Kazakhstan considers abandoning 12-year education as commission is formed

Tengrinews.kz – Kazakhstan will study whether the 12-year education program can be fitted into 11 years. A special commission has been created for this purpose at the Ministry of Education.
Minister of Education Zhuldyz Suleimenova said this at a government briefing. The issue was raised during a discussion of the education system at Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools, where students study for 12 years.
According to the minister, the department is now analyzing educational programs and their comparability.

“We will now look at whether the entire program can be completed in 11 years. As you know, Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools are full-day schools. Children arrive at 8 a.m. and leave at 5 p.m. They have eight individual hours every week,” Suleimenova said.

The head of the ministry said the content of the 12-year program could theoretically be combined and implemented within 11 grades.

“Therefore, we can look at whether it is possible to combine all the content of 12-year education and implement it over 11 grades. We have formed a commission for this. This work is ongoing,” she continued.

The official also said some parents take their children out of NIS after the 10th grade precisely because of the length of study.

“There are parents who take their children out of NIS after the 10th grade. Why? Because they do not want their children to study for another two years, including an additional year after the 11th grade,” the minister explained.

However, a problem arises when such students transfer: in regular schools, basic secondary education ends after the 9th grade, while at NIS it ends after the 10th grade.
According to Zhuldyz Suleimenova, no final decision has been made yet. The commission is expected to study the programs and determine whether the current model is appropriate.
In the new academic year, Kazakhstan has already begun changing the content of school education. Since September 1, new mandatory courses have been introduced, and artificial intelligence has been included in digital literacy and computer science programs.