QAA signs MoU with Kazakhstan

QAA has this week signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Kazakhstan.

This follows QAA's participation earlier this spring in a delegation to Kazakhstan organised by British Expertise International. 

The MoU was signed by QAA Chief Executive Vicki Stott and by H.E. Sayasat Nurbek, Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, at a reception hosted by British Expertise International on 20 May – during the Education World Forum, the world's largest annual gathering of education and skills ministers, which has been taking place in London this week.

The MoU sets out key areas for collaboration, including working together to support the development of UK-Kazakhstan partnerships, and exchanging experiences on quality assurance and the respective higher education and quality systems of the UK and Kazakhstan.

 

QAA's work in Kazakhstan has grown significantly over the past year. In February 2024, QAA awarded global accreditation to Kazakhstan's Maqsut Narikbayev University, following its successful completion of the process of International Quality Review. QAA is currently working on a project on behalf of the UK's Department for Business and Trade exploring the development of transnational education (TNE) in Kazakhstan. QAA has also been working on an initiative funded by the British Council to develop a TNE quality framework for Kazakhstan. And last year, colleagues from QAA visited Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, to take part in a British Council forum on TNE and deliver a workshop on quality assurance in transnational education.

"With the growth of higher education partnerships between our two nations, we're seeing increasing opportunities for collaboration between UK and Kazakhstan," says Shannon Stowers, QAA's Head of International Policy and Engagement, who participated in the event in Almaty last March. "That's why having this agreement in place is so valuable in our work to support the sustainability of such partnerships and the quality of higher education provision in Kazakhstan."

Kazakhstan is the largest economy in Central Asia and the ninth largest country in the world by landmass. With nearly 40 per cent of its population under the age of 25, Kazakhstan is also currently experiencing a particularly high demand for higher education. QAA signed an MoU with Kazakhstan's Independent Agency for Quality Assurance in Education in 2021, and last year published a Country Insight report on Kazakhstan.