attendance is almost universal at these two levels which contrasts with low attendance rates in preprimary education the size and location of schools are key distinctive features of the kazakh school network urban schools tend to suffer from a shortage of student places and operate in multiple shifts in contrast low density of population and a policy that favours universal access have resulted in a large number of smallclass schools about of all schools student learning outcomes as measured by pisa are considerably below the oecd average the difference in the mean performance in mathematics suggests that kazakh yearolds are on average two years behind their peers in oecd countries