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The Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the School of International Relations and Public Policy of Columbia University (New York, USA) are working on an important project entitled "Enhancing the role of Kazakhstan as a regional center of higher education".

The Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan strives to turn Kazakhstan into a regional educational hub.

In this regard, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan is interested in developing the necessary strategic directions to attract more foreign students to Kazakhstan. The main goal of the strategic direction is to make Kazakhstan attractive for foreign students by demonstrating its educational market and improving the overall experience of working in the country.

To this end, today, March 11, 2024, at the S.Seifullin Kazakh Agrotechnical Research University (KATRU) there was a meeting-interview with the representatives of Columbia University from New York, the USA.

Vice-Rectors, Directors of the departments, faculty deans, the administrative staff  have participated at the meeting.

Chairman of the Board - Rector, academician of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kanat Tireuov, moderator of the interview, briefly spoke about the achievements of KATRU and its prestigious position in the world ranking:

"Saken Seifullin Kazakh Agrotechnical Research University is a prestigious higher educational institution of the country, in which more than 12 thousand full-time students and young scientists. Our educational institution is included in the Top-3 agrarian universities of Kazakhstan, as well as in the number of 7 universities with the status of "Research University" among 119 higher educational institutions of the country. KATRU, founded as an institute in 1957, today is a center of scientific and technical innovations and scientific research. It unites the country's education with science and industry to prepare in-demand specialists to meet the needs of industry and economy."

"Our large state university is known for its technological innovations and scientific research. In 2022, we started work on transformation to bring our university to the world level. For this, we have created a new strategic program of our educational institution and approved short-, medium- and long-term goals," the Rector said in his speech.

Saparkhan Omarov, Member of the Board - Vice-Rector for operational activities, spoke about the position of the university at the international level:

"Today KATRU exchanges experience and works within the framework of a partnership agreement with about 200 higher educational institutions in 35 countries of the world. We currently cooperate with 7 universities in the USA. This year, within the framework of the international program "Bolashak", 37 students and our university professors went to study at the leading universities of the world, including Columbia University. Our country has the desire, potential and opportunity to turn Kazakhstan into a regional educational center. Therefore, we fully support your system plans to facilitate the transition of our country into a regional educational center," he said.

The interviewers of the meeting, Philip Crane and Savina Savoka, representatives of Columbia University, have asked KATRU management about the quality of education in the country, the availability of education, science and innovation, internationalization, employment opportunities for graduates, and state aid.

For example, to the question "What changes should be made in the country to attract more foreign students, especially students from other countries of Central Asia?" the Director of the Department for Academic Affairs Zhakenbai Jurgenov answered the following:

"Kazakhstan is a full member of the European Higher Education Area, the first signatory of the Bologna Declaration among the states of the former Soviet Union. Our university is a multidisciplinary educational institution that trains specialists not only in the field of agriculture, engineering and technical sphere, but also in 136 educational programs in the field of IT, art, activity, and economics.

In order to attract foreign students, including from Central Asian countries, the university is working on optimizing educational programs, preparing two-degree joint programs, etc. And one of the main difficulties is the low level of language skills of graduates entering higher education institutions. As a solution to the issue, we first provide special training for future students at the Department of Foreign Languages," he said.

Then the interviewers were interested: "What is the most successful strategy for attracting foreign students to Kazakhstan?". Zhainagul Kusayunova, Member of the Board - Vice-Rector for student affairs, Doctor of Philological Sciences, answered as following:

"Currently, citizens of the neighboring countries of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Russia are studying at our university. Last year, 1 student from Germany came to us. This year, 1 student from Nigeria is studying. Our university pays great attention to the social situation of foreign students. For example, the price of living in an accommadiation is the lowest in the Republic”.

         Deans of faculties shared their thoughts, giving answers to the questions "What are the characteristics of the quality of education in public and private universities?", "What are the advantages of one over the another?", "Are there examples of cooperation between the university and the private sector? How successful is it?" etc.

During the meeting, Philip Crane emphasized that the quality of education in Kazakhstan is much higher than in universities in the rest of Central Asia.

Next, the interviewer Savina Savoka focused on the sphere of science and innovation: "How do you evaluate the level of research and innovation in your university and universities of Kazakhstan?"

The comparative answer to this question from the domestic and foreign point of view gave the Member of the Board - Vice-Rector for scientific and innovative activities, Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Yerzhan Syrgaliev.

"At KATRU science is mainly conducted in the field of agriculture. In 2023, 128 scientific projects were implemented for a total amount of 4.6 billion tenge, including: 23 projects for targeted program financing, 64 projects for grant financing, 40 contracts for conducting research with economic entities and 1 international project "Creation of promising potato networks based on genetic resources of China and the Republic of Kazakhstan". We won a mega-project worth 4 billion tenge. 1 scientific project is implemented with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In adition, a meeting with our partner Wageningen University (Netherlands) will soon take place within the framework of a scientific project," he said.

          To the last question "How often is the vacancy fair held at the university?" Galym Kazbekov, head of the Career, Practice and Employment Center, responded with the following answer:

"A vacancy fair is held annually for companies and employers to participate in the employment of graduates. More than 100 leading Kazakh companies and organizations actively participate in this event every year, which actively attract young specialists to temporary and permanent work. "Vacancy Fair" is a dialogue platform where graduates can get all information about vacancies and employment conditions. For instance, in the fair vacancies in 2023 more than 200 students were employed".

At the end of the interview, Vice-Rector Saparkhan Omarov expressed his sincere gratitude to foreign colleagues for the work to promote the transformation of our country into a regional center of education and for a fruitful partnership in the future.

Yasmina Naizakul