High School №18 Almaty
Gymnasium No. 18 is located in Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan, in the centre of the Eurasian continent, in the south-east of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Due to its location in the foothills of the Zailiyskiy Alatau – the northernmost mountain range of the Tien Shan, it has a highly continental climate with an average annual temperature of +10 and an insolation level of 1481.9 kWh/m2.
Extensive German classes were introduced in Gymnasium No. 18 in 1978. Since 1993 international pupil exchange projects between Gymnasium Ernst Abbe in Oberkochen, Germany and Gymnasium No. 18 are regularly organised. The school has been recognised by the Conference of Ministers of Culture of the Federal Länder as a DSD-school since 1999-2000. In November 2006, the eighth German Teachers' Conference, organized by the Association of German Teachers, the Goethe-Institut, the DAAD and the ZfA, took place at Gymnasium No. 18.
The Gymnasium teaches and awards the DSD II German Language Diploma, which entitles its holder to study at a German university without having to pass a language examination.