The educational system in Kazakhstan is conducted in two languages - Kazakh and Russian andconsists of several levels of state and private educational establishments: infant schools, elementary (or primary) schools, comprehensive schools, colleges and academies. The constitutionof the Republic of Kazakhstan fixes the right of citizens of the republic on free-of-charge secondaryeducation which is obligatory. The constitution prohibits any discrimination on the basis oflanguage or ethnicity and guaran¬tees equal rights in education regardless of nationality. Childrenstart school at the age of 7 and finish at 17. As a rule a child attends the school, located in theneighborhood. However, in big cities there are so-called special schools, offering more in depthstudies of the major European languages (English, French, German) or the advanced courses inphysics and math¬ematics and children, attending one of this may have to com¬mute from home.The first stage of education in Kazakhstan is elementary (or primary) school for grades one throughfour. The second is sec¬ondary school for middle grades from five through nine. Upon graduationfrom secondary school students are given the choice of either continuing to attend the same school (high school -senior grades 10-11) or entering a vocational or technical school. Both of theseschools are meant to provide one, along with the certificate of secondary education with a numberof useful skills (e.g. those of an electrician, technical or computer oper¬ators.) Having completedone's secondary education, one can either become a part of work force or go on college (institutionof higher learning-Institute). To be admitted to the institute one has to pass a series of oral or written tests.Students may getfree-of-charge higher education in the higher educational institution and the limited number of thestate grants is given each academic year on a competitive basis. Some college departments (law, journalism, foreign language-especially English) have dozens of applicants for one prospectivestudent's position. The system of higher education prepares highly - skilled experts on economy, trans¬port, agriculture, medicine, languages and others. Today the young people of Kazakhstanhave the opportunity to choose and acquire various types of education and build their livesaccording to their ambitions. Studying of foreign languages and development of computer skills of pupils is of a specialimportance.
