Kazakhstan Agency for Religions working to return Kazakhstan students from Syria

Kazakhstan’s Agency for Religious Affairs is in talks to return 10 Kazakhstan students from Syria because of the current life threatening situation in the country, Tengrinews.kz reports citing Agency’s head Kairat Lama Sharif. “We are currently working to return the students from Syria. There are all the conditions for them to study in Kazakhstan. It is not possible to study in Syria under such a difficult situation and we are explaining this to the students’ parents. I would like to note that there are over 600 students studying in Nur Mubarak university and, if necessary, it can accommodate up to 1,000 people.” Over 10 professors of the eldest spiritual university Al-Azhar are lecturing in Kazakhstan. Lama Sharif also noted that there are 9 madrasahs (Muslim religious schools) operating in Kazakhstan. The Kazakhstan students studying in Syria can continue their studies in any of them. Education of Kazakhstan citizens in their home country was first of all a guarantee of their safety, he said. Besides, 4 Kazakhstan students have returned from Saudi Arabia. Lama Sharif said that they entered Nur Mubarak university. They were awarded with education grants. Overall, according to Lama Sharif, there are 400 Kazakhstan students studying in foreign madrasahs. By Linda Buran