The Republic of Kazakhstan inherited a developed education system from the Soviet Union. During the period of transition right after independence, however, the education sector was continuously under-funded and school closures were all too common. As with other Central Asian states, rural schools suffered much more than schools in urban areas at that time. ECCE institutions, formerly linked to factories and other places of state employment under Soviet rule, experienced a particularly high number of closures. In addition in rural regions, school attendance is affected by a mix of socio-economic reasons from lack of appropriate winter clothing to school materials (UNESCO 2008). The latter is a particularly significant obstacle in Kazakhstan because students must purchase their own textbooks, making access to these materials problematic in under-privileged rural areas. Despite these issues, Kazakhstan’s education system has often been applauded for providing schooling in 5 languages: Kazakh, Russian, Uyghur, Uzbek and Tajik (ECOSOC 2008).  Moreover, Net Enrolment Ratios (NERs) remain relatively high: averaging 89% for primary and 86% for secondary schools (UIS n.d.). Gender parity in education is not an issue of concern in Kazakhstan as there are more girls than boys enrolled in primary education (90% vs. 89%) and an equal number of girls and boys enrolled in secondary education (86%) (UIS 2009).

The disparities between the rural and the urban areas are most pronounced in terms of education quality. First off, it is becoming increasingly difficult to incite quality teachers to work in remote rural areas. In general, teachers receive little training on methodologies and have limited opportunities for practical experiences in the classroom. Secondly, test results of children in rural areas are considerably lower than those of their urban counterparts. A lot of children in distant regions abandon their studies at an early age to participate in farm work. These challenges are common at both primary and secondary levels of education in rural areas. Another divide exists at the level of the language of instruction. Studies have shown that students who study in Kazakh tend to score lower on university entrance exams than those who study in Russian. Moreover, Kazakh students tend to come from rural areas, thereby exacerbating the regional inequalities. 

Immediately after achieving independence, education funding experienced considerable cuts. In 1991, the education sector represented 19% of total expenditures but that number fell to 12% by 2005 (UIS n.d.). Despite economic advances, funding levels have not yet reached those of 1991 (UNESCO 2008). Currently, there is a budgetary overlap between the national and the local levels. This absence of clear delineation often creates bottlenecks for the approval of programmes. In addition, each region is responsible for elaborating its own education budget, which creates significant imbalances across the country.

Reforming the system of education financing is one of the current priorities of the Kazakh government. This is outlined in the State Programme on Education and the Strategic Plan of Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan (2010-20) that also seeks to establish greater transparency in the financial process and to allocate more funds to innovative educational programmes. The programme seeks to achieve several goals such as: improving financing of the education sector; enhancing the prestige of the teaching profession; ensuring that all eligible children receive preschool education and training services; etc. In addition, the government is in the process of reforming the 11-year into a 12-year education system, which would bring the higher education system in line with the Bologna Process (UNESCO 2008). The Concept of Education Development in the Republic of Kazakhstan up to 2015 and the State Programme of Development of Education in the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2005-10 outline the other significant government strategies in reforming and modernizing the sector by making it more responsive to the needs of the country’s increasingly globalized economy.