Academic Hub of Higher Education Decided to Create in Kazakhstan
18 April 2023
On April 14, a conference of the international TED project was held jointly with the Caspian University, at which it was decided to create an academic hub (academic mobility center) in Central Asia. This was announced by the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan Sayasat Nurbek. According to him, the opening of a foreign center is significant for the development of the state, since its creation will also be a center of academic mobility:
“We have set an ambitious task for ourselves – to create a large academic hub in Kazakhstan that will attract young people from the countries of the region, where about 2 billion people live.”
In February of this year, a memorandum of cooperation was signed between the Caspian University, the British Agency for Quality Assurance in the Educational Sphere, the Aktobe Regional University named after K. Zhubanov and the Scottish University Heriot-Watt. Last year, 3 branches of foreign universities were opened in Kazakhstan. Students from partner universities, including British ones, who will be the part of the hub, will be able to study in Kazakhstan on programs in agriculture, biotechnology, law, nuclear technology and genetics. Also, together with the Scottish University of Heriot-Watt, the undergraduate specialties “Electrical Engineering”, “Oil and Gas Engineering” and “Computer Engineering” were created, after graduating from which students will receive double diplomas.
In 2021, a common Central Asian space was created in the field of higher education. A zone of free academic mobility was also opened for students of universities in Central Asia. Thanks to this project, the number of student exchange programs has increased. It is noted that cooperation in the field of higher education will be based on the Bologna process.
“The systemic measures that we are taking within the financial and regulatory support, licensing, the formation of a new legislative basis for the academic hub being created, as well as serious investments in the infrastructure of higher education will provide an opportunity to form a large center of attraction for people in our region who want to receive high-quality and affordable higher education,” the minister said back in February, at a meeting of the Kazakh-British intergovernmental commission “Strengthening interstate bonds through cooperation between states in the field of higher education.”
It should be noted that Caspian University is one of the 37 Cambridge international colleges, which is open in the Republic of Kazakhstan. It was established in 1992 in the city of Almaty (Nursultan). The university unites 8 separate structures aimed at deepening education in a particular field of science. Each domain specializes in one of the areas. Thus, the university system includes the Higher School of Law, the Higher School of Economics and Management, the Academy of Construction, Architecture and Design, and others. Caspian University is one of the leaders in higher education in Kazakhstan.
Photo source: freepik