The education budget in 2026 is 227.1 billion tenge.
The education network includes 732 organizations (654 state, 79 private), 172 kindergartens (113 state, 59 private), 432 comprehensive schools, 4 evening schools, 1 at a correctional facility, 9 private comprehensive schools, 33 technical and vocational, post-secondary education organizations (24 state education departments, 2 health departments and 7 private), 26 special education organizations (5 special schools and boarding schools, 17 psychological and pedagogical correction rooms, 4 psychological, medical and pedagogical consultations), 7 educational organizations for orphans, children of the OBPR, 49 organizations of additional education (46 state, including 3 private - Children's Inclusive Academy, prison camp "Bolashak", prison camp "Stroitel")
Preschool education
As of May 2026, there are 172 kindergartens in the region, of which 59 are private. There are 293 mini-centers, including 7 private ones.
The waiting list for preschool education is 1,428 children aged 2 to 6. The largest number of children aged 2 to 6 on the waiting list remains in the following regions: Rudny (695), Kostanay District (273), Arkalyk (219), Auliekol (125), and Zhitikara (105).
The enrollment rate for children aged 2 to 6 is 96.5%. In 2025, six new kindergartens with a total of 940 places were opened (three public and three private). General Secondary Education
The network of general secondary education organizations is represented by 452 schools, of which 432 (436 in the 2024-2025 academic year) are daytime state comprehensive schools, 6 are state special educational organizations (Kostanay Special Complex "Kindergarten-Boarding School" for Children with Special Educational Needs" of the UOAKO, Kostanay Special Complex "Kindergarten-Boarding School" for Children with Special Educational Needs No. 2 of the UOAKO, Arkalyk Special Boarding School for Children with Special Educational Needs of the UOAKO, Lisakovsk Special Boarding School for Children with Special Educational Needs of the Education Department of the Akimat of Kostanay Region, Rudny Special School for Children with Special Educational Needs Municipal State Institution of the UOAKO, and the Center for Support of Children with Special Educational Needs of the UOAKO. (The educational needs of the city of Rudny are addressed by the UAKO), 4 are evening schools (4 for the 2024-2025 school year), 1 is attached to a correctional facility, and 9 are private schools (9 for the 2024-2025 school year). Of the total number of daytime public comprehensive schools, 112 are with the state language of instruction, and 105 are mixed schools.
Considering the predominance of small schools in the region, 277 schools, or 64.1% (63% for the 2024-2025 school year), currently operate 21 resource centers and 63 affiliated schools to ensure successful completion of the curriculum.

Supplementary Education
As of May 2026, the coverage of children in supplementary education in the Kostanay region was 95.3%, or 107,932 children.
There are 49 supplementary education organizations in the region, including 46 public (21 palaces, houses, and children's and youth creativity centers, 6 music schools, 3 art schools, 10 art schools, 1 choreography school, 1 technical creativity school, 1 yard clubs, 1 educational and methodological center, and 2 country camps) and 3 private (Children's Inclusive Academy, Bolashak camp, Stroitel camp), serving over 33,000 children (33,721).
More than 50,000 (50,752) children participate in 3,848 school clubs (2,290) and sports sections (1,558) based on their interests and inclinations (without duplication). There are also 30 youth sports schools in the region, attended by over 18,000 children.
In 2026, 2.4 billion tenge was allocated for state sports and creative orders for children's supplementary education (Damubala platform), reaching approximately 11,000 children (10,500). By the end of 2025, the Department of Education allocated over 210 million tenge to strengthen the material and technical equipment of five supplementary education organizations: the Music School and Children's Art Center in Kostanay District, the Dostyk Children's Health and Cultural Complex in Auliekol District, the Zhas-Ulan Children's and Youth Center in Arkalyk, and the Children's and Youth Art Center in Lisakovsk.

A Creativity Center is scheduled to open in Zhangeldy District in 2026.

Guardianship and Trusteeship and Special Education Organizations.

