Kazakhstan makes steady progress in education: Vice Minister Sarybekov

"It has become a great tradition to hold regional as well as international olympiads for schoolchildren in Kazakhstan," the Vice Minister said in the exclusive interview. "In 2010, Kazakhstan hosted the International Mathematics Olympiad. Last year it was Olympiad in Chemistry. We also plan to welcome the International Olympiads in Physics and in Computer Science in 2014 and 2015 respectively. Thanks to such events, Kazakhstan has earned a remarkable standing and is competitive in the educational services market."

M. Sarybekov stressed the intellectual contests are, in the first place, aimed at searching for talented youngsters and their further development.

"Each intellectual competition contributes to the development of national education in Kazakhstan," he told Kazinform correspondent.

Vice Minister Sarybekov also reminded of a special program created in the country to set up a network of schools that will work with gifted children.

"The Daryn schools for talented children, the Kazakh-Turkish schools and the Nazarbayev Intellectual schools, to name a few, serve the ultimate purpose of helping young talented Kazakhstanis find their way in life. A new Nazarbayev school was opened in Shymkent. One more is set to open its doors in Taraz this September," he said. "And I think that olympiads are a great experimental platform where we can look for kids with certain talents, who fit the bill."

The republican olympiad in humanities took place in Taraz the other day. It brought together 574 schoolchildren from 14 regions of Kazakhstan, Astana and Almaty cities.