Why KAFU became the first university in Kazakhstan with foreign participation
The Kazakh-American Free University of International Partnership turns 30
At the origins of the first university in Kazakhstan with foreign participation (it remained so for 30 long years) that appeared in the east of the country was Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan Yerezhep Mambetkaziyev. This was another of his daring innovations. Before that, on the basis of a provincial pedagogical institute in Ust-Kamenogorsk, he created the East Kazakhstan State University, the third university of this rank in Kazakhstan after KazSU and KarSU. Even earlier, in the late 80s, he tested the Bologna process right here in Ust-Kamenogorsk, which is now widely accepted by Kazakhstani education.
– At that time, together with colleagues from Lomonosov Moscow State University, we conducted an experiment to transfer the Western education model to domestic soil, – recalls Erezhep Mambetkaziyev. – It all started with the arrival of a commission from the Kazakh SSR Ministry of Education to our pedagogical institute. An interesting conversation took place then with one of its “emissaries”, Nina Podolskaya. We decided to give students educational materials in different portions, depending on their abilities and knowledge of foreign languages. Podolskaya liked the idea. She suggested that we prepare a memo addressed to the Chairman of the USSR State Committee for Public Education Gennady Yagodin. Our petition was heard, and soon an order was issued to introduce a multi-level education system, as is customary in the West. Its experimental sites were Moscow State University, Leningrad State University, and Ust-Kamenogorsk State Pedagogical Institute.
In the early 90s, Kazakhstan was the first among the Commonwealth countries to implement this system – “bachelor, master, PhD”. After that, I approached the country’s leadership with a proposal to send the most gifted graduates of Kazakhstani schools to study at the best foreign universities. This is how the state program “Bolashak” appeared. In those years, when it was just emerging, the country needed creative individuals. Then I, the rector of what is now East Kazakhstan State University, which appeared in 1991 on the basis of the Ust-Kamenogorsk Pedagogical Institute, was offered to head the Ministry of Education and Science, where I worked as part of the first two governments of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
– You are called a pioneer of many educational innovations in Kazakhstan. What does it feel like to be the first?
– If I had been afraid of inevitable difficulties, I would never have created anything in my long professional life. I guess I have always had a natural tendency to strive for perfection, no matter how much effort it took. At the same time, my consciousness clearly and objectively assessed the inevitable difficulties of the innovative path. Especially since this happened in the early 90s. These, as we all remember, were extremely difficult years for the country, and then we still had to overcome the conservatism of the past. I had to be persistent, persuade, take risks.
Let’s remember how regional universities were created. Following East Kazakhstan, they appeared in Pavlodar, Atyrau, Akmola, Petropavlovsk, Taldykorgan regions. After all, the discussion was about targeted training of personnel specifically for a specific region, taking into account its specifics and needs.
Life has confirmed the validity of all the other innovations undertaken in those years – testing, trilingualism, continuous education, private universities, and so on. Of course, the state program “Bolashak” occupies a special place. Its adoption was resisted even in the highest echelons of power. Opponents cited the high cost of education abroad and the possible danger of graduates not returning to Kazakhstan as arguments. In 1993, when it was being implemented, teachers did not receive salaries, pensioners did not receive pensions, and the word “barter” came into use. And then it was proposed to send 500 graduates of Kazakhstani schools to the USA, Germany, France, Japan, China… Each of them had to be paid at least 25-30 thousand dollars a year. However, time has shown that the game was worth the candle. Today, graduates of “Bolashak” occupy prestigious positions in the Government, akimats, and large domestic companies. But the unjustified criticism of individual subjects towards the program graduates is alarming. Allegedly, the expected result is not coming from them. Of course, people without experience cannot be immediately appointed as akims and ministers, but creating acceptable conditions for Bolashak graduates to work in their home country is the direct responsibility of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
By the way, a few words about the testing proposed in those years. The rectors of that time also took this innovation negatively, and today it is used even in government structures, not to mention admission to universities.
However, testing requires adjustment. Its positive high results are not the merit of the ministry, but the dignity of the applicant himself. And he has every right to choose a place of study in any university (private or state), without blindly submitting to the instructions of ministerial officials. For this choice, there is the Internet, where all the information about universities is posted. This adjustment, in my opinion, should be studied and legalized.
