Our People > Dmitry Pokidaev

Dmitry Pokidaev

Journalist

Dmitry Pokidaev is a journalist based in Astana, Kazakhstan, with experience at some of the country's top media outlets. Before his career in journalism, Pokidaev worked as an academic, teaching Russian language and literature.

Articles

Tourism

Kazakhstan Tourism Investment Tops $4.8 Billion as Arrivals Rise

Kazakhstan recorded more than $4.8 billion in tourism investment in 2024 and 2025. Current projects include new hotels and mountain resorts, while the government is upgrading transport links to tourist areas as foreign visitor numbers rise. Investment in tourism reached 947.5 billion tenge ($2.08 billion) in 2024 and rose to 1.26 trillion tenge ($2.75 billion) in 2025. Kazakhstan has 328 tourism projects under way worth about 1.3 trillion tenge, or roughly $2.85 billion. These include new Hilton and Mandarin Oriental properties, as well as an expansion of the year-round Oi-Qaragai mountain resort near Almaty. The government expects the projects to create 25 new international-standard hotel complexes and around 10,000 permanent jobs. Revenue from hotels and other registered accommodation facilities also rose from 229 billion tenge, or roughly $500 million, in 2023 to 350.6 billion tenge, or about $770 million, in 2025. In the first quarter of 2026, the figure rose 13.9% year-on-year. Kazakhstan is also trying to extend the tourism season through year-round mountain tourism and a growing events calendar. Kazakhstan received 15.7 million foreign visitors in 2025, of whom authorities classified 11.1 million as tourists because they stayed in the country for more than one day. Spending by foreign visitors in the country totaled about $2.9 billion. Around 1.43 million foreign visitors used registered hotels and other accommodation facilities, although the figure excludes those staying with relatives or friends and those using unregistered accommodation. From Football to the World Noman Games The 2025 UEFA Champions League match between Almaty’s Kairat and Real Madrid attracted more than 5,000 foreign visitors to the city. Fans arrived from China, India, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Japan, and other countries. Kairat reached the league phase of the Champions League in 2025/26 but was eliminated in the third qualifying round this season, making the Real Madrid match a one-time attraction rather than a recurring source of visitors. Concerts offer a more repeatable version of the same model, with Jennifer Lopez and the Backstreet Boys performing in Almaty in 2025 and Deep Purple, Megadeth, Ricky Martin, and Enrique Iglesias following in 2026. Cirque du Soleil performances and major music festivals have also become part of the city’s events calendar. According to Mastercard, spending on international cards in Almaty during the Kairat-Real Madrid match rose 16% compared with the average for the two weeks before and after the event. It rose 11% during the Jennifer Lopez concert and 3% during the Backstreet Boys concert, while spending on Mastercard cards issued in Spain rose 81% during the Real Madrid match. The Jennifer Lopez concert attracted around 7,000 foreign spectators from 35 countries. Authorities estimated their direct tourism spending at more than 5 billion tenge, or roughly $11 million. The fifth World Nomad Games in Astana in 2024 attracted international visitors and extensive global coverage. Organized tours from the United Kingdom had sold out before the competition opened. Neighboring Countries Still Dominate Arrivals In the first half of 2026, Kazakhstan reported around 7 million foreign arrivals. The largest...