There are 9,509 children with special educational needs (9,793 in 2023 and 9,432 in 2024) living in the region, including 9,081 eligible for education.
The network of special education organizations is represented by 27 organizations: 6 special schools and boarding schools, 17 psychological and pedagogical correction rooms, and 4 psychological, medical, and pedagogical consultation centers.
489 children in grades 1 through 11 are educated at home using individual programs.
3,666 children (3,912 in the 2023-2024 school year, 3,743 in the 2024-2025 school year, and 3,666 in the 2025-2026 school year) are enrolled in inclusive education in 350 general education schools.
30 general education schools and 1 kindergarten have 31 inclusion support rooms, where 392 children with special educational needs receive support. There are 962 students enrolled in six special education organizations in the region (RK-99), and 682 students in 95 special classes in general education schools are enrolled in special programs (including 602 students with developmental delays, 32 with learning disabilities, 42 with speech impairments, and 6 with visual impairments).

Currently, conditions for inclusive education have been created in 417 of 432 schools (96.5%), 100 of 113 kindergartens (88.5%), and 26 of 26 colleges (100%) (barrier-free access, specialist staffing, and strengthening of the relevant material and technical resources).
17 psychological and pedagogical correction rooms (RK-227) provide correctional support to 680 children (622 in the 2021-2022 school year). For three years, city and district education departments have been organizing summer recreation and health improvement programs for special needs children aged 6 to 18 enrolled in mainstream schools (including homeschooled children) with accompanying adults. These programs are funded by the state social procurement program at the private suburban rehabilitation center "Hachiko."
In 2025, 391 children from 12 regions vacationed with accompanying adults during the summer, totaling 53.4 million rubles (in 2022, 12 million rubles for 100 children and 100 accompanying adults; in 2023, 292 children for over 29 million rubles).
There are 1,561 orphans and children left without parental care living in the region (2021 - 1,870, 2022 - 1,764, 2023 - 1,699, 2024 - 1,659, 2025 - 1,587). Of these, 1,005 are under guardianship and trusteeship (1,240 in 2021, 1,198 in 2022, 1,193 in 2023, 1,034 in 2024), 184 are in foster care in families of Kazakhstani citizens (192 in 2021, 185 in 2022, 181 in 2023, 185 in 2024, 186 in 2025), 9 are in foster families (19 in 2021, 18 in 2022, 17 in 2023, 17 in 2024, 2025-9), and 363 minors are in 7 educational organizations for orphans and children left without parental care.

Technical and Vocational Education
The network of technical, vocational, and post-secondary education institutions in the region consists of 33 colleges (24 state education departments, 2 healthcare departments, and 7 private ones), with over 1,000 students (21,995). Dual education training is offered at 30 colleges (91%), with 7,000 students (7,639), or 39%, in the agricultural, transport, construction, food, mining, service, education, communications and information technology, and energy sectors.

Admission for the 2025-2026 academic year under state educational procurement was 6,721 people (including 1,582 under targeted enterprise procurement). For the same period in the 2024-2025 academic year, state procurement was 6,489 people (including 1,237 under targeted enterprise procurement).
Currently, 23 dormitories are operational (21 belong to public colleges and 2 are private). The total number of students provided with dormitory space is 2,742.

