Today, in the press center of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan within the framework of the press conference on the implementation of the first direction "Formation of a Professional State Apparatus" of the Nation's Plan "100 concrete steps to implement five institutional reforms", the Deputy Chairman of the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Civil Service and Anti-Corruption Affairs Aigul Shaimova told about the work done.

In this direction, modernization of the procedure for entering the civil service has been carried out. Aigul Shaimova explained that earlier for the first time those entering the civil service could apply for any vacant position, including leadership. In the new model, this possibility is excluded.

"Now the people who enter the civil service for the first time and do not have work experience can start their careers only from the inferior position," Aigul Shaimova stressed.

This is the main postulate of the implemented career model, which inherent in the principle of meritocracy. The main value of the principle of meritocracy is to ensure justice and a real social elevator for those who want to pursue a career in public service.

"By doing this, we completely fulfill the President's proposal that employment should be on merit," the Deputy Chairman of the Agency noted.

According to her, in general, the attractiveness of the civil service is growing. Since the implementation of the reform there has been a threefold increase in the number of persons who started their careers from the lower levels.

As of June 20, 2017, 3 005 civil servants entered primary levels. Of these, 1711 are in local executive bodies, 1294 are in central government bodies.

Aigul Shaimova added that in the second step of the Nation's Plan, selection of candidates for inferior positions and further career advancement is carried out on the basis of a competence approach. That is, candidates entering the civil service are assessed both for knowledge of the laws and for the existence of competences.

During the press conference, international expert William Aston shared with opinion on Kazakhstan's reforms. According to him, in any country the public service apparatus is on the front line. It plays a key role in the implementation of all reforms in the political, economic and social spheres.

"Therefore, it is extremely important for the state apparatus to be based on the principles of meritocracy, transparency, efficiency. The first 15 steps of the Nation’s Plan are aimed specifically at achieving these goals. Therefore, I hope that following the results of the implementation of the Nation’s Plan, the public service of Kazakhstan will become closer, will correspond to the best world standards, including OECD standards," William Aston said.