Kulyash Shamshidinova: "Academic Integrity Should Be a Necessity for Everyone!"

The 4th annual conference on academic integrity is taking place at M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University. The opening ceremony of the conference was attended by Kulyash Shamshidinova, the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The discussion of the best international practices for promoting and implementing academic integrity is jointly organized by the Higher School of Economics at M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University. This year, the Conference is attended by representatives from universities in Kazakhstan, Germany, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

Speaking at the forum's opening, Kulyash Shamshidinova expressed her support for the League of Academic Integrity, initiated by KAZGUU in 2018.

"Academic integrity, which we aim to develop, should be a necessity for every person, something that goes without saying. We must bring our environment to such a state. I have come to say that the Ministry of Education will work on this, not just alongside you but together with you," – said the Minister, wishing success to the conference participants.

Rector of KAZGUU, Talgat Narikbayev, thanked the Minister of Education for her support:

"We have been holding this conference for four years now, and for the first time, the Minister has joined us. This speaks to a deep understanding of the necessity of integrity in education. Your presence today and your statement of support give us confidence that other universities will also strive to join the League and meet the requirements we set, – " he said.

According to the rector, the League of Academic Integrity already includes 12 higher and postgraduate education organizations. Another 14 organizations are candidates for membership, and one university has obtained observer status. The significant development was the inclusion of the Republic of Kazakhstan Agency for Civil Service and Anti-Corruption Affairs in the League.

Fifteen universities have already made amendments to their codes of academic integrity based on the League's requirements. These requirements include ensuring mandatory plagiarism checks for all written assessments of students using recognized international systems, such as Turnitin.

Additionally, the League has recommended a gradual transition to horizontal management by transferring some powers from rectors to academic councils, and from deans to relevant academic affairs committees, moving from individual decision-making to a collegial approach.

From its members, the League requires the implementation of clear provisions regarding the forms and types of violations of academic integrity, measures of responsibility for such violations, and the conduct of hearings on academic integrity violations.

– "In addition, League members are transitioning from oral and multiple-choice exams to written exams," – said Talgat Narikbaev. – "Within the League, we have agreed that up to 90% of exams will be conducted in written form. When conducting written exams, it is necessary to perform blind grading through encryption. With the implementation of clear mechanisms, students will not have the opportunity to ask the assessor to increase their grades for any reasons."м.

The speaker also mentioned that this academic year, the Kazakh-British Technical University has increased the percentage of written exams by 30%, reaching 97%. The Kazakh National Research Technical University named after Satpaev has also completely abandoned oral and creative exams, leaning more towards written exams.

– "The benefit of written exams is that there remains work done directly by the student. This work assesses not just the answers but also the ability to solve various tasks, and these tasks are directly related to our life, the Kazakhstani reality,"  – noted Talgat Narikbaev.

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