“It is necessary to create incentives for employers in Kazakhstan to hire people with disabilities, ”Chairman of the Committee for Socio-Cultural Development and Science of the Senate (upper chamber of Parliament) Akhan Bizhanov announced at a May 15 International Conferencetitled “Ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Towards Positive Change.” “We need to think about offering incentives to motivate employers to hire the disabled, rearrange the workplace, establish special conditions, etc,” Bizhanov said. According to him, in this regard, certain measures have been already been taken. Thus, local executive authorities are working to raise employment amongst the disabled by setting a 3 percentquota. Currently, there are more than 600,000 people with disabilities in the country, representing 3.7 percent of the total population. Almost half of them are of working age, and only 100,000 have full or part-time employment. Current legislation provides several types of social support and assistance to the disabled, including state social disability benefits, special state benefits, housing and targeted social assistance. In addition, the MP said that it is necessary to include the disabled amongst those eligible to receive housing from the state reserve. Also, according to the senator, there are important questions on inclusive education, teacher training andthe development of practical textbooks for higher education institutions.
The Ministry of Health and Social Development intends to subsidise work places for disabled people, Tamara Dyusenova, the head of the Ministry of Health and Social Development said at same May 15 international conference. She stressed that there are about 600,000disabled people in the country, 100,000 of them are employed. “Over 500 people work at public service centres and 1,000 work at medical and social enterprises,” she added. Conference participants discussed the main areas and future of national policy towards the disabled. Following the conference, the participants adopted a resolution with recommendations on protecting the rights of the disabled in education and employment. The government of Kazakhstan has adopted and is implementing an action pan on protecting the rights of and improving the quality of life for disabled people for 2012-2018.
“It is planned to gradually introduce a system for certifying experts on academic literature in Kazakhstan,” Minister of Education and Science of Kazakhstan Aslan Sarinzhipov said at a May 18 government hour at the Mazhilis (lower houseof Parliament). According to the minister, the ministry regularly works to improve quality. In 2014, foreign partners and experts took part in a training programme for experts and scholars. Taking into account recommendations from parliament members, a three-level expert evaluation of textbooks will be introduced: scientific, pedagogical and public. In speaking about textbooks, the head of the ministry noted that there is lack of qualified personnel. According to his opinion, writing methodology has become dated. According to him, in some cases, authors are often unprepared to develop academic content. To mollify this, the ministry holds training courses with international partners. According to the agency, there are 4.6 million children in Kazakhstan, including 2,000,000pre-schoolers; 2.6 million pupils are educated in 7,500 schools.
Akipress.com is reporting that the number of dead saiga antelopes in the Kostanai region reached 10,000 as of May 18 as a result of the disease pasteurellosis. “As a result of continuous monitoring of the site of death of saiga antelopes, new cases of the death of animals were documented on May 17. According to the latest data, about 10,000 saiga were found dead. Territory of mortality exceeds 16 hectares,” read a government release. The akimat (local administration) of the Amangeldy district declared a state of emergency. Roughly 458 people and 21 pieces of equipment are involved in removing the saiga corpses.
