International education should become affordable for our children - for this purpose, a new Kazakh brand of schools, Quantum STEM School, has appeared on the education market. A network of prestigious educational institutions with a domestic label will be a good help against the background of an acute shortage of student places in the country. The first facility will be built in the capital on the left bank of the city. On October 21, 2020, project investors, domestic entrepreneurs Berik Kaniev and Aydin Rakhimbayev, laid piles on the site of the future building. Quantum STEM Schools is a joint product between BI Group and Lancaster Group. This partnership is not accidental: both businesses are actively involved in educational and charitable projects, such as the IQanat program for rural students, the Republican School of Physics and Mathematics, Mother's House and the “Zhas Kyran” Youth Football League. This time, the companies decided to join forces to build their own Kazakhstani brand in the field of education so that diligent children in every regional center could study in schools under international programs.
As part of a long-term alliance, the partners intend to:
- provide an opportunity to receive quality education at an affordable price;
- annually allocate grants for talented students from low-income families.
The first school will be designed for 1,000 students. The educational institution will be located behind the Khan Shatyr shopping center among residential areas and will be built as part of the integrated development of the territory in the Green Line ecopolis project. Green Line is a new district of the city in the square of K streets. Mukhamedkhanova, E-305, E-10 and Turan Avenue.
“There are about 140 private schools in Kazakhstan. In most of them, training costs from 3 to 10 million tenge per year. For middle-income families, this is not affordable money. That is why we decided to create a high-quality, competitive product in partnership with leaders in Singapore's education sector and with a fundamentally different approach to pricing. The network of private schools we are opening will be represented in every regional center. Today, most of the country's prestigious educational institutions have foreign roots. We intend to make a breakthrough in education by creating our own, 100% Kazakh brand of international schools,” said Aidyn Rakhimbayev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of BI Group.
Trilingual education in the Quantum STEM Schools network will be conducted according to the Singaporean methodology, which has shown its effectiveness, putting the city-state at the forefront of the global rankings of the international program for assessing the educational achievements of PISA students. The school name itself includes the abbreviation STEM - science, technology, engineering and mathematics, which implies the main direction of the study program. The main advantages of educational institutions are the availability of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate international programs. Advanced Placement allows students to study subjects from the world's best schools and universities in English, which provides significant advantages when entering prestigious domestic and international universities. Quantum STEM Schools teachers will receive trainings and advanced training courses especially for this purpose. In addition, it contains the world's best practices in career guidance, as well as educational programs for discovering and developing sports, creative and musical talents.
“We consider it important for students to learn elements of artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data analytics in addition to the standard school curriculum. It is very important that the knowledge gained is applied in practice. This will help develop critical thinking and emotional intelligence. Not only teachers, but also business representatives will be involved in working with children. The environment being created should be as inspiring as possible for our children. We have the necessary experience in developing and transforming schools for this,” said Berik Kaniev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lancaster Group.
Schools will be equipped with advanced technologies and equipment. In addition to classrooms, it will include innovative laboratories in chemistry, physics and biology, recreational areas, workshops, a library, a self-service copy center, music and robotics rooms, a multimedia room, a greenhouse, a photo studio and a pavilion. Special attention will be paid to educational work with children. The buildings will be equipped with an anti-COVID system to comply with the quarantine regime.
The capital's Quantum STEM School plans to open its doors in September 2021. Children who stand out for their talents and academic success will be offered preferential study conditions. In the near future, it is planned to build 15 similar educational institutions across the country.
