In order to keep the UK education sector updated on the market changes, priorities and give an overview of the situation with Covid-19 in Wider Europe, the International Education Services team in the region is pleased to present you with the following news. 

In this update we will give you an overview of the situation with Covid-19 in the Wider Europe countries, the pandemic effect on the education system, economy and other key areas of countries' development. 

Here is the quick summary in the region: 

Kazakhstan – Covid-19 back in agenda, vaccination campaign in masses, students back to homeschooling, new governmental scholarship to be launched in 2021

Turkey - Covid-19 cases are increasing, and Turkey is in full lockdown until 17 May

KAZAKHSTAN

Update 1 May 2021

Kazakhstan declared a state of emergency to curb the spread of the Covid-19 infection on 16 March through 11 May after the World Health Organization defined the spread of the coronavirus as a pandemic.

Since then, Kazakhstan has seen a number of restrictive measures being taken in order to hold the spread of virus, yet it had to allow businesses to reopen by following some sanitary requirements which include social distancing, wearing masks, limited number of people in one room, etc.

Quick summary in the beginning of May:

• Kazakhstan still divides the country into the red, yellow and green zones. At the moment of reporting, more than 10 regions of Kazakhstan fall under the red zone category. The shift of many regions to the red zone category has happened unexpectedly and quite fast over the course of April.  
• Since the beginning of the hit of the so called “third wave”, the number of Covid-19 infected people has been growing very fast. At the moment, the daily ratio of new Covid-19 cases stays high, at around 3,000 people. The overall quantity of virus cases (including the recovery, death and current infections) has topped 319,000 since the announcement of the pandemic and state of emergency in Kazakhstan in March 2020.
• Public places are operating within the limited hours only e.g. no admission to public spaces over the weekends or late hours after 7-8pm. The freeze in business operations might lead to a restrained economic situation in the country despite the positive economical outlooks proposed by the foreign credit rating organisations and the internationally recognized financial institutions.
• Kazakh educational establishments are back to remote teaching. The government has taken a measure to seize face-to-face activities at nurseries, schools, FE and HE institutions because of the soaring numbers of Covid-19 cases in nearly all the regions of Kazakhstan.
• The Kazakhstan – Russia border remains closed for general travel, only a certain group of people are granted permission to cross the borders. The exempt pool of people includes family members of diplomatic missions, citizens of either sides travelling to reunite with their families or those needing medical treatment (with invitation).
• The vaccination campaign in the country is in full swing. Kazakhstan has been vaccinating the general public since the beginning of April. People now have free access to Sputnik V (a Russian vaccine) and QazVac (Kazakhstan’s vaccine approved by WHO) at shopping centres and medical facilities.  As of 1 May, the total number of vaccinated people with either Sputnik V or QazVac has come to 1.3 million people.

It is also worth mentioning that foreigners with residence and work permit, as well as foreign students, have access to the free vaccine starting 1 May 2021.

• The Kazakh Ministry of Healthcare announced that people who have been vaccinated can fly to Kazakhstan without a Covid-19 test result. Others must have a negative test result obtained within 72 hours prior to arrival. Kazakhstan has secured over 77,000 vaccines from the UAE and on 30 April the Head of Ministry of Healthcare Alexey Tsoi announced that staring 1 May Kazakhstanis could choose one of the three types of available vaccines [Sputnik V, QazVac and Sinopharm vaccine produced in UAE].

School and universities

Kazakh education has been delivered online since the third term of 2019/20 academic year. The situation at the moment has gone back to its “pandemic normalities:”

• students in the red zone are back to home-schooling since the raise in the daily rates of Covid-19 cases in Kazakhstan;
• no blended format is allowed in all the red-zone regions, however in some remote locations face-to-face format can be allowed if strict sanitary requirements are in place;
• extracurricular classes in the traditional format are no longer available – it is expected that the school year is to be finished online.

The Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan stated that the school final exams would not be cancelled this year. Pupils of 9^th year will be required to sit three final exams and the school leavers of 11^th year will have to complete four written assessments. It is expected that the situation stabilizes, and the school students might be able to do their exams offline at school premises.

The Unified National Test, the Kazakh state matriculation test, will be witching to computer-based delivery. The test centres (assigned schools) are now being equipped and tested for the upcoming assessments in late June. As we mentioned some time ago, the switch to computer-based testing will allow the Ministry of Education and Science to cut the UNT period from one month to 7 days.

According to the World Bank, Kazakhstan’s total spend on education came to 4.65% of GDP in 2020 (3.63% in 2019) and reached 3.14 trillion tenge. Most of the state budget was spent on equipping schools, construction of new education facilities and higher education institutions.

Student financial support

The Bolashaq International Scholarship scheme list of approved institutions is now out.