– How did the Kazakh-American Free University appear in Ust-Kamenogorsk, a city that was then closed to foreigners?
– As often happens – by chance. In the early 90s, our university developed business relations with the international organization “Intervarsity”, which unites the world’s leading universities. A group of students and teachers (about 30-40 people) from the universities that are part of it, coming annually to East Kazakhstan, always paid a visit to the university. Our people accompanied them to the picturesque Lake Markakol and Rakhmanov Springs. For this, they paid us some money. One day, my team had an idea, which we immediately expressed to the guests: “Why are we in such an unclear relationship – you came, we helped, then you left again, only to return next summer? Let’s put our cooperation on a long-term business basis. We can create a Kazakh-American University.”
“Why not?” the Americans thought. They went home, consulted and accepted my offer. They had nothing to lose: they had already been coming to us every year at their own expense to communicate with the region’s population and share their educational ideas with them. But to specifically create such a university, financial support was needed. And where could they expect it in those difficult and “tired” 90s? Only, probably, from foreign missionaries obsessed with the idea.
Mutual negotiations lasted for a year. And in 1994, the university was created. At that time, it was called the Higher College of Economics and Humanities. Then it was renamed KAFU – the Kazakh-American Free University. Its appearance became the quintessence of our accumulated innovative experience. This university of international partnership was not only bold, but also, to some extent, even a daring step for the first half of the 90s. On the outskirts, in Ust-Kamenogorsk, previously closed to foreigners, such a breakthrough innovative project as a university with the participation of foreign partners from the USA, Canada and European countries suddenly appeared. It was a challenge of the time.
Today, KAFU is one of the most recognized universities in the republic. According to the Independent Agency for Quality Assurance in Education – IQAA-Ranking, KAFU entered the top five among the leading humanitarian and economic universities of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2024. That is why I believe that it is time to provide such authoritative universities with their well-deserved indicators with budget funding on par with state universities, as is practiced throughout the world. It is known that in the USA, all leading universities are private.
Every year, more than 40 experienced practitioners from the USA and Europe, together with their Kazakh colleagues, form a new generation of future leaders of a multinational sovereign country. More than 800 KAFU students have completed internships in leading companies in the USA and Europe, becoming familiar with the progressive technologies of the civilized world, and teachers have completed internships in foreign universities. KAFU graduates with knowledge of several foreign languages work all over the world. Exclusively at the expense of the university itself (solid bank loans), without the support of state funding, a modern educational and material base has been created – several academic buildings, a dormitory, a gym, a hotel. And yes, students from the USA, Afghanistan, Singapore, Germany, China, Canada, and the Russian Federation study at KAFU. The university has been visited by all ambassadors of the United States, Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Slovakia, Japan, China, and Korea.
…We were pioneers in creating a university of international partnership. How difficult it was to do this is demonstrated by the fact that for many years KAFU remained the only private university of this type in Kazakhstan. Branches of foreign universities at leading universities in the country began to appear en masse only in the last two or three years at the initiative of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. But I do not consider this idea belated. Apparently, it took time for the public to appreciate the advantages of universities with foreign partners.
A convincing proof of their necessity was the demand for graduates of such universities not only in our country, but also around the world. An important role was also played by the ever-increasing entry of Kazakhstan into the world space. So the branches are timely and justified. True, they all operate at the expense of the state. And why not create a similar branch of a foreign university in the authoritative KAFU as an experiment, but at the expense of state funding? There is no doubt that the result would fully justify itself. Moreover, the recognized university has plenty of experience, although the university is private.
It is no coincidence that President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, back in the 1990s, when he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, supported not only the Bolashak program, but also the creation of the first university of international partnership. By and large, the educational technology for training multilingual specialists at KAFU is a model that has been successfully developed over 30 years for today’s branches of foreign universities. If they start from scratch, they will probably need at least 10-15 years to gain the necessary experience.
P.S. The highest manifestation of sincere respect for the achievements of KAFU are the invitations of US Presidents George W. Bush (2004), Barack Obama (2011), Joe Biden (2023) to the university president Erezhep Mambetkaziev to the National Breakfast in Washington – an annual event attended by ambassadors and representatives of the intellectual elite from 140 countries.
The material was prepared with the participation of a colleague and close student, the president of the Kazakh Academy of Sports and Tourism, Professor Kairat Zakiryanov
Source: Kazpravda.kz