According to the Director of the school, Zharkyn Urkumbayev, this is the first major renovation of the school in the last 15 years. “Today, through the joint work of business, school and akimat, it became possible to get such a result.”
To date, the staff of the Education Sustainable Development Fund and specialists of the project partner, Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools AEO have completed work on the analysis of the educational environment and the quality of teaching at school. Analysts have formed recommendations for the development of the school as a hub, and identified advanced training courses necessary for teachers. Training with the involvement of NIS, SEP and CoE trainers for teaching staff is planned until February 2023, upon completion, the school will switch to three-year methodological support until 2025.
“Even the atmosphere at school has changed. At the beginning of the project, teachers did not believe that such a thing was even possible. Then they went to study at NIS, and upon arrival, new equipment was waiting for them in the classrooms. That’s when they got inspired. Now every teacher wants to conduct a lesson in a special way, to play, to interest the student,” Zharkyn Urkumbayev, Director of Markakol Secondary School No. 1, says.
The school is equipped with 26 classrooms, a STEM laboratory and a TV studio. Sports and assembly halls Financing of almost KZT250 million was carried out within the framework of the Kazakhstan Khalkyna Fund. Beeline Kazakhstan acted as a donor of the project.
“Markakol school is the fifth from our list. In total, eight schools in different regions of the country will be updated and equipped with equipment and modern classrooms at the expenses of Beeline, through the Kazakhstan Khalkyna Fund. Since 2020, together with our partners, we have been implementing the “250+” project, through which mobile Internet and Beeline communications have already appeared in more than 1,500 villages. Now the residents of these villages have equal opportunities to access the Internet with the city. The project on the development of hub schools also contributes to the creation of equal opportunities, providing rural children with access to high-quality competitive education. Therefore, Beeline Kazakhstan is pleased to support this important initiative,” Yevgeny Nastradin, Chief Executive Officer of Beeline Kazakhstan comments
“Our Fund is engaged in the development of hub schools. To date, the project covers 17 regions of Kazakhstan, in which about 13 thousand children study and about 2 thousand teachers work. I also want to note that the training program is conducted by the project partner, NIS AEO on a free basis, all operational and administrative costs are borne by the project operator – ESDF at the expense of sponsorship funds of AITAS Holding,” Daniyar Toktarbayev, Director of the Education Sustainable Development Fund says.
But, most importantly, the innovations were appreciated by the students, whose eyes are now shining and there is another incentive to learn. As Kabduali Aruzhan and Samatova Yenlik say, 10th grade students: “When the STEM laboratory and TV studio were brought to us and installed, we could not believe our eyes. We felt taken care of. It’s cool that we are given such opportunities! Today, you won’t find this in every city school, but we have it in Markakol!”
The event was held in the “Open Day” format and brought together residents of the district, representatives of local executive bodies, the media, as well as partners and sponsors of the project.
The results of the training program were announced to the guests and the updated material base of the school was demonstrated. In addition, participants of the event were able to talk with teachers and students, and learned their opinion about the project and changes in the school. In total, 420 children study at the secondary school. Subjects are taught in Kazakh by 59 teachers.