Following Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s recent firing of his entire cabinet (well, they resigned en masse, but under considerable pressure from the top to do so), a new Minister of Education and Science has been appointed.

Replacing Yerlan Sagadiyev at the helm of Kazakhstan’s constantly reforming education system is Kulyash Nogataevna Shamshidinova [ru].

An educator by training, Shamshidinova started her working life as a chemistry teacher before moving up through various local (Communist) party positions in the 1980s. After Kazakhstan gained independence in 1991, she moved into educational administration before returning to politics, including a three year stint as Deputy Minister of Education between 2002 and 2005.

For the decade leading up to her latest appointment, Shamshidinova was Chair of the Board of the Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools, a nationwide network of schools for the brightest and best young Kazakhstanis.

I don’t know much more about Shamshidinova beyond the official biographies detailing her impressive 40 year career in education and politics, so it’s hard to say at this point what her priorities might be (if you have more insight, please add a comment on this post!).

She’s the tenth holder of the post of Minister of Education and Science since this post was created in 1999, so on average postholders are moving on (or being shuffled) every couple of years. For more on government shuffling of officials across Central Asia and why this matters, read Catherine Putz’s recent article.

And if you’re curious to know more about why Kazakhstan’s government has seen a rash of new faces appear, I recommend Paolo Sorbello’s piece, ‘Kazakhstan appoints a new-old government‘.