 4th camp for teenagers and teachers, which is annually organized by the CYSC, ended. This camp was attended by 7 schoolchildren and 3 teachers from different cities of Kazakhstan.

The created online platform of the 4th international science camp allowed its participants to visit virtual tours of science museums and centers of China and other countries, exchange national cultural traditions, undergo online training and carry out scientific projects.

Highly appreciating the degree of organization of the 4th camp for teenagers and teachers, you understand that modern digitalization technologies are an important tool for spreading scientific literacy and strengthening the interaction of scientific communities.

It was an interesting experience that demonstrated the level of preparedness of Kazakhstani schoolchildren living in different regions of the country, but having almost the same level of STEM skills. Despite the remote work on a joint scientific project, the teenagers demonstrated high collaboration skills and successfully completed the online task to create a scientific project. Such a successful experience inspires not only children, but also their teachers.

At the same time, Kazakhstani teachers need intensive training in scientific literacy, the basics of business thinking for team leaders of competitive school STEM projects, as well as broadcasting the knowledge gained. It should be noted that the main group of teachers who are engaged in the development of the scientific and technical potential of schoolchildren carry out their activities for humanitarian reasons, in their free time from their main work, and they are not paid for this work.

Organizations of summer research camps, visits to universities, scientific institutes and laboratories, meetings with scientists and certainly women scientists who have made a successful career in science can also be very effective in spreading scientific literacy.

This year, the project "Volunteer ecological camp for the preservation of the Caspian seal" in the city of Aktau was launched in a pilot mode. The aim of this project is to teach schoolchildren ecological knowledge about the features of the Caspian seal and its habitat, with the subsequent dissemination of this knowledge among their peers (popularization of ecological knowledge).

The Caspian seal (Pusa caspica) is endemic (not found anywhere else in the world) and the smallest seal on Earth, and it is the only representative of marine mammals in the Caspian. Since the Caspian seal is on the verge of extinction, by the decision of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a month ago, it was included in the Red Book of Kazakhstan.

Within the framework of the volunteer ecological camp, the schoolchildren got acquainted with the work of the Rehabilitation Center for the rescue of the Caspian seal, studied the natural and ecological environment of its habitat, developed a logo for the volunteer camp and lectures for primary school students.

Such experience of environmental volunteering allows children and adolescents to learn better about environmental disasters, engage in research searches to solve environmental problems, and in particular, to preserve endangered animal species.

Infrastructure support for the formation of scientific literacy in children and adolescents requires from general education schools to coordinate efforts with professional scientific communities, not only with representatives of the public sector, but also with non-profit organizations that can be useful in developing special programs for instilling scientific literacy at the levels of general education schools.

And in this direction, undoubtedly, the accepted recommendations of the World Organization for Scientific Literacy, the principles of which should be communicated to all interested parties, including the governments of our countries, are important.

On the Impact of COVID-19 on the Development of Scientific Literacy in the Republic of Kazakhstan 

Lazzat Kusainova, President of the International Center for Scientific Collaborations  (ICSC)

Update time ：2020-12-31

COVID-19 has established a new world order, both within each state and the entire world community. A clear understanding of the fragility of life, the value of human health, its needs and future social, economic and opportunities of states has emerged.

This year has shown that the level of literacy is openness to the quality of health care, by governments of country policy decisions, and of course, at the level of transformation of education from primary grades to universities.

In this regard, I would like to emphasize the importance and timeliness of the initiative to establish the World Organization for Science Literacy.

New challenges are always new opportunities.

Since March 2020, in connection with the lockdown announced in the Republic of Kazakhstan, all educational organizations have completely go to online and distance learning. This was a serious test for the economy of our state, also changed the way of life of every Kazakh family. Since the children stopped going to kindergartens, schools, colleges and universities, some of the parents were forced to move to remote work. It also influenced the reduction of working hours, and in some cases, the closure of enterprises.

The entire education system was forced to urgently look for new formats of education, rebuild the mode of operation of educational organizations, promptly retrain teachers, develop new content of curricula adapted to distance learning. Telecommunication systems were transformed, which became the provision of access for schoolchildren to educational programs on national television. The solution of the set tasks began to depend on the information technology preparation of the state IT industry.

State and private forms of education operate in the Republic of Kazakhstan, science museums, schoolchildren's palaces are owned by the state. Both state organizations of continuing education and various non-profit organizations are engaged in the development of scientific and creative skills in children.

In order to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection during a pandemic, not only schools, but also organizations of additional education, including palaces of schoolchildren and science museums, whose task is to spread scientific literacy, were transferred to remote work.

Along with teachers of public schools, teachers of out-of-school organizations were provided with computers for distance learning for schoolchildren. In order to ensure the quality of distance teaching for teachers, parents and schoolchildren, training seminars were organized on the use of tools and distance learning methodology.

So, for example, according to the information of the Republican Center for Continuing Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 95 training webinars were held for teachers of additional education on the ZOOM platform, in the following areas: artistic and aesthetic; social and pedagogical (palaces, school houses); tourism and local lore and ecological and biological; scientific and technical.

As part of the activities of organizations of additional education, since the beginning of the announcement of the pandemic, 62 distance contests for schoolchildren were announced, of which 48 contests were completed, there were 3,765 participants, 1708 winners, including children under 6 years old - 139, 7-10 years - 1172, 11-14 years old - 1961, 15-18 years old - 533, from rural areas - 1584 participants, with the state (Kazakh) language - 1657.

