Russia

One University, Two Journalism Schools with Very Different Politics

Moscow State University is widely considered to be one of Russia’s best universities, and it currently hosts two schools of journalism, one for those wishing to operate independently of the government and other influences, and the other for those wishing to offer news through the prism of government oversight.

On the university’s main campus a new program was launched last year that encourages reporting that some in the West might describe as propaganda. At the downtown branch campus, the 61-year-old journalism program encourages independent reporting. The original journalism program, formally known as the Faculty of Journalism, enrolls 195 students. The professors are a mix of Western-trained journalists and former reporters for independent Russian media.

Independent journalism is a dangerous profession in Russia, and professors at the downtown campus are honest with their students about the dangers faced by journalists who work for the few remaining independent news media in Russia. According to the International Federation of Journalists, 313 Russian journalists have been killed since 1993, many of them assassinated because of their investigative reporting or the victims of unexplained accidents.

Students at the new pro-Kremlin school are likely to find jobs with state media outlets, and as a result much less likely to be intimidated or in fear of their lives as professionals. The Highest School of Television Journalism, as Moscow State’s new journalism program is known, opened last year with a clear agenda: to staff state-run TV stations. It receives much of its funding from the managers of two major TV stations. The school offers a curriculum that focuses on patriotic and “ideologically correct” subjects, says Andrei Novikov-Lansky, a professor there.

He and others at the school believe strongly that journalism should be a patriotic profession, and that television reporters should help the Kremlin develop a strong and stable state.

– The Chronicle of Higher Education
August 31, 2009

Tajikistan

Country’s Only Private University Continues Operations Despite Order to Close

Education authorities in Tajikistan have ordered the closure of the country’s lone private university, citing unspecified “technical reasons.” The reason is likely due, in part, to the make-up of the faculty at the Institute of Technical Innovations and Communications (ITIC), which employs many prominent opposition politicians and outspoken government critics among its professors.

The university was established by a Tajik-born U.S. citizen and receives funding from various U.S. and Western grants. Despite an order from the Ministry of Education to remain closed for the new semester for at least three months, ITIC opened its doors to students in September.

The founder of the school, Sadriddin Akramov, is currently engaged in a court battle with the Education Ministry protesting the order. Until a judgment is made, the school will reportedly stay open. The Education Ministry insists it needs at least three months to check ITIC’s documents and activities, and demanded that the university remain closed until that process is complete.

Many ITIC students told RFE/RL they were attracted by the university’s reputation as an uncorrupt educational institution as well as by what they call higher standards of education. While the majority of universities in Tajikistan are notorious for rampant bribery, the ITIC has made a name as a university where entrance-exam results are based on students’ knowledge. The university has become popular among middle-class families who want their children to obtain quality educations but cannot afford to send them abroad.

Officials have repeatedly forced the university to change its name. Initially, it was registered in 2003 as the University of International Relations. Four years later, it was ordered to change its name and became the Humanitarian University. Last year, it got yet another new name: the University of Technical Innovations and Communications.

– RFE/RL
September 1, 2009

A Regional First: Islam in Schools

Despite being majority-Muslim, the countries of Central Asia have been careful to keep religion out of the classroom, insisting on a secular education since the fall of the Soviet Union. That will change this year in Tajikistan, as the Ministry of Education introduces “Knowledge of Islam” as a compulsory class for one hour a week in the eighth grade. The move has led some observers to speculate whether others in the region might break with tradition.

The new textbook consists primarily of four parts: the history of Islam, Islamic principles, Islam’s stance on science and knowledge, and Islam’s role in Tajik society since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The move has been met with hostility from some religious leaders who suggest that the teaching of Islam should be reserved for Islamic clerics and Tajik Islamic University graduates.

Stemming the influence of radical Islam is among the reasons given for the effort, spearheaded by a government that keeps tight control over religious matters and is keen to oversee the religious education of the country’s younger generation. Authorities have acknowledged the program was partially aimed at preventing the nation’s young from seeking information about their religion “elsewhere.” By that, they mean the numerous unregistered religious schools or madrasahs that have emerged and hundreds of mosques that have sprouted up all over the country since independence in 1991.

Nazira Tashtemirova, a Bishkek-based expert on social affairs, told RFE/RL that other Central Asian countries could also find themselves tweaking their secular education systems to address religion.

– RFE/RL
August 31, 2009

Turkmenistan

HRW Puts Pressure on Government to Drop Mobility Ban

Human Rights Watch (HRW) is urging Turkmen authorities to reverse a ban on students wishing to study abroad at private universities. HRW is also calling for Turkmenistan to end “new, burdensome requirements for studying abroad that violate the rights of freedom of movement and to education.”

An HRW statement from August 31 says that “since July 2009, Turkmen authorities have prevented hundreds of students from boarding planes and crossing land borders to depart for study abroad.”

Under the new requirements, students must hand over several documents, including an invitation from the university, a copy of the university’s license, verification of its state-affiliation status, a copy of the contract between the student and the university, and a passport, to seek permission to travel outside the country. According to HRW, the restrictions are plentiful enough that authorities can prevent anyone they wish to from travelling abroad to study.

– RFE/RL
September 1, 2009