The Approach to ECTS in Kazakhstan : Lessons and Challenges from a Networking Perspective

Implementing the ECTS in Kazakhstan it's a very exciting challenge for an European Teacher temporary in charge to this Project as main Grant Holder. Luckily I had the chance to meet and work with many people that believe in the project and was seriously committed to its fulfillment. By the way this work is the result of many efforts of many people most of them not explicitly reminded and acknowledged in the following. It is to Colleagues, Researchers, Students and Public Officials that so cleaver participated and encouraged our team work. The Kazakhstan it's itself a challenge with its ancient culture linked more than can be expected to Mediterranean area, a culture survived to many efforts of changing its traditional and characteristic way of life and thinking. The experience we did as Bologna University Team, together with the Central Ostrobothnia and namely with Prof. Peter Finell, University, our partner of ECTS Area, demonstrate that the approach to face and not to shelf problems it's the right one to fulfil results and, furthermore, to build the outcomes requested by the commitment. A particular thanks to Prof. Meruert Narenova from UIB that was a cleaver and untiring partner for all project participants allowing us to overcome many difficulties. Its contribution to this paper and other instructional materials was determinant. Another thanks to Mrs Sheizada Tasbulatova of the Kazakhstan Tempus Office that with her observations and encouragements supported the project more than her role of monitoring official implied. I have also e great debt with Laura Tampieri that attends to the revision of the text in spite of the serious incident she suffered. The Kazakhstan Government is still very clear about two main and interconnected strategies for universities: the internationalization as a main frame platform for Country enhancement in the international arena and the implementation of Educational System as a tool for coming into line with excellence in didactics and research. The Implementation of ECTS in Kazakhstan can't be correctly evaluated without considering the European situation in which the Credit System has been applied not without problems and with a variety of solutions, in a quite different methodology from the functional and standardized approach mainly sponsored by USA Universities. The temptation to reduce all the problem to a mathematics and software products could create great misunderstandings and deviations from the most important objective of our efforts in this field. In the Republic of Kazakhstan another possible problem can derive from ignoring the relationship of University with the society and particularly with the demand of skills and competencies coming from the environment in this particular phase of the country economic evolution. The challenge of a new generation of managers and entrepreneurs, the increasing interest for the diffusion of medium and small business as a tool to spread the welfare and self achievement, the bursting of Kazakhstan in the global economy are powerful sources of change for the educational system and particularly for its high level represented by Universities. Consequently the ECTS cant be conceived as a system mainly managed by administrative staff or technicians but the result of an integrated approach linking together central and local governments, university governance bodies, teachers, researchers, students and administrative staff. From this system will derive not only a correct way to evaluate and compare in an international scale the outcomes of learning but also the level of Kazakhstan Universities and its role in the country future. If this system will be at the level that our efforts want to bear, Kazakhstan Universities will be positioned in the rank that the country is reaching with the increasing success of its economy