Students will be Trained in Integrity and Righteousness

In the framework of the «Ruhani Zhangiru» program, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University jointly with the «Sanaly Urpaq» project office, launches the project «Teaching students of integrity and righteousness». This was stated during a scientific seminar on the methodological foundations of the formation of integrity among young people and the cultivation of ethics in the University environment. Representatives of the «Sanaly Urpaq» republican project office, teachers of higher educational institutions of Almaty and leading experts in the field of ethics and law took part in it.

As highlighted Rector of KazNU, academician Galym Mutanov, the program of education for integrity is part of an ethical project being implemented by the University together with the UN Alliance of Civilizations entitled «Formation of citizens of a virtuous society. The mission of modern Universities». It is based on the idea of an ideal society, the project of which was developed by such great thinkers as Aristotle, Plato, and Al-Farabi. The doctrine of the virtuous society of Al-Farabi gives an answer to the question of what a citizen of a country should be. «Al-Madina al-Fadila» is a perfect society in which education and upbringing is provided as a single process to inculcate such virtues as honesty, justice, decency, integrity, humanity, reliability, etc. into the young generation.

From September 2019, all University students will without fail begin to study the interdisciplinary course «Integrity and righteousness as the basis of leadership». Here they will learn the history of the formation of a culture of integrity, its moral and psychological foundations, learn models of effective behavior based on the values of integrity and righteousness in the profession, business, public activities, social and political life, acquire important competences in the field of anti-corruption ethics and public service.

The introduction of this special course is one of the activities implemented in the framework of the University model developed by a new generation University - University 4.0. Its important mission is the spiritual and moral formation of future professionals as respectable and virtuous citizens based on the cultivation of ethics as the main value of leadership. The key parameters of this mission are the orientation of educational programs towards the achievement of a harmonious combination of professionalism and ethics, training of social responsibility and readiness to serve the society.

The Head of the «Sanaly Urpaq» project office, Kaiyrzhan Tokushev, pointed out that all Universities in the country should proceed to the training of specialists as citizens of society capable of building their actions on the basis of values of integrity and righteousness. In his opinion, the model of University 4.0, which is presented by KazNU at the UN Headquarters and recommended for wide distribution at the international level, should be adopted by all Universities in Kazakhstan. This process will also be facilitated by the positive experience gained by the «Sanaly Urpaq» office as part of a large-scale project «Universities without Corruption».

The participants of the seminar discussed the content of the educational and methodological complex of the new discipline being introduced at KazNU and suggested, on its basis, to prepare a textbook and a massive online course by September. The experts also reviewed the draft questionnaire on self-assessment of integrity and righteousness for students, developed by the Center for Sociological Research and Social Engineering of KazNU. As a result of the seminar, specific recommendations were made for the HEIs in Kazakhstan on the implementation of educational methods aimed at improving ethics in the University environment.

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