| Primary and secondary school are free and mandatory
from the age of 6 to 15. Although Kazakhstan once had a strong educational
system, economic problems have affected the country's ability to maintain
its programs and standards.
Primary school begins at age 6 and secondary school
is for students between 11 and 18. Classes are large, with 40 or more children.
Many pupils attend school for half-days, either from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30
p.m. or 1 to 5 p.m. During a short snack break, young pupils may have a
roll and a glass of milk, sometimes provided by the school. |
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| After primary school, students may do two years
of secondary school, followed by a vocational program, or five years of
secondary school, followed by further education at a postsecondary institution.
Kazakhstan has two universities, as well as polytechnical institutes that
offer training in science and engineering, business academies, and conservatories
for arts training.
Parents can choose whether their children will
learn in Kazakh or Russian. The government is opening more Kazakh schools
as the country slowly switches to that language. Some families send their
children to religious schools called madressahs, where they are
taught about Islam. |
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Did you know? |
| Because
parts of the country are very sparsely populated, Kazakhstan offers several
distance education programs to allow students to continue their studies,
even if they live far away from a school. |
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