Asylbek Kozhakhmetov, President of Almaty Management University (AlmaU) and Doctor of Business Administration, delivered a leadership lecture at Al-Farabi KazNU, sharing his vision of the place and role of education in modern society.


Asylbek Kozhakhmetov is a former graduate of the Department of Continuous Media Mechanics at the Faculty of Mechanics and Applied Mathematics at Kazakh State University named after S.M. Kirov (now Al-Farabi Kazakh National University) and has extensive experience in business administration. Doctor of Business Administration, author of more than 70 scientific Kazakhstani and international publications on the development of management and education, and founder of Almaty Management University devoted his lecture to a topical theme "Innovative education in the XXI century - what is it?


"Today, I want to talk to you about entrepreneurial universities, innovative education, and the purpose and essence of education in general, not only in the country, but also in the world," the speaker began his speech. - I have been running an educational institution for 34 years. By experience, I have come to understand that the main thing for a country is education, and the economy is its derivative. If education is strong, the economy will flourish, failing which it will decline, inevitably because of the decline in human capital, he said.


In his lecture, Asylbek Kozhakhmetov gave an analysis of the changes that have occurred in society, and how the paradigm shift from the economy 2.0 and 3.0 in the 20th century of big factories and entrepreneurship to the economy 4.0 of the digital 21st century has happened. "In the 21st century, the impression economy is coming to the fore. Today, people don't so much want coffee beans, ground or brewed, they go to Starbucks for the experience. The impressions economy is relevant to all industries. Those who realize this will always be in the driver's seat," the speaker emphasized.
The tasks of university education today include: transmitting culture, teaching professions, scientific research, and training new scientists. When organizing higher education, and setting up a university, one should lean on the student and not on the knowledge and the teacher.


Graduates should possess the following skills, valuable for the innovation economy: complex problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, ability to manage and interact with people, emotional intelligence, opinion-making and decision making, client orientation, etc.
In an entertaining way, the lecturer presented a detailed picture of how he sees innovation education, and what is to be understood by entrepreneurial universities.
At the end of the leadership, the lecture was a discussion. Asylbek Kozhakhmetov presented the book "In Search of Effective Kazakhstani University Model", published to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Almaty Management University.  The value of the publication lies, first and foremost, in the fact that it contains Kazakhstani cases and examples of the organisation of Kazakhstan's higher educational institutions.
 
Press Service of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University