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Recently, the national project ‘Comfortable School’ has received a lot of criticism regarding the cost and financing of facilities. In this regard, the JSC ‘Samruk-Kazyna Construction’ gave a clarification.

Recently in the newspaper ‘Vremya’ was published an article in which it was claimed that initially for the construction of 400 schools under the national project was allocated 1.6 trillion tenge, but Samruk-Kazyna increased this amount by 1 trillion tenge. However, this information does not correspond to reality.

The first version of the government resolution on the implementation of the national project clearly stated that KZT 2.6 trillion was allocated for the construction and maintenance of 401 schools.

In order to save budgetary funds; due to difficulties with the purchase of land plots, lack of networks and non-compliance of most of the plots with construction requirements; due to the need to prioritise the elimination of three-shift and emergency schools, optimisation was carried out. According to its results, on 19 December 2024 the Government Decree was amended, as a result of which the number of schools was reduced to 217. At the same time, KZT 1.42 trillion was allocated for the construction of 208 schools by order of Samruk-Kazyna Construction JSC.

Of this amount, K500bn was utilised in 2023, 88% of the K639.7bn allocated for 2024 has already been utilised, while K283.5bn is planned for 2025.

‘As a single operator, before sending each design and estimate documentation for state expertise, we check it in detail together with RSE Gosexpertiza, eliminating unnecessary costs. As a result, 106 billion tenge was saved. Currently, the total amount of savings has reached 153.2 billion tenge. This work is continuing and the savings are being returned to the budget. In general, the cost of ‘Comfortable Schools’ was on average 12 per cent lower than the estimated standards approved by the Government. For example, according to the decree, the cost of 1 square metre of school for 1200 seats should be 456 thousand tenge, but the actual price was 361 thousand tenge - 21% lower’, - said the chairman of Samruk-Kazyna Construction JSC Maulen Aimanbetov.

Last year Samruk-Kazyna Construction JSC signed a memorandum with the Financial Monitoring Agency. Each design and estimate documentation of ‘Comfortable School’ has been checked and filtered by the specialists of this body. Therefore, the allegations of artificial increase in the cost of the project have no grounds.

Statements that public schools are built 4 times cheaper than ‘Comfortable Schools’ are also dubious. For example, in Akzhar microdistrict of Shymkent city the cost of 600-seat ‘Comfort School’ was 5 billion 132 million tenge. This means that the cost of one pupil seat is about 8.5 million tenge. The total area of the school is 7.9 thousand square metres, and the cost per square metre is KZT646 thousand, which meets all state regulations.

In the same Shymkent last year was built a public school ‘Auzhan KTL’ for 595 seats. Its total area is 11,071 square metres (including the basement). Based on the cost of KZT 646 thousand per square metre, the total cost of the public school should be KZT 7.1 billion.

"However, some of the costs are hidden in the documentation. Only technical drawings are provided without cost estimates. What does this show us? The project of the physics and mathematics school "Auzhan KTL" did not pass the state examination. That is, the investor independently chose the organization, paid for its services and received a private examination. In such cases, there is a high probability of artificially understating the cost of the project in order to reduce tax deductions," the head of the company noted.

The expert opinion of the private school does not include design and estimate documentation with specific amounts, there is no detailed information about the purchased equipment, and the presence of video surveillance systems and modern security systems is not specified. The school has only one entrance for all students, while "Comfortable Schools" have separate entrances for junior, middle and senior classes. In addition, the educational process is organized in separate blocks to avoid mixing age groups.

The expert opinion of the private school does not include design and estimate documentation with specific amounts, there is no detailed information about the purchased equipment, and the presence of video surveillance systems and modern security systems is not specified. The school has only one entrance for all students, while the "Comfortable Schools" have separate entrances for junior, middle and senior classes. In addition, the educational process is organized in separate blocks to avoid mixing age groups.

The private school has only one gym, while the 600-seat "Comfortable Schools" have one large gym for senior and middle classes, as well as a separate small gym for junior classes. The difference is also noticeable in the number of CCTV cameras: the private school has only 6 external and 24 internal cameras, while the "Comfortable School" has 30 external and 75 internal cameras.

In the corridors of the private school the floor is covered with linoleum, while in the “Comfortable Schools” in accordance with the design specifications ceramic tiles are provided.

"Each facility within the framework of the Comfortable School project has undergone state examination at the State Expertise State Enterprise. In this regard, we consider it necessary to require examination of design and estimate documentation for all socially significant facilities in this state enterprise, regardless of whether they are private or state-owned. In my opinion, the Majilis deputies should pay special attention to this issue," Aymanbetov said.

This is not the only violation in the construction of private schools. All 12 Comfortable Schools built in 5 districts of Shymkent were assigned to an 8-point seismic zone. In such areas, it is prohibited to build schools higher than 3 floors. However, the project for the Auzhan KTL school indicates that it is located in an 8-point zone, but in the expert opinion, for unknown reasons, this indicator was changed to 7 points. As a result, the building was built in 4 floors, which does not meet seismic safety requirements.

The area of ​​the private school is 1.1 hectares, and the "Comfortable School" is 3.5 hectares, which is approximately 3 times more. In addition, the private school's territory only includes a mini-football field and small workout zones, while the "Comfortable School" has universal courts for volleyball, basketball and mini-football, 400-meter and 100-meter running tracks, as well as areas for training, games and recreation.

JSC "Samruk-Kazyna Construction" is open to dialogue and is ready to provide all the necessary information. In order to ensure transparency, the company has introduced a number of new methods and moved to digitalization and automation of processes.

An EPC contract mechanism has been introduced, which allows for design and construction in parallel, reducing the time frame for commissioning schools by 2 times.

The digital system E-Qurylys has been launched, which allows monitoring all stages of construction and financial expenses in real time. The certificate of completion of work is not generated until all documents are fully loaded into the system, eliminating the possibility of signing for non-existent work.

Construction quality control has been strengthened: three technical specialists check the facilities daily - one monitors general construction work, the second - utility networks, the third - the installation and launch of technological equipment.