Kazakhstan Declares 2026 the Year of Digitalization and AI in Education

Kazakhstan's President has designated 2026 as the Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, initiating a major overhaul of the national education system. The strategic goal is to transition towards an innovative and flexible model, cultivating a generation equipped to thrive in the global digital economy.

The reform aims to modernize schools into environments that foster not just knowledge acquisition but also critical thinking, project-based learning, and information processing skills. To build foundational digital competencies, the state has revised curricula for "Digital Literacy" and "Computer Science" subjects for grades 1 through 9.

National infrastructure is being developed to support this shift. The unified educational platform "QazTech" and a national education database are designed to enable personalized learning pathways for students and streamline daily tasks for teachers. Forecasts suggest that integrating AI and digital technologies could boost the education system's productivity by 10-15% by 2030.

A key initiative is the "Qazaq Digital Mektebi" project, which seeks to bridge the digital divide between urban and rural schools. Domestic AI tools like Roqed AI, Kashgari, Stem-solutions, and testter.kz are already being implemented. Pilot programs in several Astana schools (No. 99, 101, 104, 107) have demonstrated that using AI for tasks like grading assignments increases efficiency and significantly reduces teacher workload.

Upskilling educators is a top priority. In 2025, over 240,000 teachers completed specialized courses on the "Өрleu" platform. In 2026, an additional 200,000 education professionals will learn to create their own AI assistants through the "ChatGPT Edu" project. These training programs span all levels of education.

The effort extends internationally with the "Day of AI Qazaqstan" project in collaboration with MIT. This initiative focuses on boosting AI literacy among schoolchildren and integrating AI elements into various subjects. Plans are also underway to develop special courses for parents to actively involve them in their children's digital learning journey.