Minister of Science and Higher Education Sayasat Nurbek has commented on the news that participants of the "Bolashak" programme who had their scholarships revoked are returning large sums of money.
According to Informburo.kz, the Centre for International Programmes recently reported that individuals whose scholarships were revoked in 2023 returned 1.9 billion tenge to the state, and 716 million tenge this year.
Journalists asked the minister why such large sums are being returned, and whether this means scholarships are being awarded to those who do not deserve them.
"There are many reasons, they vary. There are cases where a scholarship holder themselves renounces the scholarship because, for example, they move abroad or decide not to take on these obligations. Or people start joining international companies, where they are told they have significant obligations, and they begin to repay them. Illness is another reason; different situations arise. Of course, the main reason is non-fulfilment of obligations, when people fail to complete their studies on time or do not finish their education at all", said Sayasat Nurbek.
At the same time, he stated that there are not many people who have had their scholarships revoked; for the most part, programme participants successfully graduate from universities and go on to build careers. The so-called 'revokees' make up only 2% of all graduates.
Recall that earlier, an appeal from Natalya Vorobyova and Makpal Daribayeva to the President appeared online – these were people who acted as guarantors for a former participant of the "Bolashak" programme. It became known that because the former scholarship holder Gavrilenko is not in the country, the Centre was unable to recover the debt from her. However, 3 years later, Bolashak presented the debt of almost 30 million tenge to the guarantors instead.
Later, the Centre commented on the guarantors' statement, reporting that according to the contract, Daribayeva and Vorobyova, by signing the agreement, assumed full responsibility for the fulfilment of all the scholarship holder's obligations.