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Kazakhs develop skills and swap ideas at UCL
19 May 2009
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ucl.ac.uk/language-centre/teacher-training/" target="_self">UCL Teacher Development Course
A group of 14 staff from the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (KNU) have completed Teacher Development Courses at the UCL Language Centre.
The two-week course features English language tuition, workshops focusing on teaching and learning strategies and the use of new technologies in curriculum delivery.
The group also exchanged ideas on best practice with UCL staff from the departments of Chemistry, Philosophy, Genetics, Evolution & Environment and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies.
Participant Alua Temirbolat, Associate Professor of Literature at Al-Farabi KNU, said: "We not only received the necessary professional knowledge and skills, but also exchanged experience with leading scientists and the teachers working at the university and in the research centres located in it."
Their stay culminated in a reception on 6 May hosted by Professor Stef Simons, UCL Special Advisor on Kazakhstan, and Nigel Percival, UCL Director of Educational Liaison.
They were joined by compatriots from the Kazakh National Technical University and the Eurasian National University, as well as Professor Gennady Kuvshinov, the Head of Chemical Engineering at the Novosibirsk State Technical University in Russia, who were attending the launch of the Euro 1.4 million Tempus project on Chemical Engineering curriculum development, which is led by Professor Simons.
Aishat Yergaliyeva, a second-year Chemical Engineering student sponsored under the Kazakh Government's Bolashak Scholarship programme, also attended the reception to represent the 68 Kazakh students currently studying at UCL.
The university recently strengthened its ties with the country by signing a co-operation agreement with the Kazakhstan Ministry of Education and Science.
The agreement commits UCL and the Government of Kazakhstan to pursuing negotiations on specific proposals relating to the development of the University of Astana in the country's capital.
Image: Professor Stef Simons, Dr Christine Hoffmann (Director, UCL Language Centre), Nigel Percival (Director, Educational Liaison) and Jane Skirving, (UCL International Partnership Officer for Kazakhstan) with the Kazakh and Russian academics.
UCL context
Tempus stands for 'Trans-European Mobility Scheme for University Studies', which supports the modernisation of higher education and creates an area of co-operation in countries surrounding the EU. Established in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it now covers 28 countries in the Western Balkans, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, North Africa and the Middle East.
Related stories:
Agreement with Kazakhstan Ministry of Education and Science
UCL professor wins €1.4m grant to promote chemical engineering in Kazakhstan and Russia
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