Staffing
There are 14,894 teachers working in general education schools in the Kostanay region, of which 13,384 (90%) have a higher education degree, and 1,510 (10.1%) have a secondary vocational education degree. 1,264 (8.4%) of the teachers hold a master's degree.
According to the current format, 14,845 (99%) teachers hold qualification categories: "Master Teacher" - 97 (0.65%), "Research Teacher" - 2,185 (14.6%), "Expert Teacher" - 3,660 (24.5%), and "Moderator Teacher" - 5,516 (37%).
There are 3,405 teachers working in preschool institutions, of whom 1,845 (54.1%) have higher education, 1,560 (45.8%) have secondary vocational education, and 1,375 (40.3%) have specialized preschool education. Forty-six (1.3%) teachers hold a master's degree. A total of 3,334 (98%) teachers hold qualification categories under the current format, including 1 "master teacher" (0.2%), 128 "research teacher" (3.8%), 360 "expert teacher" (11%), and 1,689 "moderator teacher" (49.6%).
734 teachers work in specialized organizations and educational organizations for orphans and children left without parental care, of which 694 (94.5%) have a higher education, and 40 (5.4%) have a secondary specialized education. A total of 115 (15.6%) teachers hold a master's degree.
715 (97.4%) teachers have qualification categories according to the current format, of which 6 (0.81%) are “master teacher”, 113 (15.3%) are “research teacher”, 98 (13.3%) are “expert teacher”, and 320 (43.5%) are “moderator teacher”.

Construction and Repair Work
Construction of two schools with a capacity of 1,980 students is ongoing, with a completion date of 2026 (one in the Bereke microdistrict of Kostanay for 980 students and one in Kunai for 900 students).

To create comfortable and safe learning conditions, 2.2 billion tenge has been allocated for major repairs at seven educational facilities (six schools and one college) in 2026 (Zhitikarinsky District Gymnasium, Dievskaya Secondary School in Auliekolsky District, Secondary School No. 5 in Arkalyk, Secondary School No. 122 in Kostanay, Kenaraal Secondary School in Fedorovsky District, Boskol Secondary School in Karabalyk District, and Lisakovsky Technical College).
Of the seven facilities, five are scheduled to be completed in 2025 (Zhitikarinsky District Gymnasium, Dievskaya Secondary School in Auliekolsky District, Secondary School No. 5 in Arkalyk, Secondary School No. 122 in Kostanay, and Kenaralskaya Secondary School in Fyodorovsky District). Work planned for 2025 has been completed, and the remaining work will continue this year.
Repairs are currently 100% complete at Secondary School No. 122 in Kostanay.
Work on the current year's two-year projects has begun.
Security
In 2026, 2.5 billion tenge was allocated for the maintenance of security systems in educational institutions (panic buttons, turnstiles, video surveillance), as well as for specialized security services.
For reference: over 3.0 billion tenge was allocated for strengthening security in 2025, including 1,279.8 million tenge for the introduction of licensed security, 491.1 million tenge for maintaining camera connections to the Operational Control Center (OCC), 580.1 million tenge for maintaining security systems, and 730.5 million tenge for upgrading video surveillance systems (digital cameras).
In 83 (100%) kindergartens, video surveillance systems are connected to the OCC and the duty station (DS), panic buttons are installed in 83 (100%), licensed security is introduced in 74 (100%), and intercom systems are installed in 74 (100%). In 301 (100%) schools, the video surveillance system is connected to the central office and the school district office, 301 (100%) have a panic button, 135 (100%) have licensed security, and 135 (100%) have turnstiles.
In 24 (100%) colleges, the video surveillance system is connected to the central office and the school district office, 24 (100%) have a panic button, 23 (100%) have licensed security, and 23 (100%) have turnstiles.
In 23 (100%) supplementary education institutions, the video surveillance system is connected to the central office and the school district office, 23 (100%) have a panic button, 23 (100%) have licensed security, and 23 (100%) have turnstiles.
Digitalization
The share of schools with internet access as of January 2026 is 100% (the plan for 2023 is 100%, for 2024 – 100%, for 2025 – 100%).
Currently, all 432 schools in the region are equipped with high-speed internet of 20 Mbps or higher, of which 156 rural schools use Starlink satellite internet (including two specialized schools: Lisakovskaya and Arkalykskaya Special Boarding Schools for Children with Special Educational Needs).

In total, there are over 37,000 (37,421) units of computer equipment in the Kostanay region, of which 6,215, or 16.6%, are new, and 31,206, or 83.4%, require write-off.