2 months ago

South East Asia

Kazakhstan Laos Seek to Link Transport Corridors Through China

Kazakhstan wants to connect its rail and logistics network with the China-Laos Railway, opening a possible route for Lao goods to Central Asia and Europe and for Kazakh exports into Southeast Asia. Much of the infrastructure already exists: both countries’ networks connect through China. What is missing are the agreements needed to make regular freight traffic between them practical. The idea was one of the main topics during Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith’s first official visit to Kazakhstan on September 3. During talks with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, trade, transport and logistics were high on the agenda. Tokayev specifically offered Lao freight carriers access to Kazakhstan’s logistics hub in Xi’an. From there, cargo can move through Kazakhstan to the Caspian Sea and then onward toward Europe. Astana sees the China-Laos Railway as a potential gateway to Southeast Asian markets. Opened in December 2021, the 414-kilometer section inside Laos connects the capital Vientiane with Boten on the Chinese border, linking the Lao network onward to Kunming through China’s rail system. It has become a central element of Laos’ strategy to transform itself from a landlocked country into a regional land-linked transport hub. Before the railway opened, the World Bank estimated that, with better logistics and simpler border procedures, it could substantially reduce transport costs and integrate Laos more closely into regional production and supply chains. The route is already being used for freight between China and Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore. Kazakhstan is looking at this infrastructure as a possible southern extension of its own overland trade routes. Between the two countries lies China’s vast railway system, meaning much of the physical infrastructure needed for such a connection already exists. There is, however, no regular Kazakhstan-Laos freight corridor yet. Regular freight services would require agreements covering transit, tariffs, and customs procedures. The route’s commercial viability would depend on transport costs and delivery times, as well as the ability to generate sufficient cargo volumes. The first potential goods have already been identified. Laos is interested in Kazakh grain, oilseeds, animal feed, and meat products. Coffee and rubber are among the possible Lao exports to Kazakhstan. The search for new trade routes is linked to Astana’s broader plans to expand the geography of its exports. Kazakhstan aims to increase non-commodity exports to $52 billion by 2030. Kazakhstan’s interest in Laos is largely explained by the country’s changing position on Asia’s transport map. The railway connection to China has given Laos direct access to the Chinese network and brought it closer to major regional markets. Kazakhstan’s infrastructure could extend that chain westward through Central Asia and across the Caspian toward Europe.

2 months ago

Nuclear Power Plant

Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plant Contract Signed with Rosatom

Kazakhstan has formalized plans to build its first nuclear power plant, signing the main construction contract with Russia’s Rosatom for a two-reactor facility near Lake Balkhash. The plant, preliminarily estimated to cost around $16.4 billion, will have a combined capacity of about 2.4 gigawatts, with most of the financing expected to come through a Russian state export loan. Rosatom was selected to lead the project in June 2025, meaning the latest agreement formalizes a decision made more than a year ago. Major construction work is expected to begin in 2027. The contract was signed on September 3 in Vladivostok during the Eastern Economic Forum. Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plants, the state-owned company established to implement nuclear projects, signed the agreement with Atomstroyexport, Rosatom’s engineering subsidiary. The contract covers engineering, equipment supply, and construction of the plant. Almassadam Satkaliyev, chairman of Kazakhstan’s Atomic Energy Agency, said after the signing that Rosatom is expected to obtain the necessary site license in 2027, allowing construction to begin. He had previously identified 2034 as the target for bringing the first unit online, while the full construction cycle is expected to take about a decade. The nuclear power plant will be built near the village of Ulken on the western shore of Lake Balkhash, about 400 kilometers from Almaty. It will consist of two Russian-designed VVER-1200 reactors with a combined capacity of around 2.4 gigawatts. That is equivalent to about 9% of Kazakhstan’s current installed generating capacity. Site preparation began in the summer of 2025. Specialists started engineering surveys and drilling wells to study the site’s suitability for the plant. Kazakhstan is returning to nuclear power generation after more than a quarter of a century. The Soviet-built BN-350 reactor in Aktau, which supplied electricity and district heating and supported large-scale seawater desalination, ceased operations in 1999. Kazakhstan has had no operating nuclear power reactors since then. In October 2024, the construction of a new nuclear power plant was put to a nationwide referendum, with a majority of participating voters supporting the proposal. In June 2025, Kazakhstan selected Rosatom to lead the international consortium for the project. The Russian proposal ranked first among four options considered, alongside bids from China’s CNNC, France’s EDF, and South Korea’s KHNP. The preliminary cost of the nuclear power plant is estimated at around $16.4 billion. Of that amount, approximately $14.4 billion is expected to cover the two generating units, with another roughly $2 billion allocated for infrastructure, physical protection systems, and fuel for the warranty period. Most of the project is expected to be financed through a Russian state export loan. The detailed financing terms have not yet been made public. Kazakhstan is also allocating its own funds. The draft national budget for 2027-2029 earmarks 818.3 billion tenge, or about $1.7 billion, to increase the capital of Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plants. Of that amount, 247.9 billion tenge is planned for 2027, 303.1 billion for 2028, and 267.3 billion for 2029. Kazakh authorities intend to involve domestic companies in construction, equipment manufacturing, and the...

