In May 2014, Astana Akim’s Administration Press Service reported of opening the Qualification Center for Transport Specialists where training services under international standards are rendered to passenger transport drivers, to e-fare system user consultants, to taxi drivers and other transport sector specialists.

The Center carries out psychological and psychophysiological testing, traffic rules and laws and regulations knowledge testing. It also has facilities for conducting workshops to improve vocational skills.

Establishing the Center enables vocational training and improving the specialists’ skills with international standards taken into account, and contributes to meeting the transport enterprises’ manpower needs. The Center will also establish the platform for international training programs.

Moreover, the Center is capable of creating the base for hands-on training the future transport specialists, as well as for training to the basics of traffic safety and to prophylaxis of traffic accidents with passenger vehicles.

Astana Qualification Center for Transport Specialists’ major goals include:

• Contributing to vocational training of transport specialists, taking into account the international standards and the new transport projects that are being implemented;
• Improving the transport system employees’ professional culture;
• Creating the hands-on training platform for transport specialists;
• Developing the basis for international programs for training the transport specialists;
• Preventing the violations at the city passenger transport.

Major functions of Astana Qualification Center for Transport Specialists include:

• Creating and developing the innovative training programs intended for improving the transport specialists’ skills;
• Educating the transport system specialists, improving the city passenger transport enterprises personnel’s skills;
• Building the database of Astana city transport specialists;
• Participating in working out the projects for development and modernization of public transport;
• Reviewing and analyzing the psychophysiological state of Astana city transport system staffs;
• Training on how to service people with disabilities and low mobility groups in public transport;
• Training to rendering urgent medical aid to injured persons.                                    

The Center’s area of expertise includes training and advanced training of different category drivers; advanced training of transport specialists;  training of consultants; retraining the taxi drivers; enhancing the transport system staffs’ professional culture; assessing the personnel; monitoring the activities; creating the integrated database of Astana city transport area specialists. In addition, the Center educates new specialists with a view to covering the existing deficit of city passenger transport drivers which constitutes more than nine hundred people.

To introduce global best practices to the training process organization and to apply the advanced forms and methods of training that allow quality training of the transport enterprises’ personnel, the Center signed MOUs with the Companies: SYSTRA (France) and TYPSA (Spain), and with domestic universities that educate the transport area specialists.

In the Center base, the staffs of city passenger transport enterprises, taxi companies’ drivers, dispatch operators, shift foremen, and other transport sector specialists undergo training.

Since 2015, the Centre has been cooperating with the Astana City Police Department to train a specialized battalion and road patrol personnel and other security and public services.

Training in the Qualification Center allows:

• obtaining, in a clear and timely way, the knowledge needed for working in competitive environment;
• updating the database of employees, improving the specialists’ competence in delivering services.

The Center houses the lecture halls and computer rooms for theoretical ad practical classes, and also the specially-fitted technology room.  

For the period May 2014 to date, over ten thousand people have undergone training on various programs.

The Qualification Center for Transport Specialists of the city of Almaty is located at 64 Auezov St. (corner of Shevchenko St.), contact phones: 2 20 61 01, 8 701 723 7667. Website: http: //centerkst.kz/