05 September 2025, 10:00
In his Address to the Nation “Fair Kazakhstan: Rule of Law, Economic Growth, Public Optimism”, Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev set a strategic objective — to build a Fair Kazakhstan through systemic investment in human capital. This instruction became the basis for comprehensive work implemented by the Government and aimed at creating an accessible and modern educational and scientific environment. It encompasses all levels from preschool education to support for advanced research, forming the core of the country’s future and strengthening its long-term competitiveness on the global stage, creating conditions for the development of every citizen throughout their lifetime.
The foundation for human potential development is laid from the earliest years. Therefore, the Government pays special attention to the preschool education system, striving to provide every child with equal starting opportunities for a successful future. As of today, Kazakhstan has 11.8 thousand preschool organizations attended by more than 1 million children, of which 470 thousand are in public and more than 540 thousand in private kindergartens. Thanks to systematic work, including the opening of new kindergartens and the introduction of modern financing mechanisms, coverage of children aged 2 to 6 has reached 93.1% and will reach the planned figure of 95% by the end of the year.
To further expand accessibility, a Step-by-Step Plan for 2023–2027 has been approved, under which 195 kindergartens with 14.8 thousand places have already been opened since the beginning of 2025, and more than 49 thousand more will be created by the end of the year. At the same time, new educational practices are being introduced: a pilot project on early introduction of children to honest work has been launched in 100 kindergartens, and the “Catch Up by Five” program, aimed at supporting family education, is being implemented.
At the school education level, the main focus has shifted from simple knowledge acquisition to the development of functional literacy and 21st-century competencies. The chosen course has already proven effective, ensuring Kazakhstan’s inclusion in the top 50 of the prestigious international PISA study. The country’s successes are particularly evident on the world stage: in the 2024–2025 academic year, every second Kazakhstani participant in international Olympiads returned with a prize. In total, schoolchildren won more than 1,000 medals, including 193 gold. In particular, in 2025, 27 out of 31 Kazakhstani students became winners of major international competitions. Special attention is paid to talents from rural areas: the Second Republican Olympiad among rural schools showed a tenfold increase in the number of winners, opening up new educational and career prospects for them.
To ensure uniform standards of education quality across the country, unprecedented work is underway to modernize infrastructure. In 2025, construction is underway and the commissioning of 232 new schools designed for 267 thousand student places is planned, which is a direct step towards solving the problem of three-shift schooling. At the same time, a program for the renovation of existing buildings is being implemented: in 2025, 245 schools will undergo major repairs. Additionally, more than 1,000 rural schools are being modernized, with over 1,100 modern subject classrooms being procured for 680 of them. An important step in digitalization was the complete transfer of 100% of school textbooks into electronic format with interactive content, making education more flexible and accessible.
A key focus area is building an inclusive society where every child feels like a full member. To date, 90% of schools have created the necessary conditions for the comfortable education of children with special educational needs, and 85% of them receive the required support. This work is reinforced by the development of a network of 508 specialized organizations and 121 support rooms, as well as the introduction of new staff positions such as teacher assistants and special educators. In the future, the creation of a National Center for Continuous Inclusive Education and the development of a Law “On Comprehensive Support for Children with Special Educational Needs” are planned.
As part of the President’s instructions, the unified program “Adal Azamat” has been updated under the state program “Children of Kazakhstan”, for which a special brand book has been developed, forming a unified value framework. At the same time, measures to protect children’s rights are being strengthened: the number of child protection specialists has almost tripled — from 303 to 896 people — which allows timely and qualified assistance to families. International programs Kiva and DosbolLIKE are being introduced in schools to prevent bullying. A safe physical environment is also being created: 98% of organizations are equipped with turnstiles, 97% with licensed security, 96% with panic buttons, and 81% are connected to police operation centers.
An important part of holistic development is leisure. The country is actively developing the supplementary education sector, which includes 2,142 organizations covering 3.3 million children, or 87.2% of their total number, with a plan to bring this figure to 90% by the end of 2025. In the summer of 2024, 3.2 million children were covered by organized recreation, including 500 thousand from socially vulnerable categories.
Following the course of human capital development reflected in the President’s Address, the Government is implementing a comprehensive policy to improve access to vocational and higher education. The work aims to ensure that every young Kazakhstani has the opportunity to acquire a quality profession and realize their potential.
As part of the Year of Vocational Professions, the system of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is being reformatted to maximize alignment with market demands. Based on the Atlas of New Professions, which has updated over 900 and developed over 510 new educational programs, workforce demand maps have been created in 9 regions. To enhance the prestige of vocational occupations, Jas Skills and Junior Skills competitions are held, and more than 107 thousand schoolchildren have undergone career diagnostics on the Mansap Compass platform. Work has begun on the internationalization of five domestic colleges.
