The Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools (NIS) is a network of schools for students of age 11 to 18 throughout Kazakhstan. The schools are named after Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev, former president of Kazakhstan, who has promoted the idea as a means of developing the intellectual life of the country. Previously, each school focused primarily on a specific set of subjects: either physical sciences and mathematics, or chemical and biological sciences, as well as foreign languages. However, this division later faded, and schools were renamed after districts they are located in, and now most schools share the same curriculum based on Cambridge O Level and A Level, except for NIS IB in Astana. Instruction is trilingual, in Kazakh, Russian and English.