In Shelek village, Almaty region, the inaugural final bell was sounded at the school. The school, named after Abduali Kaidar, was built with funds from Beeline Kazakhstan and its corporate foundation, Zhyly Zhurek. It opened on 1 September 2024 and is already seeing its first graduates go on to bright careers and independent adult lives.
This school, as if taken straight from architectural presentations of the world’s best educational projects, impresses not only with its scale — 13,000 square meters, three floors, and 900 student places — but also with its content: it has everything modern students and their teachers could dream of.
In the laboratories, children conduct experiments; in STEM and robotics classrooms, they build models and learn to print parts on 3D printers. The library has a special lift for bringing up books from storage; it's quiet, very comfortable, and cozy — nothing distracts students from reading and extra studies. Sports halls, an auditorium, play areas, and creative studios — in this school, even after classes, children are in no hurry to go home.
“Even the younger students confidently work on computers. They’re engaged, they don’t want to leave class — they rush to the computer labs to create projects. The students have become more motivated, discipline has improved, and there’s a healthy drive to excel and win. Our students actively participate in competitions and olympiads, and they take prize-winning places. And for teachers, it has become a pleasure to work — it’s truly inspiring,” says the school principal, Lyazzat Karabayeva.
A special source of pride is the school’s graduates. This year, eight students are candidates for the “Altyn Belgi” award, and two are aiming for diplomas with distinction. Residents of Shelek are already applying to transfer their children from other schools, and while there are currently 776 students enrolled, this number may exceed the school’s designed capacity in the next academic year.