Kazakhstan adopted the National Action Plan on improvement of the functional literacy of school students for 2012 - 2016

Astana. June 29. Kazakhstan Today - Kazakhstan has adopted the National Action Plan on improvement of the functional literacy of school students for 2012 - 2016, Kazakhstan Today reports.

The National Plan clarifies that the "functional literacy" term first appeared in the late 60s of last century in UNESCO documents and later became an everyday term of researches. Functional literacy in the broadest definition serves as a means of social orientation of the individual, which integrates education (primarily general education) with a multi-faceted human activity.

One of the most well-known international assessment studies based on the concept of functional literacy, is the international assessment program of academic achievements of 15-year-oldstudents (Program for International Student Assessment - PISA), conducted under the auspices of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

In 2009, Kazakhstan participated in the study of PISA for the first time. The results indicate that the share of Kazakh students who are ready:

1) to use adequately more or less complex educational texts and use them to navigate in everyday situations is 5% of the reading literacy research participants (average for OECD countries - 28.6%);

2) to work effectively with specific models for specific situations, to develop and integrate different tasks is 4.2% of the mathematical literacy research participants (the average for OECD countries - 16% of participants);

3) to work effectively with a situation that requires to draw conclusions about the role of science, select and integrate explanations from different scientific disciplines and apply those explanations directly to aspects of life situations, is 3.6% of the scientific literacy research participants (the average for OECD countries - 20.5%).

At the same time in the research of TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, international comparative monitoring of quality of mathematics and science education) Kazakh school students demonstrate good results.

The purpose of the National Plan is to create conditions for the development of functional literacy of school students of Kazakhstan.

The objectives of the National Plan are:

- The study of national and international practice of functional literacy of students;

- Definition of mechanisms for the implementation of measures for the development of functional literacy of students;

- Ensuring the modernization of educational content: standards, curriculum and programs;

- Development of training and methodological support of educational process;

- Develop a system for assessing and monitoring the quality of education students;

- Strengthening of the material-technical base of schools and institutions of further education.

The National Plan states that the amount of funding for the National Plan from the state budget is 24.6 * billion tenge, including the amount from the republican budget - 22.7 billion tenge:

in 2012 - 1.3 billion tenge;

in 2013 - 6.6 billion tenge;

in 2014 - 4.6 billion tenge;

in 2015 - 5.7 billion tenge;

in 2016 - 4.5 billion tenge.

Financing of the activities of the National Plan from the local budget will be carried out within the resources allocated annually from the respective local budgets for the development of the education system.

"Material and technical base of schools and institutions of further education" section states that within the frameworks of the National Plan implementing there will be created interactive parks for children and youth in the structure of the schoolchildren palaces of Astana, Almaty, Pavlodar, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Zhanaozen, Shymkent. Also, 167 houses, centers of creativity, young technicians' stations will be equipped with systems "Robotics Technology", and 18 stations of young naturalists will be equipped with a set of equipment for greenhouses. In addition, 202 children's music schools will be equipped with modern facilities.

Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On approval of the National Action Plan on improvement of the functional literacy of school students for 2012 - 2016" was signed by the Prime Minister of Republic of Kazakhstan on June 25, 2012. This Decree shall come into force in ten calendar days after the first official publication.

This information may not be reproduced without reference to Kazakhstan Today. Copyright of materials of News Agency Kazakhstan Today.