Kozhanbayev, Damir2017-06-232017-06-232017Kozhanbayev, Damir (2017) After school programs in rural Kazakhstan: a comparative case study. Nazarbayev University, Graduate School of Public Policy.http://nur.nu.edu.kz/handle/123456789/2405Studies show that children greatly benefit from participating in after school activities: they succeed academically and socially, and are less likely to engage in wrongdoing. There is, however, little information on after school programs in rural Kazakhstan. The goal of this comparative study is to describe and explain how after school programs in rural Kazakhstan are implemented. For this purpose, two villages (in Akmola and Karaganda regions) were visited to collect data from local authorities, schools and parents. While the findings revealed some minor differences, they supported the main assumption that the situation in rural after school programs is poor and that, in fact, there are no significant differences in engaging children after formal school hours in both communities. Recommendations for national and local authorities include adequate funding, focusing on enabling environment for after school programs; increasing residents’ participation in school activities and local governance; building partnerships with academic institutions and other.enAttribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United Statesrural Kazakhstanafter school activitiesAkmola regionsKaraganda regionsResearch Subject Categories::SOCIAL SCIENCES::Social sciences::Educationsocial servicesResearch Subject Categories::SOCIAL SCIENCESMaster's thesis