Education funding in Kazakhstan nears 7 trillion tenge
In 2025, the revenues of Kazakhstan’s educational institutions reached 6.99 trillion tenge, while expenses exceeded 6.7 trillion tenge. The bulk of these expenses, as usual, was spent on employee salaries, Qazinform News Agency reports.
According to the National Statistics Bureau, compared to 2024, the revenues of educational institutions increased by more than 691 billion tenge - from 6.29 trillion to 6.99 trillion tenge. Expenditures over the same period increased by approximately 636 billion tenge - from 6.08 trillion to 6.72 trillion tenge.
In 2025, the largest share of funding within the revenue structure went to basic and general secondary education institutions - 54.6% of the total. Higher and postgraduate education accounted for 14.5%, preschool education for 14.1%, and technical and vocational education for 7%.
The main expenditure item remains labor costs. In 2025, 4.89 trillion tenge was allocated for wages and related payments, accounting for 72.8% of all education sector spending. Another 740.9 billion tenge, or 11%, went to the purchase of services, while other expenses amount to 1.09 trillion tenge.
The largest financial volumes were recorded in the basic and general secondary education sector. School revenues in 2025 amounted to 3.82 trillion tenge, compared to 3.47 trillion tenge of the previous year. Expenditures rose to 3.76 trillion tenge.
In preschool education, revenues increased from 881.3 billion to 983.7 billion tenge, while expenditures surged from 854.1 billion to 946.2 billion tenge.
Significant growth was also observed in higher and postgraduate education. In 2025, university revenues hit 1 trillion tenge for the first time, reaching 1.01 trillion tenge. Expenditures amounted to 903.9 billion tenge, against 767.2 billion in the previous year.
In technical and vocational education, revenues soared to 488.6 billion tenge, while expenditures increased to 480.5 billion tenge.
Growth was also recorded in supplementary education. Thus, educational institutions in the field of sports and recreation increased their revenue to 174 billion tenge, while cultural institutions raised theirs to 91.5 billion tenge.
The most notable growth in relative terms was recorded by driver training schools: their revenues increased from 3.6 billion to 6.1 billion tenge, while expenditures rose to 5.4 billion tenge.
Earlier, it was reported that as part of her working visit to Uzbekistan, Kazakh Enlightenment Minister Zhuldyz Suleimenova met with Uzbek Preschool and School Education Minister Ezzoza Karimova to discuss strengthening cooperation in the education sector,
