An Analysis and Evaluation of Public and Local Administration Educational Program: the Case of Kazakhstan Universities

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to conduct an in-depth analysis and evaluation of existing “the Public and Local Administration” (PA) educational programs across the universities of Kazakhstan. This study was carried out with the support of the Astana Civil Service Hub. The object of the research is 120 universities, 45 of which train personnel in 48 educational programs within the bachelor’s degree (PA), and 38 universities have 73 master’s degree programs in PA major. Only six universities provide eight doctoral educational programs respectively. The Academy of Public Administration (APA) under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan gives an opportunity to obtain a specialized PhD profile degree in PA. In the course of the study, the number of methods such as: comparative analysis, observation, induction and deduction, logical approach, and interviews were engaged. Current research has analyzed the higher education sources in the field of PA, namely educational programs from the open platforms of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, along with syllabuses, regulatory educational legal acts, legislation in the field of PA and expert interviews. The findings come from calculating the ratio of disciplines according to the components of which the taught disciplines were distributed: management, economics, law, public policy, digital knowledge, and interdisciplinary disciplines. Results indicate that the PA undegraduate programs (39 universities out of 45) are mainly synchronized with economic educational programs. The research will be continued with regard to the assessment of the academic personnel and research capacity of universities within PA educational programs, alongside with an analysis of the APA training programs correspondingly.