Education and science development – one of key priorities of Kazakhstan’s state policy – President
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev participated in the Kazakh-Singaporean Forum of Rectors on “New Stages of Partnership in Science and Higher Education” as part of his state visit to Singapore, Kazinform News Agency reports citing the press service of Akorda.
Welcoming the participants, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that development of education and science remains one of the key priorities of Kazakhstan’s state policy.
“Today’s forum is an important landmark in our cooperation. It is called to bring the Kazakh-Singaporean interaction in education and scientific research to a higher level. Yesterday I had very substantive talks with the President and Prime Minister of Singapore on a wide range of issues of the bilateral cooperation, including science, education and human contacts. Kazakhstan’s transition to more transparent and sustainable market economy requires dynamic, stable education standards and digital transformation,” the Head of State emphasized.
The President pointed out the importance of Kazakhstan's consistent approach to the opening of branches of leading universities in its territory and to the development of research partnership with foreign universities.
“We have established strategic alliances with 19 prestigious universities within the past several years. U.S., British, Russian and German universities have already opened their branches in our country. Chinese, Turkish, Italian and other universities are also interested in Kazakhstan,” said the President.
The President reminded of signing a memorandum of cooperation in higher education between the two countries' relevant ministries yesterday.
“This dynamics will be continued by adoption of a number of other documents including the memorandum of mutual understanding with the Nanyang Technological University. It aims at the establishment of cooperation in water resources management – this issue is of paramount importance for Kazakhstan. Water is a vitally important resource which affects all aspects of our lives – from agriculture to industry, from healthcare to environment. Effective management of water resources is of decisive importance for sustainable development and economic stability,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stated.
Further, the President said that Kazakhstan strives to send its researchers and scholars to Singapore under the Bolashak Presidential Scholarship Program. According to him, more than 12,000 Kazakhstani students were granted Bolashak scholarship to study in the best universities of the world, including 72 in Singapore.
“I hope that more Kazakh students will be able to obtain experience and knowledge in your beautiful country. Every year, we allocate 500 research scholarships. We look forward to increase the number of Kazakhstani scholars in Singapore. Education and science are the cornerstones of progress and innovations. By investing in these spheres, we care about our future. Our partnership with Singapore is an evidence of that international cooperation contributes to the progress and creates opportunities for our peoples,” the President emphasized.
Minister of Education of Singapore Mohamad Maliki bin Osman and President of the National University of Singapore, professor Tan Eng Chye took floor at the forum. The event brought together more than 150 representatives of higher education institutions and research centers of Kazakhstan and Singapore.
