Minister of Education Zholdas Suleimenova proposed raising school psychologists' salaries by allowing them to teach lessons. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Sputnik Kazakhstan.
At a briefing in the government, journalists raised the issue of salaries for psychologists and social educators. According to them, a school psychologist receives 140 thousand tenge, and a social educator — 85 thousand tenge. The additional payment for inclusion is only 18 thousand tenge.
Minister Suleimenova confirmed the existence of this problem. She noted that the salaries of specialists are regulated by a government decree. According to her, to solve the issue, it is necessary to amend the budget, but this requires the consent of 20 state bodies.
The minister emphasized that currently social educators receive 118 thousand tenge per month. She assured that she would make every effort to solve this problem.
In addition, Suleimenova announced that starting this year, school psychologists will be able to teach lessons. A new course "Personal Safety" has been introduced from the new academic year. According to the minister, this course can be taught by educational psychologists who have teaching experience. Thus, psychologists teaching the new course and receiving additional hours will receive extra pay.