The modestly named Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan’s new flagship education facility, has officially opened in Astana. President Nursultan Nazarbayev presided over the June 28 opening ceremony of the state-of-the-art campus on the outskirts of Kazakhstan’s rapidly developing capital.
“Young people should strive to enter this place. I agreed that the university would be named after me so that no-one would let me down,” said Nazarbayev addressing the university’s first matriculating class.
Nazarbayev – who once rejected a bid to have the capital city he founded named after him – must have made an exception to his oft-stated opposition to public facilities bearing his name during his lifetime. It's notable that the Nazarbayev University has opened in the run-up to his 70th birthday on July 6 – could it be an early birthday present for the president who recently acquired the official title “Leader of the Nation?”
“We are opening a unique university,” Nazarbayev continued. “We will endeavor to attract the best professors in the world to train our students.”
The university is part of Kazakhstan’s long-term strategy to bring its science and educational systems up to international standards. Discussions are ongoing with institutions such as Harvard University, Duke University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Carnegie Mellon University and the National University of Singapore to provide a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate programs in Astana from 2011.
Focusing on science, Nazarbayev University will open its doors to students in September 2010. The first class will include 500 presidential scholarship students taught by professors from University College London.
While many places at the university will be fully funded by state grants, studying will not come cheap for students paying their own way. They will be charged around $18,000 per academic year, over triple the average annual salary in Kazakhstan.
But for those ambitious young souls who want to get ahead in the new Kazakhstan, the tuition should pay dividends. A degree from the prestigious university is expected to facilitate entry into Kazakhstan's corridors of power.
Paul Bartlett is a journalist based in Almaty.
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