AI Education Expansion in Kazakhstan: Complimentary Training Initiatives offered across Age Groups and Careers
AI Education Programs Transform Kazakhstan's Tech Landscape
Kazakhstan is making strides in AI education, with several initiatives aimed at democratizing AI knowledge, nurturing talent, and fostering innovation. These programs, which include Tomorrow School, TUMO Center for Creative Technologies, and others, are designed to empower students, civil servants, and the tech industry, driving the country's digital transformation.
Tomorrow School: A Peer-to-Peer AI School
Tomorrow School, launched in October 2024 at Astana Hub, is Kazakhstan's first peer-to-peer AI school. Over 18 months, students learn up to 20 programming languages and complete more than 50 projects, focusing on specializations such as AI engineering, cybersecurity, DevOps, and game development. The school emphasizes community-building, peer teaching, and practical learning, with the goal of nurturing talent from scratch and enabling career growth in the tech sector.
Tomorrow School offers free tuition, a 24/7 campus, expert guest lectures, student clubs, and complimentary accommodation for students from regional areas. The school operates without teachers, instead relying on a peer-to-peer model. Currently, 30% of its students are women, reflecting a commitment to gender diversity.
TUMO Center for Creative Technologies: Early AI Education
The TUMO Center for Creative Technologies, set to open in Astana in October 2025, is a free educational platform for schoolchildren aged 12 to 18. The center aims to popularize AI and creative technology skills early on, with plans to train 5,000 students annually. The center will be located at the Alem.ai International Center and will expand to remote regions within three to five years.
AI Education for Civil Servants and the Tech Industry
While specific programs for civil servants are not detailed, the focus on broad AI education suggests that relevant government programs may exist. For the tech industry, these programs create a skilled talent pipeline, fostering innovation and development within Kazakhstan’s digital ecosystem, notably around Astana Hub, a major tech cluster.
Impact of AI Education Programs
The impact of these programs is significant. Students at Tomorrow School transform their skills and life trajectories by building projects and joining a supportive community, signalling meaningful personal and professional development. The TUMO center is expected to have a similar impact on younger students by providing foundational skills early.
For the tech industry, these programs create a skilled talent pipeline with specializations aligned to market needs, fostering innovation and development within Kazakhstan’s digital ecosystem. While direct impacts on civil servants are not detailed, AI education expansion suggests government workforce upskilling is a logical area of focus, in line with national digitalization strategies.
International Collaborations
Internationally, programs like the US-based National Academy for AI Instruction and IBM AI Education emphasize training educators to integrate AI into curricula, helping prepare future generations for AI's workforce impact. Kazakhstan's initiatives are part of a global context, demonstrating a commitment to staying at the forefront of AI education and innovation.
In summary, Kazakhstan’s free AI education programs, centered around Tomorrow School and soon the TUMO center, have the goals of democratizing AI knowledge, creating skilled professionals for the tech industry, and nurturing a knowledge-sharing community, positively impacting students and the broader tech sector, with civil servant-focused details less explicit in available data.
Additional Programs
- Tech Orda collaborates with 72 private IT schools and offers courses lasting six months in programming, big data, and cybersecurity.
- The AI Qyzmet program has been launched to improve the efficiency of public services.
- The AI Preneurs program brings together talented participants to create innovative AI startups.
- Out of 683 participants, 40 reached the finals held at Astana IT University.
- The AI education programs in Kazakhstan, including Tomorrow School and TUMO Center for Creative Technologies, focusing on technology, learning, online education, and education-and-self-development, are designed to empower students, civil servants, and the tech industry, transforming their skills and life trajectories, and fostering innovation in Kazakhstan's digital landscape.
- Beyond Tomorrow School and TUMO Center, additional programs such as Tech Orda, AI Qyzmet, and AI Preneurs, continue to expand Kazakhstan's AI education landscape, fostering the growth of a skilled tech workforce, and nurturing innovative AI startups.