2 months ago

Geology

Kazakhstan Mineral Deposits: 54 New Sites Added to State Register

Kazakhstan is looking beyond its traditional strengths in oil, gold, and iron ore as it expands its mineral resource base. Fifty-four deposits were added to the state register in 2024 and 2025, while geologists are focusing more closely on lithium, tungsten, and rare earth elements as demand grows alongside clean-energy and high-tech manufacturing. The state register is Kazakhstan’s official inventory of mineral deposits, recording their resources and reserves, level of exploration and development, and changes resulting from extraction or reassessment. In 2024, 35 deposits were added to the register for the first time, followed by another 19 a year later. Across the same two-year period, exploration and reassessments added 262.2 million tons of iron ore, 199 million tons of oil, 157.2 tons of gold, and 22 billion cubic meters of gas to the country’s recorded resources and reserves. The register now includes around 10,000 deposits. The recorded resource base also increased for silver, copper, zinc, lead, chromium ore, manganese, and phosphorite. Geologists are also turning their attention to metals that have traditionally remained in the shadow of Kazakhstan’s main extractive industries. The country is assessing its potential for lithium, tungsten, molybdenum, and other rare metals and rare earth elements. Among the deposits under study are Karaoba, which contains tungsten, and the Karagailyaktas, Akhmetkino, and Akhmirovskoye lithium deposits. Several major molybdenum deposits are located in the Karaganda Region. A separate exploration program focuses on rare earth elements, which are used in permanent magnets, electric motors, electronics, wind turbines, and a range of defense technologies. Studies have been completed at 11 exploration sites, while four prospective areas within Kuyrektykol have forecast resources estimated at 935,400 tons. The government identifies Kuyrektykol in the Karaganda Region as the most promising of these sites. Geologists have identified lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, and yttrium there. In 2025, officials said the wider Zhana Kazakhstan area, which encompasses almost all of Kuyrektykol, could contain more than 20 million tons of rare earth metals at depths of up to 300 meters. Much of this, however, remains at the geological assessment stage. The forecast resource estimates still need to be confirmed through further exploration before they can be treated as mineable reserves and the economics of extraction can be determined. Kazakhstan could also find growing demand abroad for these resources. The United States and the European Union are seeking new sources of critical minerals and trying to reduce their dependence on China, particularly in rare earth processing. Astana, meanwhile, is encouraging foreign partners to go beyond buying raw materials and invest in processing inside Kazakhstan. The search for new deposits is also becoming more expensive and more ambitious. Over the next three years, Kazakhstan plans to invest more than $470 million in state-funded geological exploration – more than it spent over the previous 15 years. The program includes new geological mapping, while broader modernization efforts include digitizing historical geological data and using artificial intelligence to help identify promising areas. Only a fraction of identified resources, however, ultimately make the transition to...

2 months ago

Agricultural technologies

Kazakhstan Tests Drone System for Releasing Beneficial Insects To Fight Agricultural Pests

Kazakh scientists have developed BioDrop, a system in which drones scatter biodegradable capsules containing beneficial insects over fields to combat agricultural pests. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, tests showed that the treatment takes several times less time than manually releasing entomophagous insects, while biological control effectiveness reaches 81%-83%. The technology is already being used by four farms. The system was developed by specialists at the Zhazken Zhiyembayev Kazakh Research Institute of Plant Protection and Quarantine. It consists of a drone, an automated dispensing device, and biodegradable spherical capsules. Inside the capsules are entomophagous insects — natural enemies of agricultural pests. BioDrop uses Trichogramma, microscopic parasitoid wasps that attack pest eggs, and Habrobracon hebetor, which targets pest larvae. The insects pose no danger to people or plants. The drone follows a predetermined route across a field and automatically releases the capsules. Their design protects the biological material when they land, after which the insects emerge and begin searching for pests. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 14 days after entomophagous insects were released manually, biological control effectiveness stood at 70%-73%. BioDrop achieved 81%-83%. Treating the experimental plot manually took 1-1.5 hours, while the drone completed the same work in 10-15 minutes, including equipment preparation. The Kazakh system follows an increasingly visible international trend in agriculture. Researchers in China previously developed an automated drone-based system for releasing Trichogramma. In field trials, it achieved more than 99% effective coverage of the target area and an average pest-control effectiveness of about 84%. Similar experiments have been conducted in Canada, where drones were used to release Trichogramma against pests affecting corn and forests. Researchers noted that traditional manual placement of biological control agents is time-consuming, while aerial application can be expensive. Kazakhstan has also been testing drones for biological crop protection for several years. Researchers from the same institute have used biological preparations on several crops and UAVs to release entomophagous insects against cotton bollworm. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has included this work in its repository of green agriculture practices. The FAO says UAV releases achieved biological effectiveness of 70% against the second generation of cotton bollworm and 82.6% against the third. BioDrop develops this work into an integrated delivery system. A study by Kazakh researchers published in June 2026 describes biodegradable capsules produced using 3D printing and field trials in which biological effectiveness ranged from 69.5% to 82.8%. Practical use of BioDrop is still limited to four farms. The ministry has not provided details about the scale of its use on those farms, leaving its performance over larger commercial areas unclear. Drones are already being used in Kazakhstan’s agriculture to monitor soil and crop conditions. In the East Kazakhstan Region, researchers are combining drone imagery with artificial intelligence to assess fields and plan agricultural operations.

