AI won't help all students

Other universities are undergoing appropriate preparation. If the outcome is favorable for them, they will be able to teach up to 50 percent of subjects remotely. Modern digital approaches in higher education were discussed at a press conference at the Central Communications Service on Monday.

Deputy Chairperson of the Committee on Higher and Postgraduate Education of the Ministry of Science Gulzhan DZHARASOVA, answering a question from journalists, first recalled that the law providing for distance learning in universities on an equal basis with full-time education was adopted in 2022.

- This is a licensed form of education. To date, only one university has received a license for online training: Satpayev Kazakh National Research Technical University. To provide online training, universities must demonstrate not only the availability of digital platforms, but also the overall preparation of the system and the ability to teach students. As they receive a license, universities can implement online training, - said Dzharasova.

According to her, online learning is not an independent form of learning, it is integrated into educational programs depending on their structure and complexity. From 20 to 50 percent of disciplines can be taught using distance technologies.

Distance learning is available not only to those receiving a second higher education and those who entered a university after college, but also to students who have just graduated from high school.

The only thing is: pedagogical and medical universities should not teach online - the law prohibits it.

Meanwhile, the director of the department of digitalization and public services of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education Nursultan MAKHATOV reported that tasks for the Unified National Testing (UNT) will be developed using artificial intelligence in the future. The first such options, according to him, will be presented in the third quarter of this year. This will increase the number of unique test tasks, reduce costs and subjectivity in developing questions.

In addition, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education plans to create a chatbot, AI-Talapker, which will inform applicants about the rules for conducting the UNT and provide advice on applying for a grant.

Kamil AKATOV, Chairman of the Board of JSC Science Fund, announced the launch of the AI-Sana program in the near future, which provides free training in artificial intelligence (AI) at universities, thanks to which students will be able to generate business ideas. For this purpose, teachers were trained at the end of last year and the beginning of this academic year. 93 universities have already made the corresponding additions to more than 3,000 educational programs.

At the zero stage, students from all universities will be taught AI skills. At the first stage, 100 thousand students will be trained. They will have a more in-depth program, including practical assignments, support from mentors in certain areas, and help in forming ideas. At the second stage, the business acceleration process will begin, which will cover 60 thousand students.

At the final stage, there will be a small number of students who will be able to form teams, develop their business ideas into a finished product and finalize them. Together with mentors, students will look for ways to enter the market, attract investment and further scaling.

- All students will take the courses. However, there are certain key sectors in which startups will be developed, these are energy, water resources and education. We will attract international experts to these key sectors, as well as investments for business acceleration, - noted the head of the Science Foundation.

Leila TASTANOVA, photo by Vladimir ZAIKIN, Astana