CREATION OF AN ACADEMIC HUB AND THE IMPACT OF AI: MINISTER MET WITH STUDENTS OF ALMATY
On November 11, Almaty Management University hosted a lecture by the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan Sayasat Nurbek on the topic "Kazakhstan is a regional educational hub".
Not only AlmaU students were invited to the event, but also activists from other universities of the city, including Narkhoz, Kazakh-British Technical University, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Satbayev University, Abai University, Caspian University, KAZGAS, Turan, KAZNZHPU and Kazakh-German University.
Sayasat Nurbek presented the Ministry's plans to transform Kazakhstan into a major academic center, creating conditions for the opening of campuses of foreign universities and technology transfer. The Minister's presentation highlighted the strategic position of Kazakhstan, its economic stability and potential for cooperation, which enhances the attractiveness of the country for foreign students and international educational projects. The head of the department noted that this year about 30 thousand foreign students have arrived in Kazakhstan, ready to study on a fee basis.
"The goal of this initiative is to create a large academic hub in Central Asia, which will become attractive, on the one hand, for international universities, on the other — for young people from regions with a population of about 2 billion people. For Kazakhstan, this is a window of opportunity that needs to be used in time," the minister said. Also, according to him, the state is already actively supporting this initiative by providing land plots and offering various incentive measures, which will also bring economic benefits to the country.
Sayasat Nurbek also spoke about an important initiative of the Ministry — the introduction of three key areas of educational courses on artificial intelligence into university curricula. The courses were developed in collaboration with Google and are aimed at developing digital competencies among young people. The pilot project has already been launched at 14 universities, and in the future it is planned to introduce it to other higher educational institutions in Kazakhstan.
At the end of the meeting, the Minister answered the students' questions, touching upon current problems and prospects for the development of higher education and science in Kazakhstan. Among the topics discussed were improving the quality of educational programs, the possibilities of hybrid and online learning, as well as the impact of artificial intelligence on the training of specialists of the future. The students thanked Sayasat Nurbek for the opportunity of an open dialogue.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/sci/press/news/details/881585