2 months ago

CERN

Kazakh Scientists to Gain More Opportunities to Work at CERN

Kazakhstan is preparing an agreement with CERN that would give its scientists more opportunities to participate in experiments and undertake research internships at one of the world’s leading particle physics centers. The talks come as the country begins developing nuclear power plants and faces a growing need for highly qualified physicists and engineers. The prospect was discussed at a meeting between Kazakhstan’s acting Minister of Science and Higher Education Sayasat Nurbek and CERN Director-General Mark Thomson. The two sides have already prepared a draft protocol expanding their 2018 cooperation agreement. The proposed mechanism would allow Kazakh scientists to undertake research internships and participate in CERN projects through the Scientific Internships program of Kazakhstan’s Center for International Programs. CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, was founded in 1954. Its vast scientific complex is located near Geneva on the border between Switzerland and France. It is home to the Large Hadron Collider, a 27-kilometer particle accelerator, used by physicists to accelerate particles to nearly the speed of light, collide them, and study the fundamental structure of matter. The ATLAS and CMS experiments at the Large Hadron Collider led to the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012, one of the most important breakthroughs in modern physics. CERN has 25 Member States and another 11 Associate Member States. Kazakhstan belongs to neither group. Its cooperation with the organization is based on the 2018 agreement. The draft protocol is intended to create a more formal mechanism for Kazakh researchers to participate in CERN research. For Kazakhstan, training scientists and engineers has become more pressing following the decision to develop nuclear power. In an October 2024 referendum, 71.12% of those who voted supported the construction of a nuclear power plant. In June 2025, Russia’s Rosatom was selected to lead the consortium building the country’s first nuclear power plant near the village of Ulken on the shore of Lake Balkhash, about 400 kilometers from Almaty. Kazakhstan has since expanded those ambitions. A nuclear industry strategy approved in April 2026 calls for at least three nuclear power plants to be operating by 2050. China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) has been selected to lead the development of Kazakhstan’s second nuclear power plant. Plans for a third plant are also being developed, although the technology and contractor have not yet been definitively determined. Buying reactors alone will not be enough – the country also needs its own specialists. Kazakhstan is already allocating dedicated places under the international Bolashak scholarship program to train nuclear energy professionals, while local universities are launching programs for future nuclear power plant employees. Bolashak is a state-funded program that pays for Kazakh citizens to study at universities abroad. While CERN does not train nuclear power plant operators, working at the center can give physicists and engineers experience with particle accelerators, sophisticated detectors, computing systems, and international scientific experiments. For Kazakhstan, this offers an opportunity to develop its own scientific expertise in parallel with training personnel specifically for nuclear power plants.

