Kenges Rakishev and Aselle Tasmagambetova to grant full scholarships to all Shoqan School students admitted to the world’s top ten universities

ALMATY, Kazakhstan, Feb. 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Kenges Rakishev and Aselle Tasmagambetova will fully fund the education of those Shoqan Walikhanov School students accepted to any of the world’s top ten universities, as rated by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

The Shoqan Walikhanov School, based in Almaty, is considered one of Central Asia’s leading education institutions. It was founded in 2020 as a non-profit and combines traditional academic methods with modern infrastructure and contemporary teaching techniques. It educates more than 1,300 students. 

This new scholarship program, announced today, will be channeled via the Saby Charitable Foundation, established by Rakishev and Tasmagambetova in 2002, and which has been operating education, health, and environmental programs in Kazakhstan for over two decades. 

The new grants scheme will cover all educational expenses for those Shoqan School students admitted to Oxford University, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge University, Princeton University, California Institute of Technology, Imperial College London, University of California, Berkeley, or Yale University. 

“Kazakhstan needs global minds, and we are committed to financing their development. We want to motivate a new generation of young Kazakhs to become leading members of the international community,” stated Rakishev.

As a condition, students who receive support will be expected to bring innovative ideas and actionable projects back to Kazakhstan that contribute to the country’s development.

“We want to bring the best of the best universities in the world back to Kazakhstan,” Aselle Tasmagambetova, who heads the Saby Charitable Foundation, added.

This announcement follows the recent success of the Shoqan Mentoring Program, a program through which local students are picked to be coached by Kazakhstan’s leaders as part of their education. 

Last week, four students —Sabyrzhan Arman, Nariman Dinara, Ospan Tomiris, and Asyl Aruzhan— were selected to be privately mentored by Rakishev and will also receive grants for studying at top-tier global universities, work international internships, and benefit from personalized career guidance.

It is named after Shoqan Walikhanov, a nineteenth-century Kazakh explorer and scholar.

“Since we started working on Shoqan School, we have made great efforts to build a school of a new, modern format that can retain its relevance in 30-40 years,” Tasmagambetova explained. 

Kenges Rakishev (Almaty, 1979) is the Chairman of the Fincraft Group (NCOM.KZ), a majority shareholder of Fincraft Resources (SATC.KZ), listed on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE).

He has been a member of Kazakhstan’s Forbes List since 2012. 

Globally known for his investments in natural resources and technology companies in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States, he is currently focused on investing in energy security projects.

Most recently, he financed and was the first non-executive Chairman of Central Asia’s first SPAC, Oxus Acquisition, until it successfully merged with now Nasdaq-listed company Borealis Foods (BRLS:NAQ).

For her part, Aselle Tasmagambetova (Atyrau, 1979) is considered one of Kazakhstan’s leading philanthropists and ecologists and has worked for 20 years to promote and support health, educational, and environmental projects in the region.

A Professor of Environmental Law, she heads the Saby Charitable Foundation. She is also the founder of the Central Asian Institute for Ecological Research (CAIER) and the Center for Research and Rehabilitation of the Caspian Seal.

Further Info:

Office of Kenges Rakishev: https://kengesrakishev.com/
Saby Foundation, Kazakhstan – https://saby.kz/
Shoqan School, Kazakhstan – https://shokanschool.kz/en

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT
This press release contains statements regarding the future of the company or institution and its innovations. Statements regarding the future may be accompanied by words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “wait,” “anticipate,” “pretend,” “power,” “plan,” and “potential,” the use of future time and other terms of similar meaning. No undue reliance should be placed on these claims. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in such statements, including uncertainty of the company’s commercial success, ability to protect our intellectual property rights, and other risks. These statements are based on current beliefs and forecasts and refer only to the date of this press release. The company assumes no obligation to publicly update its forward-looking statements, regardless of whether new information, future events or any other circumstance arise.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/dd5180ba-732b-496b-af2c-58ccdc02f928