In honor of the 30th anniversary of Kazakhstan's independence, the Republican School of Physics and Mathematics opened the first school in the regions of the Fizmat Primary Schools network in Uralsk. Akim of the West Kazakhstan region Gali Iskaliyev and Chairman of the Board of the RFMS Gabit Bekakhmetov made a welcoming speech to the first-graders. The school uses the author's program Fizmat Primary, developed in the capital RFMSH and includes elements of Singapore mathematics, robotics, art in the STEAM format and block programming in the Scratch language. The primary school format allows you to concentrate on teaching and educating primary school students (grades 1-6) separately from high school students.
Over the past 5 years, the RFMSH has made a significant contribution to the development of the STEM ecosystem in primary schools. In particular:
- the international FEMO Olympiad (Fizmat Elementary Math Olympiad) is held for primary school students;
- introduced the Singapore mathematics and teacher training system;
- the annual international summer camp IFSS (International Fizmat Summer School)is organized in Turkey;
- The STEM College Pedagogical Institute has been established to train trilingual primary school teachers.
"Our school is an integral part of the RFMSH family. Over time, Fizmat Primary in Uralsk will become a center of innovations and trends in teaching STEAM subjects in primary schools. We have a very good teaching staff in all subjects – these are both experienced teachers with 30 years of experience, and young teachers who have studied abroad. The training is conducted in Russian and Kazakh, but in fact – in three languages, since English plays an important role in our school, " said Azamat Kereibayev, director of Fizmat Primary Uralsk.
In addition to the main subjects, children will be involved in debates, Olympiads, chess and creative circles at school. According to the results of the competitive selection, 65 students were admitted to the school in the 1st and 2nd grades. A total of 358 applicants participated in the competition. The competition in Uralsk is not far behind the indicators in the capital, where only every tenth applicant enters a paid primary school.
In 1972, academician Asan Taimanov, a native of the Bokei-Ordinsky district of the West Kazakhstan region, became one of the founders of the RFMSH in Almaty. For almost 50 years of the school's existence, more than 8 thousand graduates have graduated from it, many of whom are known not only in Kazakhstan, but also far beyond its borders. Among the graduates of the RFMSH are such famous people as Chairman of the Presidium of the NCE RK "Atameken" Timur Kulibayev, head of the AIFC Kairat Kelimbetov, head of the KNB Karim Massimov, founders of Yandex Ilya Segalovich and Arkady Volozh, head of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan Yerbolat Dosayev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lancaster Group Berik Kaniev and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kaspi Bank Vyacheslav Kim.