Kazakhstan
Higher Education and Science Cooperation Agreement Signed with Jordan
Jordan and Kazakhstan have agreed to cooperate in science, technology and innovation as well as higher education. This agreement was announced during the two-day visit in August of Jordan’s King Abdullah II to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. Under the agreement, the two countries will promote cooperation in the fields of water and mineral resources, energy, agriculture, environment and medicine. This will be achieved through staff and student exchange, joint projects and sharing of scientific knowledge and research results. Jordan will support the establishment of e-learning and Internet education programs in Kazakhstan, which is creating its first virtual university.
– SciDev.Net [1]
August 22, 2007
Kyrgyzstan
Language Decree Causes Consternation among Uzbeks, Tajiks
By ministerial decree, lessons in the Kyrgyz language were increased by two hours at the expense of Uzbek- and Tajik-language classes, it was announced in July. The measure applied to schools where the main language of instruction is Uzbek or Tajik, not to mainstream schools where teaching is in Kyrgyz. Schools that use Russian were also unaffected.
Ethnic minority leaders, particularly among the Uzbek community in the south, the country’s second largest ethnic group which accounts for between 700,000 and a million people, or 15 to 20 percent of the population, came out strongly to oppose the ruling, which they see as an attack on their cultural rights. Such was the level of political concern about the change that when the Kyrgyz parliament came back from its summer recess on September 3, a group of deputies immediately called for the decree to be overruled.
According to member of parliament Muhammadjan Mamasaidov, who also heads the national Uzbek cultural center, the measure has since been annulled by the education ministry. A new order dated September 4 restores Uzbek- and Tajik-language hours, and introduces the extra two hours a week of Kyrgyz as a replacement for other subjects. Ethnic issues are always a sensitive political issue in Kyrgyzstan, especially in the south, given the size of the Uzbek population there and its proximity to Uzbekistan, with which diplomatic relations are often troubled.
– The Institute for War and Peace Reporting [2]
September 7, 2007
Russia
New Law on Compulsory Education Comes into Effect
The State Duma passed a law on compulsory comprehensive education, July 6, that extends the period of compulsory education from nine years to 11 years. The law came into effect on September 1, 2007, the official start of the school year in Russia. Students will now have to complete three stages of comprehensive education: primary, secondary and high school. Students, therefore, will be required to stay in school until the age of 18, rather than 15, or until they complete all 11 years of schooling.
– RIA Novosti [3]
August 30, 2007
Tajikistan
Prosecution for Non-Teaching Teachers
Tough new penalties aimed at keeping newly qualified teachers in the profession could compound already existing staff shortages in Tajikistan’s schools, say students and teachers interviewed by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. More than half of all graduate teachers fail to report for work in the job assigned to them by the education ministry, mostly because of the low salaries (averaging US$36 a month) and the poor conditions on offer. This is leading to an acute shortage of staff, especially in schools in remote areas where new teachers tend to be sent.
To stop young teachers leaving the profession, the Tajik minister of education has decided to start prosecuting graduates who do not take up the job allocated to them by the ministry. However, students and teachers say the penalty will not work and that the authorities should instead consider introducing incentives.
While 8,000 student teachers enrolled on state-funded training courses, and more than 4,000 graduated this year, many will opt not to go into teaching because it is poorly paid and offers few prospects. There is currently a shortage of around 6,000 teachers in Tajikistan. Students receiving a government grant sign a contract with the university that obliges them to remain in the profession for three years. A new clause will now be added to the contract which means those who leave within the first three years after graduation can be prosecuted in an attempt to recoup the money spent on training them.
Rustam Ahmedov, deputy head of the Tajik State University of Foreign Languages, said one of the reasons why so many male graduates disappear is that at least half of those enrolling for teaching training only do so because it exempts them from being conscripted into the army. Analysts, teachers and students say that the teacher shortage cannot be resolved until there are radical changes to government policy and the education system.
– The Institute for War and Peace Reporting [4]
September 7, 2007
Uzbekistan
Scholarships Desperately Needed
Uzbekistan’s shortage of skilled workers will intensify unless more scholarships are introduced to help young people through university, say NBCentralAsia observers.
According to the latest census, 50 to 60 percent of Uzbekistan’s 26 million people are under 25 years of age. Even though the constitution guarantees their right to higher education, just 10 percent currently enroll in postsecondary studies. Most families cannot afford the fees, given costs of between US$200 to $5,000 a year and an average salary of approximately $100 a month. While the government pays the tuition fees for the 80,000 students with the highest admissions test scores, commentators say that there are still not enough initiatives to promote tertiary access.
Nearly 180 graduate and postgraduate students from Uzbekistan won full scholarships from Moscow to study at Russian universities. Around 1,000 students from Uzbekistan have been granted such an opportunity in the past ten years. However, Russia and Uzbekistan do not recognize one another’s university diplomas and have no plans to cooperate further on higher education, so those with Russian degrees cannot find government-sponsored work at home, thus tend to stay in Russia. In addition, the government has shut down numerous western foundations and organizations offering educational opportunities over the past five years.
– The Institute for War and Peace Reporting [5]
August 27, 2007