The state has halved funding for higher education institutions

According to the results of 2024, state spending on education amounted to 83 billion 924.4 million KGS, changing slightly compared to the previous year, when the amount was 83 billion 896.3 million. At the same time, the structure of the distribution of funds indicates a change in priorities within the sector.

The most significant budget increase was recorded in the area of pre-school education. Thus, 14.04 billion KGS were allocated for the education and maintenance of pre-school children in 2024, which is 11% higher than last year (12.65 billion KGS). This growth can be interpreted as a response to the need to improve the accessibility and quality of early education.

A total of 51.9 billion KGS was allocated for general and secondary vocational education, which is also higher than in 2023 (49.35 billion KGS). These expenditures include funding for general education schools, primary and secondary vocational education, as well as continuing technical programmes. Thus, the bulk of the education budget — over 60% — continues to be allocated to basic education.

At the same time, spending on higher education in 2024 has been halved, to 5.62 billion KGS, compared to 11.73 billion in the previous year. The reasons for this reduction are not specified, but it is clear that the state has changed its approach to financing universities.