Minister assumes direct management of Almaty region's educational matters

Revealed: Grim School Violence and Rights Abuses in Almaty Region – A ministerial Response Follows

In a distressing latest development, Children's Ombudsman Dinaara Zakiayeva exposed a litany of rights violations against schoolchildren in Almaty region schools. Casual brutality, bullying, and alarming incidents of teacher misconduct are reportedly prevalent in the region's education system.

Zakiayeva's team conducted a survey and reviewed student questionnaires, revealing shocking accounts of extortion, food theft, bullying, violence, and even sexual advances from teachers in Karasai, Balakhshi, Taldykorgan, Ilyinsky, and Enbekshi Kazakh districts. In the Enbekshi Kazakh district, two children were hospitalized due to teacher-perpetrated violence.

In one Zhambyl district school, younger students are subjected to violence when they refuse to pay money to older kids, and they reported instances of group beatings, drug use, and cyberbullying via anonymous Instagram accounts. Students have reported these incidents to teachers, but it seems their pleas for help have gone unheeded. A large-scale fight involving at least 50 children that took place last fall has been denied by the school, and the police claim ignorance of the incident.

Minister of Education Gani Beysembayev addressed the issue on his Facebook account, expressing concern over possible violations of students' rights and non-compliance with sanitary requirements in school meal organization. He assembled a working group tasked with addressing these concerns and preventing future instances of such violations. The minister urged the Almaty region leadership to address the issue promptly and effectively.

Recent events in Almaty region include a video surfacing of a group of female students beating a peer and the Department of Internal Affairs issuing administrative punishments for the legal representatives involved. This follows an incident in March where a schoolgirl was beaten, and another fight among schoolchildren took place — both of which were documented online. In early March, a teenager died from stab wounds during a group fight in Karaganda.

Tension between international human rights commitments and domestic enforcement factors into the persistence of religious dress bans in schools. In 2024–2025, Kazakhstan saw high-profile cases of schools expelling students for wearing religious attire, with court rulings favoring reenrollment. However, the Supreme Court later legitimized such expulsions by allowing schools to enforce uniform policies prohibiting religious symbols. Separately, progress toward integrating children with disabilities into mainstream schools remains slow considering a 2021 law promoting inclusive education. Institutional abuse, neglect, physical restraint, and forced labor continue to plague children with disabilities in state institutions, as documented by Human Rights Watch.

Overall, the current situation reveals grim instances of rights violations against schoolchildren in Almaty region, with government responses reflecting a delicate balance between international human rights commitments and domestic enforcement. While efforts to address the issue are underway, continued vigilance is necessary to safeguard the rights and well-being of schoolchildren in Kazakhstan.

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The appeal for change has grown louder, as schoolchildren in the Ilyinsky district, part of the Almaty region, have been receiving subpar education and self-development, with disturbing accounts of rights abuses.
The general news, meanwhile, continues to report on crime and justice incidents in the region's schools, such as the recent case where two schoolchildren were hospitalized due to teacher-perpetrated violence.
The ministerial response to the grim school violence in the Almaty region has been a call to action, with Gani Beysembayev expressing concern and assembling a working group to address the issue and prevent further violations.
Learning environments in the Almaty region remain under scrutiny, with international human rights commitments being weighed against domestic enforcement in matters such as religious dress bans and the integration of children with disabilities into mainstream schools.
Efforts are ongoing to ensure the education and general well-being of schoolchildren in the Almaty region, while also working to curb rights abuses and institute more stringent measures in the face of continued challenges.