the phenomenon is usually attributed to the lower relative salaries compared to other professions as well as to cultural factors oecd a in kazakhstan the gender imbalance is particularly apparent with more than eight women out of every teachers in primary and secondary education on average kazakhstan has a larger share of its teachers aged years or younger in than in oecd countries on average and a smaller proportion of teachers aged years or older in see table nonetheless these numbers indicate that nearly onequarter of the teacher population is at or nearing the age of retirement and that significant efforts will need to be made to ensure that this does not result in important teacher shortages especially in light of the expected increase in the student population national centre for educational quality assessment nceqa