Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has praised Turkish schools operating in his country, saying these schools have been making a significant contribution to the development of the Central Asian country.
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| Nazarbayev visited the Nur Orda Kazakh-Turkish High School. |
“The Turkish schools in the country have made a big contribution to expanding the qualified human capital in Kazakhstan,” Nazarbayev was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency on Thursday during a visit to Astana's Nur Orda Kazakh-Turkish High School, where he attended a ceremony marking the start of the 2011-2012 school year in the country.
Recalling that Turkey recognized Kazakhstan on Dec. 16, 1991, the same day Kazakhstan declared its independence, Nazarbayev explained that Turkish schools were opened in his country at the time upon advice by the late Turkish President Turgut Özal.
Students of these schools have been very successful in science Olympiads, the Kazakh president said.
Noting that he inaugurated the Nur Orda Kazakh-Turkish High School, established as part of the Kazakh-Turkish Education Foundation (KATEV), back in 2007, Nazarbayev added: “At this school, four languages are being taught in addition to physics, biology and mathematics. Parents benefit significantly from having their children learn four languages in addition to the positive sciences. You should realize the value of this education.”
More than half of the students on scholarship who entered Nazarbayev University last year were graduates of Turkish high schools, the president said, while congratulating the administrators of these schools.
Kazakhstan is home to two Turkish universities and 27 Turkish schools.
On Wednesday, Nazarbayev inaugurated the international Haileybury boarding and day school in Astana, built by Turkish construction company Ata Story. The school, which cost $46 million, was funded by the Foundation of the First President of Kazakhstan and some of the country's leading businesses. It has six laboratories, three recording studios, a workshop, 10 music classes, a dance studio, a theater seating 780, as well as a gym, two pools, four tennis courts and a football field which complies with UEFA standards.
This is the second branch of the school in Kazakhstan. Nazarbayev previously opened the first such institution in Almaty. A total of 640 students are expected to attend the Haileybury High School in Astana this year.
Published on Today's Zaman, 01 September 2011, Thursday
