A round table was held on the second day of the open methodological seminar, which brought together representatives of Kazakhstan universities, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Bologna Process and Academic Mobility Center and large employers at Toraighyrov University.  It was dedicated to the role of education in the strategic development of Kazakhstan.

The meeting was opened by the director of the Bologna Process and Academic Mobility Center Aidos Mukhataev.  He presented the project of a national center for the development of higher education, which will accompany all the reforms of university and postgraduate education.  The main mission of this work is to improve the quality of higher education in the country.
 
 Erbol Moldakasimov, deputy head of BTS-Education, recalled that Kazakhstan has been working for several years to update existing educational programs and train specialists of a new era.  In the Pavlodar region, the first pilot Atlas of new professions was developed, which included 43 previously non-existent specializations.  Representatives of the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs also contributed to the creation of the atlas.  Azhar Abylgazina, head of the human capital development department, emphasized that the regional chamber is interested in the interaction between entrepreneurs and universities.  That is why the Chamber of Entrepreneurs supports dual training and conducts short courses for students.

 ToU rector Yerkin Sadykov enlarged upon how two innovative educational programs were introduced at the university - in the specialties of mechanical engineering and reverse engineering and industrial robotics and automation.  They were developed on the basis of existing programs.  Interestingly, after the modernization, the number of those wishing to study them on the basis of  Pavlodar university has doubled.

 Zarina Alzhanova, Chief Technologist of "ERG Service" LLP, Daniel Bolatkulov, Director of Public Relations and Human Resources of "Prommashkomplekt" LLP, and Sergey Pochinok, Head of "Incom Company" LLP, spoke about how innovative educational programs will help the real sector of the economy.  These enterprises  have become partners of Toraighyrov University in the development and implementation of innovative educational programs.

Natalya Radko, a senior researcher at Lancaster University, also joined the work of the "round table".  She spoke about the UK experience in building an educational ecosystem.  One of the subtype of their training - Placement - can be applied in Kazakhstan.  This is when a student works for a year in production and receives academic credits for this, something like an internship or practice, which we do not consider as part of the educational program.

Concluding the round table, Amina Mukhambetova, Deputy Head of the Center for the Bologna Process and Academic Mobility, presented an analysis and procedure for developing innovative educational programs.  She noted that the academic freedom of universities today makes it possible to take an extraordinary and creative approach to the creation of new educational programs, she dwelled  on the experience of Toraighyrov University in this matter.

Then the workshop participants were involved in an interactive session.  In groups, they had to characterize university graduates based on their strategy and mission on real cases.  A kind of “reasonable graduate model” was presented by 12 teams at once