Equitable access to education in the time of COVID 19 in Kazakhstan: experiences, outcomes, challenges and possibilities

Collaborative Research Program 2021-2023

The proposed study investigates the ways the COVID 19 pandemic is impacting on equitable education in Kazakhstan through foregrounding education stakeholders’—learners’, parents’, teachers’ and school leaders’— voices and experiences. This multidisciplinary study has a dual focus on the school and family as these are the key institutions with responsibilities for children and young people’s learning and the multidimensional facets of their well-being, particularly, as in these unprecedented times parents are being tasked with significant responsibility in supporting the education and continued well-being of their children. The temporal focus of the study is on school closure and its ripple effect which is well beyond that of the pandemic. More specifically, the study seeks to give voice to learners, parents, teachers and school leaders by exploring their experiences, the challenges they face in being tasked to provide ongoing education, especially for the disadvantaged groups. Gender is a cross-cutting theme across all stakeholders, with a specific focus on shifting gender and family relations, including domestic violence. This research will investigate the ongoing impact of the pandemic on learning and broader well-being measures of the stakeholders concerned, and the possibilities the pandemic offers for reimagining a more equitable education and a more socially just society in Kazakhstan.