Higher education

The higher educational institutions of Kazakhstan prepare specialists for different spheres of agriculture, science and culture on the basis of secondary education. They also pursue the scientific and research work of theoretical and practical character. The higher educational institutions improve the qualification of the teachers of higher and secondary schools, specialists of national economy, health care and culture.

The higher educational institutions include universities, academies, institutes, conservatoires and others.

The first higher educational institutions were opened in Kazakhstan in 1919-1920 and, consequently, during all the time in many regions of the country new institutions appeared. By 2001 in all the higher educational institutions of the Republic about 265 thousand students studied.

In 2001 the bill of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On giving the special status to some state higher educational institutions” was adopted. The higher educational institutions having the special status will acquire the sufficient degree of academic liberty allowing them to perform an active educational, methodological and scientific work concerning the development of the system of education.

Nowadays through this bill the special status is given to eight higher educational institutions. They are:

1. Kazakh AL Farabi national university;

2. Eurasia L.N.Gumilev national university;

3. Kazakh national agrarian university;

4. Kazakh K.L.Satpayev national technical university;

5. Kazakh S.D.Asfendiyarov national medical university;

6. Kazakh T.K.Zhurgenov national Academy of Arts;

7. Kazakh Kurmangazy national conservatoire;

8. Kazakh national Academy of Music.

Also the military educational institutions of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Kazakhstan belong to the higher educational institutions. They are intended to prepare commanders, engineers, technicians and specialists for military force and improve their qualification.

Among institutions of higher school the non-state sector of higher education plays a more important role. The first non-state higher educational institutions appeared in the country just after the proclamation of sovereignty of Kazakhstan. During ten years of its development the non-state sector of professional education started playing a noticeable role in the common system of education. By the beginning of 2001 there were 121 non-state higher educational institutions in the country having the state certificate for preparation of specialists with higher education. The number of non-state higher educational institutions makes up about 73% of the total number of civil higher educational institutions, the number of students – nearly 29%. The private higher educational institutions immediately react to the change of demand in the specialists supply for the society, do not require budget financing, assist the maximum approaching of the educational service to the place of permanent residence of students. Among the non-state higher educational institutions the most noticeable ones are the Almaty Institute of energetics and communication, the Almaty Abai university, the Higher school “Adilet”.

SPORTS

People in the whole world like sports. Sports improves health, keeps a good form. Finally, it is an excellent pastime. International matches and tournaments unite nations, the play an important role in establishing good relations between countries.

In Kazakhstan people always paid much attention to sports. Since 1991 the country has been participating in international sport contests as a sovereign state. For the development of the Olympic movement the National Olympic committee was founded in the Republic. At the XVII winter Olympic games, 1994 in Lillekhammer Kazakhstan took part for the first time. In the country there are many sportsmen of international class. Great attention is paid to the preparation of the reserve for national combined teams of the country. In Petropavlovsk, Shymkent, Kyzylorda, Stepnogorsk boarding schools for talented children have been founded. Different sports facilities are being built. In Astana there is the sports Palace, tennis courts, a stadium. In the Republic there is a system of preparing the sportsmen of higher class. There are 291 sports schools of sports mastership. About 140 thousand children, teenagers and young people study there. The sportsmen of Kazakhstan are among the strongest in Asia. They represent powerful competition for the sportsmen of China, Japan and South Korea. The combined team of Kazakhstan is quite successful at the Asian Games. The achievements of boxers are especially noticeable. Who doesn’t know the Olympic champions Vassiliy Zhirov, Bekzat Sattarkhanov and Yemakhan Ibragimov? There are also achievements in track and field sports, Greek and Roman wrestling, chess. Judging by the results of the Olympic Games in 2000 in Sydney the sports delegation of Kazakhstan took the 22 place among 199 participating countries.

After acquiring sovereignty measures for revival and development of national kinds of sports were taken in the country. The results of these measures immediately influenced everything. Now more than 20 thousand people go in for the national wrestling Kazakhsha kures. The ancient table game togyz kumalak became popular among the population. More than 2 thousand people are fascinated by the national horse game kokpar. There are fans of such kinds of sports as baiga, zhorga zharys, tenge alu, kyz kuu. Annually the official championships and republican tournaments of the most of national kinds of sports are held.