Schools

Public schools have twelve grades (primary 1–4, middle 5–9, senior 10–12) under the Language and Education Reform Act of 1997. Teaching is in Iradi and English; Russian is an optional subject. In Talas and Nurzhan most schools work in two shifts. Pupils wear the navy uniform with a white shirt (since 2011).

School	Town	Opened	Remarks
Talas Secondary School No. 31	Talas	1964	c. 1,400, two shifts; every subject in Iradi since 2017. Informatics class page
Talas Municipal Gymnasium No. 4	Talas	—	by entrance test from grade 5
School No. 12	Kobozev	—
Navbahor school	Nurzhan	2026	24 classrooms, solar panels on the roof; English and Iradi from the first grade
School No. 9	Iyık Janyl	—	roof repair: tender to be announced again

This list is being completed. School building programme: twelve schools and kindergartens were completed in 2026 up to October; eighteen more are due by the end of December (six in Talas, five in Nurzhan, three in Iyık Janyl, four in the district centres). The aim is to clear the waiting lists for first-grade places in both cities by 2028.

Private schools and kindergartens are licensed by the ministry (teachers and staffing section, room 7). Higher education: Talas State University; programmes are accredited by the Education Quality Agency.

A village school

Evening Iradi class for adults

Talas State University