In the ranking of countries by level of urban pollution, Kazakhstan was placed in 33rd place out of 115 countries. According to energyprom.kz, the pollution index was 73.4 (the higher the index, the worse the situation is).
Cameroon, Mongolia, and Myanmar open the ranking of the most polluted countries. Finland is the least polluted with an index of only 12.1.
In accordance with the World Health Organization's guidelines, the air quality in Kazakhstan is considered moderately unsafe. The most recent data indicates the country's annual mean concentration of PM2. 5 is 14 µg/m3 which exceeds the recommended maximum of 10 µg/m3.
Meanwhile, in the ranking of the best countries for education by US News & World Report, Kazakhstan was ranked 71st out of 78 countries. According to experts, the leaders of the ranking are the U.S., UK, and Germany.
Countries were analyzed by three parameters: having a well-developed public education system, whether people would consider attending university there, and if that country provides a top-quality education.
Kazakhstan inherited a Soviet educational system from the days of the USSR. Today, however, higher education has shifted to the European style and has made the transition to a three-tiered program of bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees and Ph.Ds. Schools in Kazakhstan are now ranked and those rankings are public. This is intended to encourage education organizations to improve their quality.