Science Minister Sayasat Nurbek said that the Supreme Audit Chamber (SAC) is conducting an audit of Nazarbayev University.
According to bes.media, after the SAC completes its inspection, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education will adjust the university's strategy.
"One of the key findings is that the university's resources are stretched across too many areas. For example, there are small schools, like the School of Mining. Only a few dozen students study there, and as a result, we are spending a large amount of resources rather inefficiently. Now, with the appointment of a new university president, the strategy will be reviewed.", the minister said.
It has become known that the university was allocated 42 billion tenge under the state order. Most of this money went towards student grants, which cover 90% of the total number of students. Incidentally, the annual cost of tuition at the university is 5.5 million tenge.
"This is necessary to ensure the quality is appropriate, to maintain the laboratories, and to support the foreign lecturers. The lion's share actually goes towards the education of the cohort currently studying there. There are also international students, and fee-paying students have appeared,", the minister said.
At the same time, the Science Minister believes that what the university has achieved over the years should be preserved.
"The task now is not to destroy it. Breaking down is not building up. Not to dilute this potential, but to preserve and enhance it. Our task is to use resources, including those of the ministry and the government. It is a good university. Now we need to make it a very good university, one that engages in applied research, so that this research makes a real contribution to the economy,", stated Sayasat Nurbek.
It is reported that a meeting on the audit results is scheduled for the end of summer.