IITU, Akelius and UNICEF launched a joint project

Since November 15, 2021, IITU has become a member of a joint project with Akelius and UNICEF called " Central level technical support for the enhancing Russian language skills among vulnerable groups of children for smooth integration and better learning outcomes in Kazakhstan at the primary and secondary school level."

According to the project coordinator, Head of the IITU Languages Department Zhannura Manapbayeva, the initiative is aimed at the socialization of children affected by migration processes and who do not speak Russian, which is widely used in Kazakhstan as a language of intercultural communication and school education.

9 schools of Kazakhstan participate in the pilot project:

• Nur-Sultan City – school-lyceum No. 60, gymnasium No. 67, school-lyceum No. 53.
• Almaty City – school-gymnasium No. 152, school-gymnasium No. 186 named after. S. Kopbayev, school-gymnasium No. 78, MSI " Support center for children in difficult life situations" of Department of Education of Almaty City.
• Shymkent City – school No. 76 named after. R. Myrzashev, school No. 39 named after. M. Zhumabayev, school-gymnasium No. 50.

“Digital labs have been created in these schools, where students and teachers use tablets, headphones, and other gadgets for their classes. There are three age groups of children with whom the teacher works: group 1 – 5-9-year-olds; group 2 – 10-14-year-olds; group 3 – 15-17-year-olds, but mostly children in groups are of different ages, which makes the work of teachers even more challenging,” explained Zhannura Zharkanbekovna.

Methodological assistance to schoolteachers during the implementation of the project will be provided by IITU language experts – Associate Professor Dinara Aliyeva and Assistant Professor Oksana Bublikova, as well as methodological experts – Associate Professor Elmira Yerkebekova and Assistant Professor Yevgeniy Medvedev. The adaptation of the course is based on constant feedback from the teachers involved in the implementation of the project.

“There are four of us, for experts. We look at the workflow, each from its own point of view, based on personal experience. This allows you to give the maximum benefit. In our recommendations, we deliberately present different models of lessons – both in organization, and in structure, and in content, for the teacher to have the choice and freedom of their own methodological decisions,” said Oksana Vasiliyevna.

IITU experts will comment on the lessons on the Akelius platform, develop criteria for assessing and self-assessing student achievements, analyze the theoretical issues of Russian as a foreign language at methodological seminars with teachers, and share examples of developing lessons in the blended learning format for a group of children of different ages.

It is expected that by the end of the pilot project (February 2023), 250 children will have been trained on the Akelius platform, and the blended language learning methodology will become an example for improving literacy in other subjects and teaching in a digital environment.