Bolashak scholarship to require higher language proficiency level

The Bolashak education scholarship issued in Kazakhstan has raised its bar for foreign languages. Now scholarship applicants have to demonstrate higher English language proficiency to qualify for Bolashak, Tengrinews reports citing the Akorda press office. The Acting Secretary of the State Karim Massimov conducted a meeting of the State Committee for Training Abroad where ways to improve Bolashak were considered. “Starting from 2014 the threshold level for the Masters programs and internship applicants has been raised from 3.0 to 4.0 out of 9.0 IETLS. For PhD programs the language proficiency level of IETLS has been raised to 5.0,” the report said. In addition to foreign language proficiency, the applicants will have to present a higher level of Kazakh language proficiency. The minimum score for Kaztest is now 85 points out of 150 overall in the national language test. As a result of the meeting, the scholarship's list of the foreign institutions, universities, companies and recommended language schools has been updated. The 2014 list has 17 new universities added and 8 excluded. Some British Universities were excluded from the list among them. The future interns will be able to apply for internship at leading universities and medical institutions, internationally recognised industry-specialised research centers and companies. Issues concerning cancelation of the scholarships were considered at the meeting as well. Bolashak has a right to terminate the scholarship if a student’s performance drops significantly. Since the scholarship is issued by the Kazakhstan government, the Bolashak scholarship recipients who fail their studies are supposed to return the funds the country spent on their failed education. The total debt of non-performers now stands at over $1.6 million.