The Ministry of Science and Higher Education presented its plans for 2025: AI-Sana, support for young scientists and provision of dormitories for students
Today, on February 7, an expanded board meeting of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan was held. This event brought together deputies of the Senate and Majilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, university rectors, heads of research institutes and heads of organizations under the ministry, and experts. The agenda included issues of personnel training, innovations, technologies, and cooperation with industry.
In his report, Minister Sayasat Nurbek detailed the achievements of 2024, the main directions of the ministry, and the goals and objectives for 2025, noting that work is underway on these issues.
According to the Minister, providing accessible higher education for all citizens is one of the main tasks of the ministry. For this purpose, 94,251 grants were allocated for the 2024-2025 academic year, and scholarships for undergraduate students were increased by 20%, and for master's and doctoral students by 15%.
In 2024, differentiated grants were introduced for the first time. Under the new model, the state will cover 50% of tuition fees, and students will receive a full scholarship.
“This step was taken to ease the financial burden on students and improve their learning conditions,” the minister said.
Last year, one of the important issues was the adoption of a bill on the introduction of the unified voluntary savings system “Keleshek”. The “Keleshek” system allows parents to save money for their children’s future education and provides a one-time educational capital from the state.
The ministry also intends to expand cooperation with international partners and improve conditions for foreign students in order to make Kazakhstan a leading educational hub in Central Asia. Currently, strategic partnerships have been established in Kazakhstan with 34 higher education institutions from 12 countries. Branches of 23 leading universities from Great Britain, Italy, China, Russia, the USA, France and South Korea have also been opened in the country.
“We aim to make Kazakhstan a center of education and scientific exchange in Central Asia, attracting the best partners from all over the world, and the opening of branches of foreign universities and the interest of foreign students in our education demonstrate the correctness of the chosen direction,” said Sayasat Nurbek.
Currently, 31,500 foreign students are studying in Kazakhstan, among whom the number of students from Asia has exceeded that from the CIS countries.
Foreign universities are also helping to attract investments into the country's economy by opening their branches in Kazakhstan. For example, De Montfort University invested 16 million US dollars, and Coventry University invested 50 million US dollars. 8 million yuan was also allocated to the Lu Ban workshops. These investments contribute to the development of educational infrastructure, the creation of new jobs and the creation of additional opportunities for the country's economy.
As part of the introduction of innovative technologies into the educational process, the Ministry has established strategic partnerships with world leaders in the field of technology, such as Coursera, Google, Nvidia, Huawei Technologies Kazakhstan, 01 Edu System and Binance Kazakhstan. These agreements have provided students and teachers with access to the latest educational platforms and courses.
“Partnerships with such global giants open up new opportunities for improving the skills of teachers and students and introducing innovative technologies into the educational process,” the Minister noted.
Also, at the board meeting, the Minister highlighted the main achievements in the framework of domestic science and technology policy reforms.
The Minister: “Our President pays special attention to the development of science. The state provides comprehensive support to scientists, including young scientists. In 2024, 315 young scientists were provided with apartments by order of the Head of State. "290 of them received apartments under a special loan program implemented jointly with Otbasy Bank JSC, and 25 received apartments free of charge," he noted.
Also speaking at the meeting, Vice Minister of Science and Higher Education Talgat Yeshenkulov said that work continues in Kazakhstan to develop a national model for training engineering personnel based on international standards and practical experience. One of the key aspects of this model is active cooperation with employers. For example, Satbayev University has opened 39 department branches at industrial enterprises, including on the basis of LLP "Astaninsky Electrotechnical Plant". In addition, 30 universities of the country have established partnerships with about 100 colleges and are implementing mutual education programs.
Vice Minister of Science and Higher Education Dinara Shcheglova noted that a major step forward was made in the digital transformation of higher education in 2024. One of them was the AI-Sana program, which was presented to the Head of State last year.
“This unique program includes 100 thousand participants and combines educational, research and applied approaches. The program was developed with the participation of world-class experts from leading universities such as Stanford University and Imperial College London. We are confident that it will create a solid foundation for training specialists for the era of new technologies,” said Dinara Shcheglova.
Also, an artificial intelligence standard was adopted for higher education institutions of the country. As a result, 20 leading universities developed 20 educational programs, which became the basis for training new specialists in the field of artificial intelligence.
At the end of the meeting, Minister Sayasat Nurbek noted that the Ministry of Science and Higher Education will continue active work to improve the quality of education, support science, and introduce innovative technologies, which will strengthen Kazakhstan's position in the international arena and create a competitive education system.
“We are confident that joining forces of the state, universities, scientific organizations, and international partners will be the key to the successful future of our country,” the Minister concluded the meeting of the board.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/sci/press/news/details/934120