One of the main instruments in this work is direct financing of education. In line with the President’s instructions and his election program, the number of educational grants has been increased by 50%, and their number exceeded 93 thousand in the current academic year. Additional grants have been allocated by local executive bodies (over 1.5 thousand), the KazEnergy Association (400), university rectors (2.2 thousand), and the Kazakhstan Khalkyna Fund (500). This measure is complemented by a systematic increase in scholarships: since September 2024, payments for undergraduates have increased by 20%, for master’s and doctoral students by 15%, and for pedagogical students will exceed 75 thousand tenge. Overall, in the last five years, the scholarship amount has doubled, and by 2029 it is planned to grow by 200%.
In parallel with direct student support, long-term financial planning mechanisms for families are being introduced.
“The National Fund for Children program forms start-up capital, with more than $880 million credited to children’s accounts by the end of 2024. The new Keleshek accumulation system with state participation (start-up capital of 60 MCI and a premium of up to 7%) allows parents to systematically save more than 5 million tenge for education. Importantly, if a student receives a state grant, funds accumulated under the Keleshek program may be directed toward purchasing housing,” noted Minister of Science and Higher Education Sayasat Nurbek.
Preferential educational loans and 300 differentiated grants are also available, under which the state covers 50% or 75% of tuition fees, and the student receives a full scholarship. Equally important is addressing the housing issue. According to the President’s instruction, at least 10 thousand dormitory places must be commissioned annually. Systematic work in this area is already yielding tangible results: since 2018, 251 new dormitories with 62 thousand places have been built. This year, 29 dormitories with more than 10 thousand places will be launched, including the largest dormitory in the country’s history for the Eurasian National University with 2,656 places in the capital. As a result, the shortage has been practically resolved in all regions. A modern Student-Residence model is being implemented, and since 2023, the state has reimbursed accommodation expenses for students from socially vulnerable groups.
In line with the President’s instructions, Kazakhstan is rapidly moving towards becoming a regional educational hub, integrating into the global knowledge space. To date, 24 branches of leading foreign universities have been opened in the country, including UK’s Cardiff and Coventry University, Germany’s Anhalt, Italy’s Politecnico della Marche, Korea’s Woosong University, and MGIMO.
“The geography of partner countries also includes the USA, China, and France, and in 2025, 10 more new branches are planned to open with a priority on engineering and technical specialties. Some of them, such as De Montfort, Coventry, Cardiff, and Woosong, operate as full-fledged separate campuses. At the same time, the presence of Kazakhstani education abroad is expanding: branches of KazNU operate in Russia and Kyrgyzstan (in Bishkek, more than 1,300 students have been studying since 2022), as well as Auezov University in Uzbekistan,” the minister said.
At the same time, a breakthrough AI-Sana program is being implemented, aimed at creating a new generation of scientific entrepreneurs and future leaders of the digital economy. Its goal is to ensure mass training of students in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The program includes four stages: from basic training on Coursera, Huawei, and Google platforms to acceleration of student startups. More than 390 thousand students and 3 thousand teachers have already completed the AI fundamentals course.
“Thanks to systematic work, under which 95 universities received free access to the Coursera platform, Kazakhstan became the winner of its prestigious international award. The practical result was the creation by students of 119 AI agents that are in the testing stage, with another 395 in development. To support this ambitious task, a supercomputer cluster with a capacity of 42 PFlops is being created based on Nazarbayev University, ENU, Satbayev University, and Al-Farabi KazNU, and AI courses have become mandatory in all universities. Twenty-five new educational programs in AI, machine learning, and cybersecurity have been launched in 20 universities,” emphasized Sayasat Nurbek.
A logical continuation of investment in education is strengthening the country’s scientific potential. The Government is carrying out comprehensive work to create a full-fledged innovation ecosystem: the number of research universities is growing (Satbayev University, L.N. Gumilyov ENU, Al-Farabi KazNU, Auezov University, and Buketov Karaganda University hold this status), and the National Academy of Sciences and the National Council on Science and Technology have been established under the President.
Specific measures are being implemented to support scientists: since the beginning of 2024, their salaries have increased by 18%, and bonuses for academic titles reach 20 MCI (for associate professors, PhD) and 50 MCI (for professors). A new Law “On Science and Technology Policy” has been adopted, introducing the international TRL standard for project evaluation.
Science funding has increased 3.3 times, which has made it possible to send more than 800 scientists on internships at leading global centers and to renew 14% of scientific equipment. The connection between science and the real sector of the economy is also being strengthened. The goal is to bring the share of projects implemented jointly with business to 20% in 2025. To this end, meetings are held between scientists and representatives of major industrial companies such as Kazakhmys, ERG, Kazatomprom, and Kazzinc. For companies investing in research, a 150% tax deduction is provided.
Starting in 2025, Scientific Councils will be created under akimats to finance applied research from local budgets. A unified digital science portal has also been launched for the full digitalization of the sector. In total, 2,297 projects and 162 scientific and technical programs have been funded from the republican budget, about 1,000 of which are implemented by young scientists, and 134 are aimed at commercialization of technologies. This systematic work lays a solid foundation for Kazakhstan’s technological sovereignty and innovative future.
#Address of the Head of State #Digitalization #Education #Science
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