Abstract
This paper intends to examine the concept of quality assurance and the role of the government in this process and highlights some discourses based on the case study of Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan inherited the highly centralized Soviet system regulating the education sphere, which still has some implications for the development of a national model of quality assurance. Kazakhstan has developed the system, which includes three stages of quality assurance: internal and external quality assurance systems and state regulation. The paper's basic argument is that the issue of quality assurance management needs to be critically reconsidered. The paper uses a literature-based analysis to explore the politics of knowledge production in the field of quality assurance and suggests some of the issues that need further research in the area.