1^st-graders in Kazakhstan to study English next year

    Beginning with the next academic year, first-graders in Kazakhstan will study English, Tengrinews reported March 6, quoting Education and Science Minister Bakytzhan Zhumagulov.
    Kazakhstan to reduce number of private universities
    "All of Kazakhstan's 367,000 first-graders this September" are affected, he said during a conference with rectors of foreign musical academies in Astana. The reform corresponds to President Nursultan Nazarbayev's call for a multi-lingual Kazakhstan, he said.
    Kazakhstan previously experimented with teaching English starting in second grade in 165 schools, Tengrinews reported earlier, according to Central Asia Online.