From February 2020, children from families receiving targeted social assistance will be provided with a guaranteed social package. This was stated in an interview to PrimeMinister.kz by the Deputy Director of the Department for Development of Social Assistance Policy of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population Ayazhan Zhangabylova.

President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in his Address to the People of the Republic of Kazakhstan “Constructive Public Dialogue – the Basis of the Stability and Prosperity of Kazakhstanis” instructed to provide children from low-income families with social support.

“For them, it is necessary to introduce a guaranteed social package — regular assistance to preschool children, free hot meals for all schoolchildren, providing them with school supplies and uniforms, payment of medical, including dental care, reimbursement of travel expenses in public transport. All these measures should come into effect on Jan. 1, 2020,” the Address says.

As Ayazhan Zhangabylova noted, the guaranteed social package for children will be issued only to those families that receive targeted social assistance.

The guaranteed social package was divided into two age categories of children:

• from 1 to 6 years;
• from 6 to 18 years.

What is included in the social package for children from one to six years old?

Preschool children will be provided with foodstuffs and household chemical goods. The composition of the food basket was developed according to the recommendations of the Ministry of Healthcare. It will be issued once a month, for the period of appointment of the TSA.

The grocery set will vary in composition depending on the age category of children: from 1 to 3 years old and from 3 to 6 years old.

The kits are not intended to provide a child’s daily diet, their goal is to compensate for a possible lack of vitamins in the growing body.

In accordance with the recommendations of the Ministry of Healthcare, food packages are formed taking into account the physiological characteristics, the ratio of food and energy value of the products and the norms of their use in accordance with age.

“Grocery products include various cereals, mashed potatoes, juices, milk and so on. It’s all fortified, recommended by the Ministry of Healthcare, taking into account the deficiency of iron and other minerals, which statistics agencies show us today,” said Ayazhan Zhangabylova.

Such packages will be issued for each child in the family. If the family has four children, then four food sets and four hygienic ones are supposed. In each area special distribution points will be created.

What is included in the social package for children from 6 to 18 years old?

The guaranteed social package for children from 6 to 18 years old will consist of four parts: hot meals in schools, school uniforms, provision of school supplies and reimbursement of 50% of travel on public transport.

Children will be provided with school uniforms and stationery once a year. These may be certificates for their purchase, which they plan to issue in August before the start of the school year.

It is assumed that sets of school supplies for children in primary, secondary and high school will differ in composition.

Daily school meals at the place of study will be carried out in accordance with established standards.

As for preferential travel, children from 7 to 15 years of age are guaranteed by article 13 of the Law “On Transport in the Republic of Kazakhstan” public transport in the form of benefits in the amount of 50% of the ticket price.

Social package will be issued by:

• departments of education or schools — school uniforms and supplies;
• departments of social welfare (or social protection) — food products;
• health management — personal care products.

“Social packages will be provided by local executive bodies. We have already developed the entire regulatory framework. We assume that there will be one single local operator — Social Entrepreneurship Corporation, which will procure from suppliers. The list of suppliers is established by Government Decree. Either contracts will be concluded with suppliers who will deliver these packages targeted, or these will be some points where people can pick them up. All this will be considered and solved at local levels,” Zhangabylova said.

According to her, the cost of one guaranteed social package in the form of a grocery set is over 4,700 tenge, the social package with household chemicals will cost 1,700 tenge to local executive bodies.