2 months ago

Agriculture

Weather Boosts Early Kazakhstan Grain Harvest

An unusually hot summer has led to an earlier grain harvest in Kazakhstan. Farmers have already collected 7.7 million tons of grain from roughly a third of the country’s grain-growing area, almost twice as much land as had been harvested at the same point last year. The first batches of wheat are also showing noticeably better quality – an important factor for Kazakhstan’s grain exports to Central Asia and other markets. By this point in 2025, farmers had collected 3.9 million tons of grain, compared with 7.7 million tons this year. The government said in mid-August that warm weather had brought the harvest forward, adding that newer farm machinery and modern farming technology had helped farmers increase the pace. It is still too early to say whether Kazakhstan will repeat its record harvest of 2025. Last year, the country produced more than 27 million tons of grain, including 20.3 million tons of wheat. Expectations for this year had been more cautious. Dry conditions in central and eastern Kazakhstan raised concerns about a smaller crop, and some industry experts suggested production could fall by 15%-20% from last year. The early results, however, suggest the wheat may be of better quality. Of the soft wheat already delivered to grain elevators and tested, 78% has been classified as Grade 3 and another 14% as Grade 4. Grade 5 and ungraded wheat account for 7%. Grade 3 wheat is suitable for flour and bread production. The early figures compare favorably with last year, when 53% of soft wheat was classified in Grades 1-3 and 35% as Grade 4. Gluten levels, another measure of wheat quality, are also strong. Of the wheat tested, 56% has a gluten content above 28%, while another 19% is in the 25%-27% range. That promises to be a boon for exports. Kazakhstan is a major supplier of grain and flour to Central Asia, and also sells to Afghanistan, China, and other markets. A larger share of higher-quality wheat gives exporters more opportunities to sell into higher-value markets. Kazakhstan is also changing what it grows. The government has been reducing the area planted with wheat and encouraging farmers to grow more oilseeds and other more profitable crops. In 2025, the oilseed harvest reached a record of nearly 5 million tons. This year’s oilseed harvest is only just beginning, with 244,000 tons collected so far. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 98% of grain and oilseed crops are currently in good or satisfactory condition. With 35.5% of the grain-growing area harvested so far, the early results point to better wheat quality, but the final size of the crop will depend heavily on the harvest in Kazakhstan’s main grain-producing regions in the north.

2 months ago

Education Ban Mo

Kazakhstan to Open First Ban Mo Workshop as China Expands Industrial Training

China is expanding another dimension of its presence in Kazakhstan – training specialists for industry. The country’s first Ban Mo Workshop will open in Almaty, where students will be trained to work with modern manufacturing technologies and equipment. Ban Mo is a Shandong-backed vocational education initiative designed to link technical training with the needs of companies operating overseas. The center will be established at Satbayev University in partnership with Shandong University of Engineering and Vocational Technologies, after an agreement was reached during a visit by a Kazakh delegation to Shandong Province. The workshop aims to give students practical experience with industrial equipment while still at university. Satbayev University explicitly links the program to the needs of companies developing manufacturing operations in Kazakhstan. “It is important to us that future engineers work with modern equipment while they are still studying, participate in technology projects, and gain hands-on experience in production. The Ban Mo Workshop will allow us to train students with the technologies and real-world needs of our industrial partners in mind,” said Sapar Shalabayev, vice rector of Satbayev University, in the university’s announcement of the project. The wider industrial context is particularly visible in the automotive sector. Astana Motors Manufacturing Kazakhstan, a car plant that opened in Almaty’s industrial zone in September 2025, can produce up to 120,000 vehicles a year, with welding, painting, and assembly carried out at the site. The plant makes Chery, Changan, Haval, and Tank vehicles for Chinese manufacturers. Against this backdrop, Chinese education projects address a very practical need: along with production lines and equipment, new factories need local specialists who know how to operate them. Ban Mo is a relatively new Shandong model for taking vocational education overseas. The province launched its overseas Ban Mo College initiative in 2023, with programs based on cooperation between educational institutions and companies with operations abroad. The name combines two figures from ancient China: Lu Ban, the legendary craftsman and inventor associated with building and engineering, and Mozi, a philosopher whose work encompassed logic, optics, mechanics, and military engineering. Together, the two figures represent the combination of practical craftsmanship and technical knowledge that the program seeks to promote. One of the first overseas projects was Ban Mo College in Zambia, established with the participation of Weihai Vocational College, Copperbelt University, and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation. An agreement to establish it was signed in January 2024, and an official launch ceremony was held in July that year. The program combines vocational skills, Chinese-language instruction, and training for industry. Its focus is construction engineering, with students moving between university study and practical training linked to the Chinese company’s operations in Zambia. For Kazakhstan, this model is not emerging in a vacuum. The country already has three Luban Workshops, part of a better-known Chinese vocational education initiative. The first opened in 2023 at East Kazakhstan Technical University, followed by centers at Eurasian National University in Astana and ALT University in Almaty. For Kazakhstan, this model offers a way to train...

