Institutional aspects of Kazakhstan higher school modernization

The article offers conceptual view of institutional aspects of Kazakhstan higher school modernization in the context of integration into the world educational space according to the Bologna Process parameters. Massification of higher education, paid sector development, insufficient budgetary financing, growing imbalance between supply and demand of the qualified labor, a new paradigm of continuous education within the span of life, adverse demographic situation predetermined the essence and the orientation of educational reforms in Kazakhstan. The study focused on strategic decisions and organizational approaches to modernization of the Kazakhstan higher school in the context of implementation of the tasks designated in the RK State programs of education development for 2011-2020 and industrial and innovative development. In the conditions of the global educational space the mass character of higher education carries out a more socializing function but not professionalizing that promotes the origin of the consumer society elements and is negatively reflected in the quality of specialists training. Institutional conflicts between the system of higher education and the sphere of work, between the extending market of educational services and the need for the acceptable quality assurance, between the paid form of education and uselessness of knowledge are revealed. The analysis showed that in the arising social partnership between a higher education institution and an employer there is still formalism. System interactions are needed for the development of requirements to the qualification characteristic of graduates and professional competences. There are noted standard and administrative risks caused by frequent changing of educational priorities, insufficient competence of administrative staff and low efficiency of monitoring studies. The main risk of successful modernization is connected with the insufficient funding of the higher school. The efficiency of the existing National system of the quality assessment is analyzed, its redundancy is noted and recommendations are given on the updating of the standard and legal base of license control and strengthening the role of external independent accreditation as the most important mechanism of quality management.