Among 2343 parents, a sociological survey “The effectiveness of using distance forms in additional education” was conducted, which showed that 79.9% of parents were satisfied with the quality of distance learning conducted by organizations of additional education.

Distance classes and events in the following areas are most popular among respondents:

intellectual and cognitive - 46.9%;

artistic and aesthetic - 34%;

physical culture and sports - 27.6%;

scientific and technical - 15.2%.

tourism and local lore - 13.8%;

ecological and biological - 6.9%.

One of the largest non-profit organizations operating in the field of STEM in Kazakhstan is the Association for Robotics "KazRobotix", its branches operate in 16 regions of our country.

According to the results of a study of the level of teachers working with scientific projects "KazRoboProject", serious gaps in knowledge and skills necessary to work with school projects were identified, which are focused on competitions outside the main school curriculum - hackathons, meikatons, competitions of scientific projects (Kazakhstan and international).

With the support of American Corners in Kazakhstan, a training course was held for teachers of organizations of additional education - computer scientists and robotics, on the topic: "Project mentoring in STEM: intensive for school teachers."

The legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan provides that citizens who have reached the age of 14 have the right to be recognized as authors of intellectual property, including in the field of science and invention.

In this regard, the International Center for Scientific Collaborations (of which I am the head), in order to spread scientific literacy and popularize science, for the teachers of this course, conducted a training on ensuring the intellectual property rights of schoolchildren. Such work is carried out on an ongoing basis with the aim of encouraging and developing scientific skills both among teachers and the children themselves.

We have our first successful experience in this direction. So, in 2019, two schoolchildren from Kazakhstan became silver medalists of the international competition for children's scientific projects "CASTIC-2019" (Macau, China). After participating in an international competition, both projects were applied for patenting. Currently, both of them are the youngest patent holders in Kazakhstan, at the age of 16.

The presence of intellectual property rights to scientific developments of schoolchildren is a factor indicating the quality of the knowledge provided from school, as well as the level of scientific literacy in society.

At the same time, it should be recognized that the quarantine revealed the existing problems in information technology equipment and the lack of high-quality Internet in rural regions of the country, revealed the unevenness of the level of computer literacy among the population.

Lack of access to the Internet creates discriminatory conditions for the quality of education provided between urban and rural students, as well as teachers, and the level of their scientific literacy directly depends on this.

For example, during the republican competition in robotics, which was organized during the quarantine, schoolchildren from rural areas did not have access to the Internet, or did not have access to a school computer. The lack of access limited their ability to complete competitive scientific tasks. We understand that the speed and quality of the Internet affect the ability to demonstrate and defend a scientific project, as well as the assessment of judges, which, as a result, is reflected in the success of the final result.

On November 24, 2020, the 4th camp for teenagers and teachers, which is annually organized by the CYSC, ended. This camp was attended by 7 schoolchildren and 3 teachers from different cities of Kazakhstan.

The created online platform of the 4th international science camp allowed its participants to visit virtual tours of science museums and centers of China and other countries, exchange national cultural traditions, undergo online training and carry out scientific projects.

Highly appreciating the degree of organization of the 4th camp for teenagers and teachers, you understand that modern digitalization technologies are an important tool for spreading scientific literacy and strengthening the interaction of scientific communities.

It was an interesting experience that demonstrated the level of preparedness of Kazakhstani schoolchildren living in different regions of the country, but having almost the same level of STEM skills. Despite the remote work on a joint scientific project, the teenagers demonstrated high collaboration skills and successfully completed the online task to create a scientific project. Such a successful experience inspires not only children, but also their teachers.

At the same time, Kazakhstani teachers need intensive training in scientific literacy, the basics of business thinking for team leaders of competitive school STEM projects, as well as broadcasting the knowledge gained. It should be noted that the main group of teachers who are engaged in the development of the scientific and technical potential of schoolchildren carry out their activities for humanitarian reasons, in their free time from their main work, and they are not paid for this work.

Organizations of summer research camps, visits to universities, scientific institutes and laboratories, meetings with scientists and certainly women scientists who have made a successful career in science can also be very effective in spreading scientific literacy.

This year, the project "Volunteer ecological camp for the preservation of the Caspian seal" in the city of Aktau was launched in a pilot mode. The aim of this project is to teach schoolchildren ecological knowledge about the features of the Caspian seal and its habitat, with the subsequent dissemination of this knowledge among their peers (popularization of ecological knowledge).

The Caspian seal (Pusa caspica) is endemic (not found anywhere else in the world) and the smallest seal on Earth, and it is the only representative of marine mammals in the Caspian. Since the Caspian seal is on the verge of extinction, by the decision of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a month ago, it was included in the Red Book of Kazakhstan.

Within the framework of the volunteer ecological camp, the schoolchildren got acquainted with the work of the Rehabilitation Center for the rescue of the Caspian seal, studied the natural and ecological environment of its habitat, developed a logo for the volunteer camp and lectures for primary school students.

Such experience of environmental volunteering allows children and adolescents to learn better about environmental disasters, engage in research searches to solve environmental problems, and in particular, to preserve endangered animal species.

Infrastructure support for the formation of scientific literacy in children and adolescents requires from general education schools to coordinate efforts with professional scientific communities, not only with representatives of the public sector, but also with non-profit organizations that can be useful in developing special programs for instilling scientific literacy at the levels of general education schools.

And in this direction, undoubtedly, the accepted recommendations of the World Organization for Scientific Literacy, the principles of which should be communicated to all interested parties, including the governments of our countries, are important.