Senator Andrey Lukin appealed to Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov to investigate the effectiveness of the government scholarship, which marked its 30th anniversary in 2023. The senator’s main complaints are about the thousands of violations in the program’s implementation, the lack of an effective mechanism for monitoring the work activities of the scholars and for reimbursing the budget funds spent on their education.
Expensive and Rich
Over the past years, more than 15,000 scholars have been trained in foreign universities under the «Bolashak» program, with nearly 12,000 specialists prepared. Accordingly, about 200 billion tenge has been allocated for these purposes over the last 12 years. However, due to sometimes inadequate organization by the Center for International Programs (ЦМП) and improper coordination by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, funds allocated for training and upgrading qualifications abroad are used inefficiently, including instances of embezzlement. This leads to unjustified budget expenses and discredits the very idea of «Bolashak,» stated Lukin.
According to him, not all scholarship recipients return to the country and work continuously in their specialty within Kazakhstan, as required by the «Bolashak» program. The number of such cases is around one thousand.
Senator noted, «For only 24 graduates (who are not working in their profession at all), the expenditure on their education amounted to more than 750 million tenge. Thus, the actual monitoring of the work fulfillment is formal and does not influence the conscientious fulfillment of obligations by the scholars.
There are cases amounting to over 100 million tenge where the leadership of the «Center for International Programs» improperly removed encumbrances from the pledged property of Bolashak students.
In total, the debt of more than 340 deprived and 60 scholarship-refusing individuals amounts to 6.6 billion tenge. Moreover, the process of returning these funds to the state is lengthy, facilitated by the inaction of responsible persons at the Center. For instance, due to procedural omissions, courts have denied claims totaling over 40 million tenge, the basis of which is the expiration of the statute of limitations. There are 50 instances of failure to send legally binding court decisions for enforced collection, involving around 500 million tenge”, the Senator said.
The budget lost over 1 billion tenge following the default of JSC «Bank Astana» and Qazaq Banki, and 268 scholarship recipients stayed abroad, effectively turning «Bolashak» into educational tourism.
Who Studies Like This?
In 2019, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev expressed dissatisfaction with Bolashak-educated bureaucrats, drawing attention to the Ministry of National Economy and the Ministry of Education, where several deputy ministers took off for studies abroad.
What kind of study under the «Bolashak» program can there be after the age of 45 and later? And this example is not unique, as such cases occur in a number of institutions at a lower level. “Employees come to their bosses and say: I have been trained under the «Bolashak» program, let me go to study. The positions of these newly minted master’s degree holders are reserved for them, that is, for those who have left for studies, new deputy ministers are appointed for one year until they return from their studies”, the president was indignant.
Four years have passed since then, and as it turns out, the situation has not improved.
Galym Baituk, Deputy Chairman of the Board — First Vice-Rector of Kokshetau State University named after Ualikhanov and Deputy Chairman of the Public Chamber of the Mazhilis, also cited the scandal with the first batch of Bolashak scholars in the 90s who did not return to the country.
Subsequently, attempts were made to reform the program, adopting various measures to address the problem of graduates not returning, but it remains a pressing issue. «Here, I agree with Deputy Andrey Lukin, as a lot of funds are spent on the implementation of ‘Bolashak’. By the way, no one publicly provided the KPI of the scholarship. People do not return, do not pay, and there is a problem that they do not work in their specialty or do not demonstrate the necessary competence. Most likely, this percentage is high. I believe that ‘Bolashak’ should be left only for doctoral studies, and be closed for master’s students. If someone really wants to study, there is, for example, ‘Nazarbayev University’ in Kazakhstan, and branches of serious foreign universities are opening. As Talgat Musabayev once said — Bolashak students spend most of their time in beer bars. And since there are precedents, it would be correct to save money for other educational projects within the country,» concluded Baituk.
How Beautifully It Began
Among the high-ranking officials of Kazakhstan nurtured by «Bolashak,» less than a third remain in office. The rest «did not justify the trust» and parted ways either with their positions or both their positions and freedom.
From the most well-known Bolashak graduates:
- Madina Abilkasymova heads the Agency for Financial Supervision.
- Timur Suleimenov leads the National Bank.
- Yerbol Taszhurekov holds the post of Vice Minister of Agriculture.
- Gabidulla Ospankulov works as the First Deputy Head of the Government Apparatus.
- Madiyar Kozhakhmet is the head of the Committee for Civil Society Affairs of the Ministry of Information and Public Development.
Here’s a list of former officials with criminal convictions in their biographies:
- Kuandyk Bishimbayev, who served time for corruption and is under investigation for the murder of his wife.
- Former Vice Minister of Health Olzhas Abishev, sentenced in 2022 to 4 years of restricted freedom for abuse of office.
- Former Deputy Akim of Atyrau region Nursaule Sailauova, received 2 years in prison for corruption in 2020.
- Former Deputy Akim of Turkistan region Meirzhan Mirzaliyev, in 2021 was a suspect in a criminal case involving embezzlement.
And of course, there’s the group that simply vanished from the public service for various «political» and other reasons:
- Former Akim of Almaty Bauyrzhan Baibek
- Former Akim of Astana Altai Kulginov
- The flamboyant Mayor of Shymkent Gabidolla Abdrakhimov
- Former Akim of Pavlodar Anuar Kumpekeyev.
It will be interesting to see what Alikhan Smailov’s response will be to Senator Lukin’s parliamentary inquiry.
