A scandal has erupted in Karaganda as nearly one hundred applicants did not receive the promised state grants for several specialties. Parents are outraged, and the situation is being commented on by the college and the education department, reports infohub.kz.
Oksana Matveeva told a TV channel that her daughter, after finishing the 9th grade, decided to pursue a profession as a technician-appraiser. The Karaganda college promised admission without entrance exams and a stipend. According to the woman, documents for the grant were submitted in June, and they were to gather everyone on August 25. But neither on that day nor later was there any information. Oksana only learned on September 4 that there would be no grant. If they had been warned in advance, her daughter would have had time to apply for a grant in another specialty, the mother complained.
"It turns out that on June 25, all co-founders were gathered at the department and told that there would be no grants for such professions. That is, our professions did not qualify for grants, and there was no grant for accounting or auditing either. So they knew from the start, but for some reason no one even informed us," said Oksana Matveeva, mother of one of the college applicants.
At the Bukenov Higher College, they responded that the specialties had been included in the list for which state funding is allocated. However, by August it turned out that for some professions, grants were allocated only for one language of instruction. One hundred people were left without grants, and another 69 are in question.
"In the admissions committee, we hoped until the last moment that there would be an opportunity to cover these applicants and they could participate in the competition. But since the database is closed, we cannot add anyone. We also apologize to the parents and understand that there is also our mistake here," said Nadiya Spanova, director of the Bukenov Higher College in Karaganda.
Among the applicants left without grants are excellent students, orphans, and those under guardianship. All are offered to stay at the college on a paid basis with a 50% discount. The Education Department responded that this year even more grants were allocated than before, but for blue-collar specialties. The information was posted on the OQU platform. Everyone could submit documents online.
"This year, the task was to cover those specialties where there is the greatest demand. These are blue-collar professions, specifically in industry, in all areas that we need today in the region," said Guldana Nursultan, head of the technical and vocational education department of the Karaganda region education department.
The TV channel adds that starting in 2025, Kazakhstan has increased the volume of state orders for blue-collar and technical professions in demand in the country. Education is provided on the basis of state grants, which are distributed through a competition of documents, and the average score of the 9th-grade certificate is necessarily taken into account.