NIS Reforms Financial Management After Audit Findings

Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools (NIS) and the Center for Pedagogical Excellence have begun implementing financial reforms following an August 2024 audit that revealed significant issues, Orda.kz reports, citing the Supreme Audit Chamber.

The audit uncovered financial violations of 274.4 million tenge, ineffective planning of 8.3 billion tenge, misuse of six billion tenge, and procurement irregularities. 

While NIS attributed some findings to accounting errors, they've implemented several key changes in response:

• Single-source procurement is now only possible after failed tenders
• All procurement contracts and documents will be posted on the official web portal
• Direct contracts for the purchase of books and fiction are excluded
• The regulations for the development and monitoring of the development strategy have been approved
• The National Educational Database has been integrated with the NIS system
• Standards for the number of full-time employees have been introduced
• Positions of foreign teachers with criteria for assessing their work have been approved
• The costs of renting housing for foreign teachers have been recalculated, taking into account the standards for area and number of rooms
• Rules for protecting branches have been developed, including the number of posts and their work schedule
• The procedure for drawing up technical specifications for information systems has been clarified
• A procedure for assessing knowledge before enrollment in paid education has been introduced
• A journal of results of students who have completed elective courses has been created.

The schools have also recovered 8.5 million tenge in construction overpayments, though the audit chamber notes these changes represent only part of their required reforms.

Original Author: Alexandra Mokhireva