ASTANA – Kazakhstan ranked 37th in Coursera’s Global Skills Report and 51st on the AI Maturity Index, reinforcing its stable position in the global landscape of digital and professional skills. The rankings are based on data from over 170 million Coursera users across 109 countries.
Photo credit: Coursera
Kazakhstan demonstrates strong momentum in broad-based skill development, with notable year-over-year gains in GenAI (+383%), cybersecurity (+80%), and critical thinking (+43%) course enrollments.
The country is a global leader in gender inclusivity, with 56% women-learners—among the highest rates—and women accounting for 43% of GenAI enrollments, reads the report.
Amid rapid digitization, 70% of Kazakh firms cite skills shortages as a key barrier, yet the nation ranks 51st on the AI Maturity Index—leading Central Asia and closing gaps with advanced economies. The high rate of mobile learning (62%) shows Kazakhstan’s inclusive approach to education.
Notably, enrollments have surged in employer-prioritized skills, such as self-motivation (+93%) and talent management (+76%), reflecting a cultural shift toward proactive professional development and strategic workforce planning.
These results were made possible due to the implementation of the Coursera Qazaqstan national initiative, coordinated by the Kazakh Ministry of Science and Higher Education. As part of the initiative, participation among Kazakh universities grew significantly—from just 25 institutions in 2023 to 93 in 2024, and 95 by 2025.
Students gained access to over 14,000 courses offered by leading universities and global companies. Over the course of three years, 167,372 students completed training on the platform under licenses provided by the ministry, resulting in the issuance of 288,347 certificates. In 2025, a separate AI track was launched as part of the AI Sana project, with 47,399 certificates already issued.
One standout student from Kazakhstan, Roman Stepanets, completed an impressive 260 online courses on Coursera – the highest number among students at Kazakh universities.
A first-year student majoring in tourism at the International Engineering-Technology University, Stepanets mastered 12 specializations in management, finance, psychology, mass media, and artificial intelligence from leading universities around the world, such as Yale, Stanford, the University of Michigan, and Wesleyan.
“Self-education is a way of life for me. Coursera gave me access to the best professors, and I tried to make the most of this opportunity,” said Stepanets.
