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Americans to lead university in Kazakhstan

The country’s Ministry of Education and Science has published a draft rule of the government about passing over the North Kazakhstan University (NKU) named after Kozybayev under the governance of the University of Arizona (UA) as its subsidiary. The NKU is going to be under discretionary management for ten years without a purchase option.

It is assumed that the teaching and learning process in the NKU will be based on the UA standards while fully complying with the national legislation of Kazakhstan. The studying process is going to start in September 2022 and will be based on a dual-degree program and joint research with English as the prime language of teaching and learning. The ministry requires that at least 30% of the NKU teachers must be foreign professors and business representatives. They will teach local students several majors including education, IT, engineering and agricultural technology.

In turn, Kazakhstan’s ministry of education is going to continue to pay the NKU for preparing specialists the country needs. That’s why a part of the university students will be studying free of charge if they win a grant. Those who are going to study in the NKU on a paying basis have to pay the university directly. The amount of such payment will be determined by the NKU’s board of directors, which is going to consist of representatives from the UA, the NKU, the Ministry of Education, local officials and Nazarbayev University.

According to the University of Arizona, the cost of studying in the UA is about $12,700 a year. However, nine of ten students pay less because of various grants, scholarships and credits which are provided by the entity itself.

Perhaps, under UA supervision, the NKU will launch its own scholarship programs. At least, this point was mentioned in the government’s draft proposal.

As President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said, Kazakhstan is going to cooperate with foreign technical universities, specifically Russian universities. The country wants them to open subsidiaries in Kazakhstan. He has already discussed the topic with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Now, the details of the issue must be discussed and an intergovernmental agreement will be signed.