Kazakhstan’s Youth Share Their Vision for Education Beyond 2030

The consultation comes as the world approaches the 2030 deadline attached to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Young people across Kazakhstan are being given a direct voice in conversations about what schools, teachers and learning should look like after 2030, bringing their experiences into a global discussion at a time when technology, climate pressures and changing job markets are reshaping what future generations will need from education.

On 19 August 2026, the UNESCO Regional Office in Almaty and the Kazakhstan National Federation of UNESCO Clubs (KazFUCA) held the national consultation "Education Beyond 2030: Voices of Kazakhstan's Youth." Conducted in a hybrid format, the event gathered children and young adults from different age groups, youth organizations and UNESCO Clubs, including participants with disabilities and young people from vulnerable and underrepresented communities.

Young people help define what should come after SDG 4

The consultation comes as the world approaches the 2030 deadline attached to the Sustainable Development Goals. SDG 4 has provided an international framework for expanding inclusive, equitable and quality education, while the Education for Sustainable Development agenda has encouraged education systems to connect learning with environmental, social and economic challenges.

The question facing countries now is what should follow these commitments after 2030, particularly when artificial intelligence, changing professions, environmental pressures and shifting social expectations are likely to transform both classrooms and workplaces. UNESCO's Education Beyond 2030 consultation process is gathering ideas on these questions, with youth participation playing a central role in deciding which priorities deserve greater attention.

Kazakhstan's consultation formed part of global youth and student engagement involving people aged 11 to 30. Members of the UN Youth Advisory Board in Kazakhstan supported the interactive sessions, helping participants exchange ideas and ensuring that different voices could contribute to the discussion.

Future schools need skills, values and equal opportunities

Participants worked in three age groups and were asked to imagine both society and education beyond 2030. Their discussions examined what needs to change in learning, which strengths of existing education systems should remain, how young people can contribute to educational transformation and what kind of support would allow them to play a stronger role.

A recurring theme was that education cannot be limited to transferring academic knowledge. Young participants saw future schools as places where students should also develop responsibility, communication, creativity and critical thinking, giving them the ability to adapt as technologies develop and professions change.

Fourteen-year-old student Samiya Yesengeldiyeva described education as a force that shapes both children and the societies they eventually build. Her vision places greater importance on schools inspiring and motivating students while developing transferable skills and values alongside academic knowledge, with equal access to quality learning remaining essential as the world changes.

Supporting teachers is part of building better education

The discussion also placed teachers at the centre of the future education system. Young people recognized that asking educators to prepare students for increasingly complex social and technological environments also requires stronger support for teachers themselves, including better opportunities and greater recognition of their contribution.

Sixteen-year-old Indira Ayupova, a student at Shokan Ualikhanov School, highlighted this connection, arguing that societies should not simply increase expectations placed on teachers after 2030. Giving educators more support, opportunities and respect, she said, is an investment in the future of society itself.

This perspective broadens the conversation about education reform beyond classrooms and curricula. Preparing students for uncertain career paths, rapid technological change and emerging global challenges will also depend on whether teachers have the resources and professional environment needed to guide that learning effectively.

Kazakhstan's ideas will feed into a global education agenda

The priorities, expectations and proposals developed during the consultation will now become Kazakhstan's national contribution to the Education Beyond 2030 process. They will be considered alongside findings from other national consultations and the wider global youth survey, giving young people from different countries an opportunity to influence discussions that could shape education for decades.

These contributions will support development of the Youth Education and Learning Agenda beyond 2030, which is expected to be presented to UNESCO Member States in connection with the UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development and feed into work on a new international education framework beyond 2030.

For Kazakhstan's young participants, the consultation offered more than an opportunity to imagine a distant future. It gave them a place in decisions about the education system they are experiencing today and the one that future students will inherit, putting youth perspectives on skills, equality, teachers and changing learning needs directly into a global conversation.