A meeting of the VII Congress of Sociologists of Kazakhstan was held at the National Academic Library.
The Speaker of the Senate, Maulen Ashimbayev, who took part in its work, noted that over 30 years of Independence, a qualitative transformation has taken place in Kazakh society: reforms have contributed to paradigmatic social changes, the structure of society has changed dramatically. And during this period, sociological research accompanied all the key socio-political, socio-economic, cultural and humanitarian transformations in our country.
"Intensive political and socio-economic transformations have led to the transformation of the value system. And, of course, the most important value around which Kazakhstan's society is consolidating is the Independence of the country. All these changes in our society are the subject of research in social sciences, primarily sociology. We can say with good reason that sociologists have made an important contribution to the development of Kazakhstan," Maulen Ashimbayev said.
He noted that at the current stage, systemic transformations are continuing in Kazakhstan, a lot of work is underway to ensure the openness, competitiveness and effectiveness of the political system. Within the framework of the Concept of a "Hearing State", legal conditions are being created to involve the public in the discussion of important state decisions.
"In his September Address to the People of Kazakhstan, the President of the country stressed the importance of independent sociological research. The Head of State noted that independent opinion polls should become an important element of assessing the activities of akims. They should give a picture of the real attitude of the population to the quality of the work of the authorities," the Speaker of the Senate reminded.
According to him, today there is an increasing need for independent, objective and qualitative sociological support of state policy, but many problems remain in this area.
"In recent years, many opinion polls have been conducted in the country, for which considerable funds have been allocated. However, there are often complaints about the quality of research. There are also questions for government agencies that act as research customers. The criteria for selecting organizations involved in conducting such studies do not sufficiently take into account professional requirements," Maulen Ashimbayev said.
To solve these problems, one of the priorities is the issue of personnel training, as well as the conformity of the professional level of sociologists to the new realities. According to the Speaker of the Senate, the modernization of research tools is also relevant, including through the widespread use of digital technologies and Big Data analysis.
"The Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan is ready to provide comprehensive support to domestic sociological science, primarily in terms of legislative support. The Senate supports projects aimed at developing the expert community. We have a platform of the Club of Young Experts at the Senate. In addition, we supported a new public project initiated by the Club - the School of Analytics. Its goal is to help young professionals working in the civil service and in the academic environment in the formation of analytical skills," the Chairman of the Senate stressed.
Maulen Ashimbayev invited all interested parties to implement these initiatives.
The delegates of the VII Congress of Sociologists of Kazakhstan were also the First Deputy Head of the President's Executive Office,Dauren Abayev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Czech Republic, President of the Association of Sociologists of Kazakhstan,Marat Tazhin, authoritative representatives of scientific-academic and expert-analytical organizations and communities, public associations of political scientists, philosophers, historians, religious scholars, the International Turkic Academy, scientists from near and far abroad: Russia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, UAE.
On the eve of the Congress, on the basis of L.N.Gumilyov Eurasian National University, the Association of Sociologists of Kazakhstan held a Forum of young Sociologists "Independent Kazakhstan in the research of young scientists", within which well-known Kazakh sociologists held master classes for young scientists. Also, within the framework of the Forum of Young Sociologists, a round table was held "Competencies of sociologists for new challenges.
(Senate Media Office, 74-72-27. Photo by- Ye. Ukibayev)
