In the field of secondary education in Kazakhstan, state auditors have identified ineffective budgeting and resource planning amounting to 62.4 billion tenge, reports the business information center Kapital.kz, citing the press service of the Supreme Audit Chamber.
"The Supreme Audit Chamber conducted an audit on the effectiveness of the funds allocated for the development and improvement of secondary education quality. The results were discussed at a meeting chaired by the head of the SAC, Alikhan Smailov. Participants included Minister of Education Gani Beysembayev, Minister of Science and Higher Education Sayasat Nurbek, responsible officials from the ministries, as well as heads of subordinate organizations. According to the audit materials, which covered the period since 2019, the number of schools in Kazakhstan has been steadily increasing: for the 2023-2024 academic year, there were over 7,800. The number of students and teachers is also on the rise. All this indicates an expansion of educational access in the country," the information states.
Financing for the secondary education system has also shown consistent growth: in recent years, expenditures have more than tripled—from 1.3 trillion tenge in 2019 to 4.8 trillion tenge in 2024—which confirms the priority of this sector for the state, noted the SAC.
"However, the state audit revealed several problematic issues and systemic shortcomings that reduce the effectiveness of measures taken to develop secondary education. As stated by SAC member Nurlan Nurzhanov, these pertain to strategic planning, quality assessment of education, teacher training and employment, the quality of their retraining, methodological support for the educational process, as well as state regulation and control," the chamber concluded.
It is noted that strategic planning in the education sector is characterized by frequent changes in state programs and concepts. Regular changes to strategic documents lead to interruptions in previously initiated initiatives, resulting in a lack of continuity and stability in educational policy.
During the meeting, SAC Chairman Alikhan Smailov emphasized this point.
"The Ministry of Education must primarily ensure that the documents adopted provide continuity in reforms. Over the past few years, funding for secondary education has increased more than threefold. Under these conditions, the state expects greater returns from the measures taken," said Alikhan Smailov.
According to the audit report, significant discrepancies were found in the formation of the state order for teacher training between the forecasts of the Ministry of Labor and the actual needs of the education system, which is explained by deficiencies in the calculation methodology.
"In terms of professional development, post-course support for teachers remains a problem. It should help teachers apply new knowledge in practice; however, in reality, it is limited to seminars and publications. Reforms in educational standards are being carried out in a non-systematic manner. Frequent changes in curricula have led to the revision of already published textbooks and ineffective budget expenditures. Over the last five years, the economic losses due to textbook revisions have exceeded 16 billion tenge. Deficiencies in the expertise and monitoring of textbook quality have been identified. Over five years, evaluation criteria have changed 12 times, indicating a lack of a stable assessment system. The order of expertise through the information monitoring system for state services has not been implemented; procedures are conducted on paper," the released statement says.
It is also indicated that there are 66 schools operating without licenses in the country, including state ones. The low percentage of successful certification, with only 18.2% of schools passing on the first attempt, reflects the prevalence of systemic issues in educational institutions, according to the SAC.
Overall, the state audit established:
- financial violations totaling 1.1 billion tenge;
- ineffective planning of funds and resources – 62.4 billion tenge;
- ineffective use – 3.2 billion tenge.
It is worth recalling that earlier the Supreme Audit Chamber found that out of 95 startups that received budget funding, 32 were liquidated. The state audit did not confirm the effectiveness of investments in these projects amounting to 987 million tenge.