2025 was declared the “Year of working professions” in Kazakhstan by the Presidential Decree. It is obvious that this initiative is aimed at increasing the prestige of working professions, glorifying hard work and professionalism. In this regard, the akimat of Shymkent has started implementing a number of important projects. These projects were announced at a field briefing, where Deputy Akim of Shymkent Sarsen Kuranbek and rectors of higher educational institutions, heads of colleges met.
Deputy mayor of the city Sarsen Kuranbek said that a special Regional Plan of Shymkent city will be prepared and a set of measures will be implemented in accordance with seven key areas of the government. The general plan consists of 6 sections and 59 points. These include such areas as promotion of working professions, career guidance, training of working personnel and increasing the social activity of young people. The staff and regulations were approved, and the relevant branch departments of the akimat began their work on the plan.
- 49,780 students study in 39 colleges in the city. Most of them are mastering working professions. In the 2024-2025 academic year, 67.5% of the 11,500 grants allocated from the national and local budgets are directed to this area. This shows that the demand for working professions is growing. In addition, 53 applicants are enrolled in training by order of employers and receive free education at the expense of business, - says Sarsen Abayevich.
Another disappointing news is that from September 1, 2025, student scholarships will increase. Undergraduate students will receive scholarships in the amount of 52,372 tenge, and students studying in pedagogical and medical specialties-up to 84,000 tenge. The scholarship of undergraduates will increase to 117,098 tenge, doctoral students-to 262,500 tenge. The amount of scholarships will also be significantly increased for socially vulnerable groups. Scholarships for orphans will increase by 30%, scholarships for students with disabilities-by 50%. These measures are aimed at improving the quality of education of students and facilitating their social status.
- The issue of providing students with dormitories is not on the agenda. The capacity of students in dormitories of higher educational institutions is 10,009 places. However, at the moment there is no problem with a shortage of dormitories for students. However, due to the growth of the city and the growth of the population, it is planned to build a hostel for 5 thousand people for 2025-2029, - said Sarsen Abayevich.
"The meeting also discussed the program" "Keleshek"", developed on behalf of the head of state, and noted that the unified system of voluntary savings will allow young people to get higher education and solve housing problems in the future." The program allows children to raise the necessary funds from the age of 5 in any second-tier banks or insurance companies in the country so that they can study at a higher educational institution in the future or buy a house after reaching the age of majority. In addition to increasing financial literacy, this system contributes to the conscious choice of their profession by students.
The development of working professions will undoubtedly make an important contribution to the sustainable development of the country's economy and improving the social situation of future generations. It is obvious that the initiatives of the city of Shymkent in this direction will give their results and give an impetus to the development of hard work and professional skills.
The meeting discussed the training of working specialists, their employment, innovations in vocational and technical education, the possibility of training specialists in universities and colleges. In higher educational institutions of the city, a lot of work is being done to train specialists for the labor market. The heads of higher educational institutions who took part in the meeting answered the questions of journalists in this direction.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/shymkent/press/news/details/922908