28,000 first-graders to start school in Kazakh capital this academic year

28,000 first-graders are to start school in the new 2024/25 academic year in Astana, Kazinform News Agency reports.

According to the city’s administration, 282,150 pupils are to attend 187 schools in Astana starting this academic year. Of these, 110 are public schools with 233,006 students, 70 private ones with 42,674 students, and seven republican one with 6,470 students.

28,000 first-graders are to start school in the new 2024/25 academic year in Astana, with 24,100 have already been enrolled.

Astana city’s education office chief Kassymkhan Sengazyev noted that the city had eight triple-shift and 16 overcrowded schools as well as a shortage of 27,800 school places by the end of the past academic year. Sengazyev went on to add that 32 double-shift schools for almost 100,000 places are under construction to tackle this problem. Of these, over 20 schools are set to be commissioned by the yearend.

So, 12 single-shift schools for a total of 15,850 places are to be opened this September. Nine more single-shift schools for 14,440 places are set to be commissioned before December. Under the Comfortable School program, construction of 24 schools for 90 thousand places is to be completed before 2025.

According to Sengazyev, repairs have been carried out at 33 education facilities in Astana, with two undergoing major repairs and 31 maintenance works.