Kazakhstan approves language development state program

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has passed a state program for
the development and functioning of languages in Kazakhstan for
2011-2020. The order was signed on June 29, 2011, News Kazakhstan
reports.

The state program will be realized in 3 stages. The first stage is for
2011-2013. It includes measures to improve the legal basis of
functioning and development of languages. The second stage will be in
2014-2016. It will realize complex measures to implement new
technologies and methods for the state language and preserve language
pluralism.

The third stage will take place in 2017-2020 and will aim at
monitoring of demands of the state language in social life, needs to
improve teaching of the state language and its development on the
background of other languages, the Ministry of Culture says.

20% of adult population will speak the state language in 2014, 80% in
2017, 95% in 2020. Kazakh population speaking Russia will reach at
least 90% in 2020. 10% of the population will speak English in 2014,
15% in 2017 and 20% in 2020. 10% of the population will speak Kazakh,
Russian and English in 2014, 12% in 2017 and 15% in 2020.

The program will cost over 19.134 billion tenge. Kazakhstan stresses
on studies of the state language without derogation of other
languages.