Deputy of the Kurultai Ainagul Baltasheva raised the need to clarify the procedure for calculating the workload and remuneration of teaching assistants. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Sputnik Kazakhstan.

Today, there are about 237,000 children with special educational needs in Kazakhstan. About 6,500 teaching assistants work with them.

According to the deputy, teaching assistants help children with special educational needs in learning, social adaptation, building self-confidence and developing independence skills.

"A teaching assistant is not just an employee who walks beside the child. This is a specialist who provides professional support for the education of a special child, their social adaptation, the formation of self-confidence and the development of independence skills. However, today the issue of normative regulation of the workload and remuneration of teaching assistants has not been fully resolved," Baltasheva said at the Kurultai session.

Current rules provide for additional pay depending on the job duties and qualification category of teaching assistants. However, the deputy noted the need to clarify the procedure for calculating the weekly normative teaching load and working time.

"Previously, when calculating the remuneration of teaching assistants, a normative teaching load of 16 hours per week was applied. The lack of clarity in current normative regulation allows for heterogeneous calculation of working time in the regions. This directly affects the stability of these specialists and the quality of support provided to special children," the deputy said.

In this regard, the Adilet faction sent several proposals to the Ministry of Education. In particular:

  • 01legally secure the normative teaching load of teaching assistants at 16 hours per week;
  • 02clearly account for the time spent on direct accompaniment of the child, preparation for classes, joint work with teachers and documentation;
  • 03introduce a unified republican procedure for calculating the workload and remuneration of teaching assistants.

It is worth noting that about 600,000 teachers work in the education sector in Kazakhstan.