Recruiting the high-achieving graduates to the teaching profession. The case of Kazakhstan

This article examines the attractiveness of the teaching profession in Kazakhstan. The educational reforms adopted in Kazakhstan in recent years affect various aspects of education and teacher training, at the same time they have had an impact on the atmosphere associated with education and the perception of the teaching profession. In the paper, attention is paid to the academic performance of school graduates who have chosen teaching as a profession, which can be considered as one of the main indicators of the attractiveness of this profession. The present study aims to determine the attractiveness of pedagogical specialties among school graduates against the backdrop of new state educational reforms. The analysis shows that there is a positive correlation between the average Unified National Testing (UNT) score and the average score of the high school diploma, that is, graduates with high UNT scores had good academic performance at the school. Attracting graduates with high UNT scores to teaching shows the attractiveness of this specialty. Comparative analysis reveals that teaching is one of the first choices for successful graduates. It is possible to state that the measures taken to increase the prestige of the teaching profession have positive results. The profession is chosen by applicants with fairly high UNT scores. The problem of the attractiveness of the profession should be studied both for candidates and for current teachers, so the next step in this direction should be to study the attractiveness of the profession among current teachers who enter the profession and stay in it.