Tokayev orders end to teacher paperwork and certification reform

September 3, 2026 at 03:48 PM2 min

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President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev ordered the Ministry of Education to cut teacher paperwork and streamline certification at the August conference plenary session. He said Kazakhstan still needs more than 5,000 teachers despite 12,000 pedagogical grants awarded this year. The president also criticized regions with low UNT scores and called for an end to superficial reforms.

Key Facts

President Tokayev said education funding has tripled over seven years to 6.4 trillion tenge.
Kazakhstan needs more than 5,000 additional teachers, Tokayev said at the August conference.
This year 12,000 school graduates received state grants for pedagogical specialties, including over 2,000 Altyn Belgi holders.
Tokayev instructed the Ministry of Education to propose new approaches to solve the teacher shortage.
The president ordered optimization of teacher certification requirements after receiving many complaints about excessive workload and paperwork.

Teacher Shortage

Tokayev identified the teacher shortage as one of the main problems in the education sector. He said the country needs more than 5,000 additional teachers because the population is growing steadily and many new schools have been built in recent years. This year 12,000 school graduates received state grants for pedagogical specialties, including over 2,000 Altyn Belgi holders. Tokayev said this is not enough to fully solve the personnel shortage and instructed the Ministry of Education to propose new approaches.

Certification Reform

The president said he received many appeals from teachers about certification rules, with complaints about excessive workload and paperwork. Tokayev instructed to optimize the requirements for teacher certification. He said fair assessment of knowledge is the core of the education system and that a clear and transparent system is needed.

Regional Disparities

Tokayev noted differences in education quality between regions. According to this year's UNT results, graduates from Kyzylorda, North Kazakhstan, Pavlodar and Kostanay regions, as well as Astana and Almaty cities, achieved high scores. The president criticized results in several other regions.