2 months ago

Sports Funding

Kazakhstan Olympic Delegations Capped After Spending Audit

Kazakhstan has limited the number of sports officials who can be included in official Olympic delegations. The new rules follow an audit of spending on the Tokyo Olympics, where Kazakhstan’s delegation included more support staff than athletes, and auditors found there were no uniform rules for determining how many accompanying personnel were actually necessary. Kazakhstan sent 95 athletes and 101 accompanying personnel to the Tokyo Games. They included 62 coaches, 20 medical staff, nine administrative staff, and other personnel. The Supreme Audit Chamber examined the delegation as part of its audit of spending on preparations for the Games. Auditors found that the country had no uniform rules governing the composition of sports delegations. The number of coaches, doctors, administrative staff and government officials was determined separately for each trip, making it difficult to assess whether travel expenses were justified. The Audit Chamber said the new rules were intended to prevent “extra” accompanying personnel from being included in delegations and reduce the risk of unjustified spending. Following the audit, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports introduced limits for different categories of accompanying personnel. The rules will apply to the Olympic, Paralympic, and Deaflympic Games, and other major international competitions. Officials face the tightest restrictions. At the Summer Olympics, Ministry of Tourism and Sports employees may account for no more than 3% of the number of athletes, while representatives of its Committee for Sports and Physical Culture are limited to 2%. For a team of 100 athletes, that would mean a maximum of three ministry employees and two committee representatives. The limits are substantially higher for personnel who work directly with athletes. At the Summer Olympics, coaches may number up to 86% of the athlete delegation, while doctors, massage therapists, and other medical staff may account for up to 28%. The significance of the new rules is less the precise size of each quota than the fact that Kazakhstan now has a benchmark for judging whether the number of people accompanying athletes – including government officials – is reasonable. Previously, delegation sizes were determined on a case-by-case basis. The new restrictions are part of a broader review of Kazakhstan’s spending on sports. Since the summer of 2025, public funds have been barred from being used to pay foreign athletes playing for Kazakhstani teams. As The Times of Central Asia previously reported, that measure, together with wider limits on professional sports spending, has saved more than $17 million, with the money redirected to youth sports. Ultimately, the audit of Kazakhstan’s Tokyo Olympic spending exposed less a problem with the size of one particular delegation than the absence of clear rules for forming such delegations. The new quotas give auditors a benchmark for the first time: delegations will now have to remain within defined limits.

2 months ago

AI in Education

Tokayev Criticizes Delays in Kazakhstan’s School AI Rollout

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has criticized delays in Kazakhstan’s drive to introduce artificial intelligence into schools, saying the government had failed to implement his May decree properly ahead of the new academic year. Speaking at Kazakhstan’s annual August conference for educators, Tokayev said: “Its implementation ahead of the new academic year has not been properly ensured. This is a major shortcoming.” He called for urgent measures to regulate and systematize the use of AI by children and teachers. The May decree set a tight schedule. A comprehensive implementation plan was due by July 1. Pilot schools and their internet connections were to be ready by August 1, along with synchronized regional plans. National standards governing AI use are due by September 1. Tokayev did not specify which targets had been missed. The standards are intended to cover AI-generated educational content, assessment, and academic integrity. The decree also requires stronger protection of students’ personal data and a professional development plan for teachers. It says AI should be used as an additional classroom tool without replacing teachers’ work. Astana sees the program as preparation for employment rather than simply another digital classroom initiative. “Artificial intelligence and its tools are not amusing toys, but a means of earning a living,” Tokayev said. AI material is due to be added to existing digital literacy and computer science courses during the 2026-27 academic year. A separate rural-school pilot is scheduled to begin on September 1 in ten small schools in the Pavlodar and Kyzylorda regions. Officials plan to expand it to 50 schools in November and another 300 in January 2027. The pilot will test personalized learning in fourth-grade mathematics, digital literacy, native-language classes, and AI. The government sees the technology as one way to narrow the longstanding gap in educational opportunities between urban and rural schools. International guidance points to questions the national standards may need to settle. UNESCO recommends a minimum age of 13 for independent use of generative AI, protection of students’ personal data, and teacher training. Kazakhstan’s decree addresses data protection and training but does not specify an age threshold. The government has until September 1 to approve the national standards and its plan for teachers’ professional development.

2 months ago

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