Ahead of the new school year, parents in Kazakhstan have voiced dissatisfaction with the condition of textbooks issued to students. The problem has been particularly acute in Shymkent, where the city's education department has issued official clarifications, reports infohub.kz.
A complaint appeared on the social network Threads from a mother of a student at one of Shymkent's schools. The woman posted photos of the textbooks her child received and fumed: "School No. 38-gymnasium - they gave us textbooks like these. What is the school looking at? Where is the money allocated for textbooks? What is the director looking at? In the library, they said they've been using these textbooks for 9 years."
Under the post, other users also shared their stories. One commenter said: "At our school No. 9, they're in the same condition; these books have been used for 10 years. A new edition is coming soon, just be patient, parents." Another parent complained: "We were given books where half the pages are missing. How can a child study with them, do homework, if half the pages are missing, I don't know. The school says to download an electronic book from the internet and look at it." Another user noted: "My children also received almost all textbooks in the same deplorable condition. I specifically looked at the year of publication of some textbooks; some are 10 years old."
The Shymkent Education Department commented on the situation, stating that work to provide subordinate state educational institutions with textbooks is carried out annually, on a planned basis, and in accordance with the requirements of current legislation. The department clarified: "In particular, for the 2025-2026 school year, about 2 billion tenge was allocated from the local budget. For state educational institutions, 554,382 textbooks were purchased and distributed in a timely manner among educational organizations. In addition, for the 2026-2027 school year, more than 2 billion tenge is provided from the local budget. To update the library fund and replace worn-out copies, orders have been placed with 11 publishing houses for the supply of almost 600 thousand textbooks."
According to the education department, textbooks are currently being delivered to Shymkent. After their arrival, worn-out textbooks will be replaced in stages, and issues related to the shortage of textbooks in educational organizations will be resolved in accordance with established procedures.