The new scholarship scheme for research students is going to be launched this year and the administrator of the governmental scholarship scheme is going to be JSC “Centre for International Programmes”, who is the current administrator of Bolashaq International Scholarship. It is expected that the new scheme will allow over 500 scholars to undergo internship programmes at overseas educational institutions and businesses.

Economic situation

By the end of 2020 fiscal year, Kazakhstan’s economy shrank by 3.8%, says Eurasian Development Bank.

The World Bank predicts that the economy of Kazakhstan will grow by 2.5% in 2021, whilst the Eurasian Development Bank analysts predict an increase in aggregate GDP by 3.2% in 2021.

The Minister of the National Economy Ruslan Dalenov presented draft amendments to the law on the restoration of economic growth at the plenary session of the Senate. The amendments focus on the attraction of investment, development of entrepreneurship and the real sector, stabilisation of the financial market, digitalisation, project management, as well as improvement of monetary, social and trade policies.

Interesting to read:

1. De Monfort University of Leicester opens up its affiliate in the financial capital of Kazakhstan Almaty. The University will be financed from funds received from tuition fees, investment, and sponsorship help.  At least 7% of the total number of admitted students can apply for grants and scholarships.
2. Kazakhstan is concerned with the emigration of qualified teachers, healthcare professionals and tech specialists. According to the official statistics, in 2020 the proportion of professional emigrants from the total number of country leavers increased to 54.3% against 50.6% in 2019.

Country activities:

• Webinar Keep Updated: Bolashaq Presidential Scholarship Changes, Extended List of Institutions and New Rules - £100 + VAT, Late May (TBC)
• Webinar Recruit More from Kazakhstan: 500 Scholarships for Researches Funded by the Kazakh Government - £120 + VAT, Late May (TBC)

Contact

For more information and insights about the Covid-19 situation in Kazakhstan, please contact Zhanaidar Duzgenbay, International Education Services Coordinator, Kazakhstan at Zhanaidar.Duzgenbay@britishcouncil.org.

TURKEY 

Update 1 May 2021

Updates

The number of Covid-19 cases have dropped to 40K from 60K in parallel to reduction of the number of tests (from 320K to 280K) as of 28 April 2021.

A new set of measures against the pandemic were rolled on 29 April. Turkey enforces a full lockdown for 17 days to curb the virus spread until 17 May. Besides organisations with exceptions such as production, food, hygiene, and medical sectors all businesses will suspend their operations between 29 April-17 May.

Restaurants and cafes will be open only for delivery services.

Flights arriving directly from Brazil and South Africa are suspended. Passengers from those countries are subject to quarantine for 10 days. Until 30 May, passengers must have a negative Covid-19 PCR test 72 hours before departure from the first embarkation point.

Travel ban from UK to Turkey is lifted and flights from Turkey to the UK continue.

Mass vaccination with Chinese Sinovak is in progress, and over 15 per cent of the total population has been vaccinated although  this has slowed down in the last two weeks. Pfizer’s Biontech is also an option for people with chronic diseases. Vaccination for citizens over the age of 55 started in mid-April.

Russia agreed to grant Turkey the right to produce the vaccine ‘Sputnik V’ with its domestic means.

Economic outlook in Turkey

The Turkish Lira continues losing value against foreign currencies. TRY devalued 35 per cent against Sterling in the last one year.

A report comparing the corporate governance practices of banks in Turkey and Europe, reviews 9 top banks from Turkey and 20 from Europe. The report shows that the Turkish banking sector has met the best corporate governance practice standards in Europe and the world for the last 10 years.

School and university closures

Over 26 million students are affected by Covid-19, including 18 million school students and 8 million higher education students.

Schools

Due to lockdown between 29 April and 16 May inclusive, education will continue remotely. All semester exams that are scheduled after 3 May are postponed after 17 May. Dates are to be announced soon.

The second term is likely to end by 2 July with a 17-day extension. This will be confirmed by the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) later.

The nation-wide high school entrance exam will be held on 6 June 2021.

Universities

Due to the lockdown, education will continue remotely.

The nationwide university entrance exam will be held on 26-27 June 2021.

International Student Mobility

Due to the lockdown, IELTS exams are suspended until Monday 17 May 2021.

UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI)

The Visa Application Centres (VAC) will be closed until Monday 17 May 2021. Applicants who have appointments booked during the lockdown will be contacted by the Visa Application Centre to reschedule.

Contact

British Council direct marketing services, including digital promotion, remain available to help the UK institutions engage with students and retain a presence in Turkey.

For more information, please contact Semra Yalcin Dogan, Education Manager at Semra.Yalcin@britishcouncil.org.tr

Read the previous update here.