On April 25, 2023, a joint meeting of the Anti-Corruption Agency and the Ministry of Education was held to discuss issues related to corruption risk prevention in the education sector. The meeting, organized at the premises of the Anti-Corruption Agency, was attended by the entire senior management of the Agency and the Ministry, as well as the heads of subordinate organizations, via video conference. JSC “NCPD ‘Orleu’” was represented at the meeting by the Acting Chairperson of the Management Board, A. Kirgizbekova. During the meeting, reports were delivered by S. Akhmetzhanov, Head of the Prevention Service of the Anti-Corruption Agency, and D. Zhekebayev, Head of the Office of the Ministry of Education.

As a result of the meeting, the Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Agency, Askhat Zhumagali, and the Minister of Education, Gani Beisembayev, agreed to conduct a joint external corruption risk assessment in the area of financing secondary education. The decision to initiate the joint assessment was driven by numerous corruption-related offenses in the education sector. According to the Anti-Corruption Agency, over the past three years alone, more than 300 corruption-related offenses have been registered in the education sector, involving approximately 200 individuals. Recent high-profile cases involving education employees in the Kyzylorda and Aktobe regions, as well as the city of Taldykorgan, further confirm the existence of serious corruption schemes.

Preliminary findings indicate that preparations for misappropriation of funds often begin at the stage of drafting budget requests. “Such offenses have become possible due to imperfections in budget planning mechanisms, the lack of a centralized registry of education employees, and insufficient digitalization of these processes,” noted Askhat Zhumagali. Following the meeting, the parties outlined a set of comprehensive measures aimed at improving the current situation in the education sector. For its part, JSC “NCPD ‘Orleu’” actively works to foster an anti-corruption culture, adheres to a zero-tolerance policy toward corruption, and is committed to participating in all initiatives of the Anti-Corruption Agency to ensure compliance with anti-corruption legislation.