How do Kazakhstani students organize projects helping lower-income children get a decent education and equal opportunities?

Indeed, every middle and high school student dreams of getting a long-awaited letter of admission to a University, but it is not so simple.

The preparation price is extremely expensive to most of the Kazakhstani families. One consultation approximately costs  50 US dollars, while  the median salary in Kazakhstan is 483 US dollars.

So, what should those who can't afford it do? The Nazarbayev Intellectual School’s rising senior from Almaty found the most viable solution to this complex problem.

College Preparation Bootcamp is a charity project that Kanatbek Mukhammed-Ali started in partnership with Tutors 24 Education. The project’s main idea was to undertake one of the biggest free marathons among CIS countries to help Kazakhstan’s talented youth to gain precious knowledge.

More than 20 speakers were invited to the project, most of whom supported the initiative. Students and graduates of universities such as Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, Minerva, Oxford, and others lectured the participants in a live format with helpful suggestions, comments, and insights. Importantly, every speaker had a theme; thus, there were no repetitions, allowing children to broaden their horizons.

Also, since lectures were live, the participants asked compelling questions and gained answers essential to understanding what they need to apply to university. Furthermore, the project invited an experienced career-guidance professional, whose students enrolled in universities such as NYU, Carnegie Mellon, Middlebury, Georgetown, Vassar, Richmond, and 30 others last year.

He gave eight lessons covering vital topics: professional orientation, future placement area, university selection, international exams, recommendations, essays, activities, and application processes. During the marathon, participants also got homework assignments, which helped them follow the directions provided in-class time appropriately.

The first 100 participants were selected by the competitive admission of writing motivational letters to our partners such as Tutors 24 Education, an international semi-profit organization that supervises application processes, and Teaching for Heroes, a charity providing education to medical workers’ children. Then 3000 high-schoolers worldwide received access to the database of conducted lessons, tests, and resources to self-study. As a result, thousands of children from low-income families got a chance to become acquainted with the world's top universities’ admission processes and get a hefty dose of motivation.

The Platform Kazakhstan. The second non-profit project was established by Kanatbek Mukhammed-Ali and his team to help middle and high-school students gain knowledge in the business sphere. The idea was to conduct local business competitions to create a community of young entrepreneurs in the city; however, the first event — Case Study Competition — engaged 896 participants from 11 different countries. The Second event, Case Study Marathon, went even further and included 1624 participants from 12 other countries.

Participants received free useful materials and resources to enhance their business planning, management, economics, finance, marketing, customer behavior, and individual branding skills. Moreover, international companies such as Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools, Decode, KEX Marketing supported the project; thus, all of the attendees received valuable certificates, while the winners got the opportunity to complete a real internship in the mentioned companies. Seven successful Kazakhstani entrepreneurs supported the project’s idea by conducting business workshops for the community of over 2000 representatives of 15 different countries.

A professor of the University of International Business also assisted in competitions by modeling exclusive cases on the prototype of Harvard Business School’s Cases; therefore, contestants were familiarized with the structure of the world’s most superb business competitions. Thereby, a group of Kazakhstani students lead by the project founder Kanatbek Mukhammed-Ali, contributed the business direction among thousands of students worldwide, gaining new opportunities and invaluable experience.

For today, both projects established by Kanatbek Mukhammed-Ali are still operating. Over 25 recordings of the consulting lessons, including eight career-guidance classes and live meetings of the speakers conducted by College Preparation Bootcamp, are still available for free.

The only condition to get it is to write a detailed motivational letter to the Tutors 24 Education organization, answering the question - why am I interested in foreign education? The other project, The Platform Kazakhstan, also continues working since the team is preparing to organize the next international Case Study Competition, so stay in touch and do not miss the opportunity.

Additionally, Mukhammed-Ali have recently established an affiliate organization of The Platform Kazakhstan, Virtue Young Business Accelerator. The main idea was to unite future entrepreneurs worldwide, where everyone could find co-thinkers and partners to work together and do business with impact right now.

The Accelerator is a place, where new non-standard things are accepted, and members do not feel afraid to make mistakes and grow together. The project is in the development and realization stages; however, you already have an opportunity to become a member of this community and influence our society’s bright future by entering a Telegram Community on the accelerator’s base, where over 300 individuals are already working and creating together. Just write a motivational letter regarding what social entrepreneurship is for me to The Platform Kazakhstan and wait for an acceptance letter with the community’s invitation.

Contact details: Tutors 24 Education , The Platform Kazakhstan