The concept sets three measurable goals: 100% coverage of children aged 2 to 6, financing at 1–2% of GDP, and inclusion standards across the sector.
The first goal is 100% coverage. Access to quality preschool programmes for children aged 2 to 6 in every region of Kazakhstan, regardless of where they live, their social circumstances or their developmental profile.
This aligns with state policy. The Concept for 2023–2029, approved by Government Resolution No. 249 of 28 March 2023, targets 100% coverage of children aged 2 to 6 by 2028. The 2022 baseline was 89.4%.
The second goal is financing: raising combined public and private investment in preschool education to 1–2% of GDP. For comparison, Kazakhstan spent 337.08 bn tenge on preschool education in 2021, or 0.5% of GDP (Institute of Economic Research, 2023). UNICEF’s Innocenti Research Centre proposed spending at least 1% of GDP on early childhood services as a minimum benchmark in Report Card 8 (2008), and in A World Ready to Learn (2019) UNICEF called on governments to commit at least 10% of national education budgets to early childhood education.
The third goal is inclusion standards in preschools: a system in every preschool organisation that secures the principles of inclusive education — access for children with special educational needs and diversity in the learning environment. The state Concept for 2023–2029 records over 47,000 children identified with special educational needs, of whom 9,709 were in special kindergartens and 16,305 in inclusive settings.
