The Bolashak program opens up study abroad for undergraduate students who are winners of international Olympiads and scientific project competitions. Deputy Askhat Aimagambetov reported that the Majilis adopted the corresponding norm. Currently, the Bolashak program is only available for master's and doctoral studies.
It is noted that those graduates who won Olympiads and competitions of scientific projects in school have the opportunity to study for a bachelor's degree. This is primarily, as Aimagambetov writes, a fight against the so-called brain drain. "Bolashak" closed the bachelor's degree in 2011. And, since there are no educational programs in Kazakhstan, gifted applicants agree to offers from top universities in other countries and often remain abroad – not all return to Kazakhstan.
"Previously, Bolashak covered only master's and doctoral studies. This is, in principle, normal, but there were questions about the winners of international Olympiads. Top foreign universities immediately offer them grants for bachelor's degrees, and, accordingly, they went abroad. At that stage, we could not offer similar support, which is why we often lost such children who not only studied abroad, but also stayed there after their studies. Providing a grant from the state budget for such children is the right step," wrote Askhat Aimagambetov.
What else is known
The Bolashak program is more than 30 years old, inform.kz reports . During this time, almost 13,000 fellow citizens have received foreign education – this is about 400 people per year. Over 7,000 Kazakhstanis have received a master's degree.
2.5 thousand people managed to complete their bachelor's degree (when this program was still open). Almost 230 people received a doctorate degree, and more than 2,000 compatriots completed an internship. These were mainly humanitarian and technical specialties, about 9% were graduates of medical universities, and only 2% improved their skills in creative disciplines.
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