About us

The foundation's history began in 2019 when businessman Serik Tolukpaev initiated the creation of the Sustainable Rural Development Fund. He brought together dedicated citizens of the country with the goal of improving life in rural areas. The first region to benefit from these efforts was the Katon-Karagay district, the entrepreneur's home region.

In 2019, the Fund for Sustainable Rural Development and Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools launched the project "Rural School Powered by NIS". The project is aimed at reducing the gap in the quality of education between rural and urban schools. "High-quality education should be available to everyone, regardless of their place of residence," the project partners said.

In 2022, the founders of the Sustainable Rural Development Fund transferred educational projects to a separate fund and created the Fund for Sustainable Development of Education.

On July 14, 2022, a memorandum of cooperation was signed between the Qazaqstan Halqyna Fund, the Fund for Sustainable Education Development and Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools JSC, under which a grant of 4.25 billion tenge was allocated for the charity project "Development of the Potential of Hub Schools in Rural Areas".

In 2023, the second stage of the project to develop the capacity of support schools in rural areas was launched. The second stage included 62 schools in districts and single-industry towns of Kazakhstan.

In 2024, 56 more schools in the country joined the project to develop the country's flagship schools.

In December 2024, the President of the country, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, visited an anchor school in the city of Khromtau. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was introduced to the specifics of the educational process and the laboratory work conducted by students.