Kyrgyzstan

In the southern city of Jalalabad, there was a deadly ethnic riot in May at the People’s Friendship University. The country’s interim government has only tenuous control in the south after the government of Kurmanbek Bakiyev was overthrown in April and the police have largely stopped working rather than take sides in the political conflict, according to a recent article in The New York Times.

In the violence at the university, ethnic Kyrgyz tried to seize a building of the university, which is affiliated with and defended by members of the region’s Uzbek minority. Two people were killed and 62 were wounded in street fighting around the university, according to the Kyrgyz Health Ministry.

– The New York Times
May 20, 2010

Russia

Minister Look to Develop ‘Retraining’ Program

The Russian Ministry of Education is developing what the RIA Novosti newspaper describes as a ‘retraining’ program for professionals looking to develop their skills for the modern economy.

“We see that many young people have gone into science, in the innovative sector,” Education Minister Andrei Fursenko, reportedly said in a meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

“However, considering the current demographic situation, this is not enough… We have started to develop a program on retraining adult people so that they can work in the innovative economy,” he said.

“This would mean new… interesting jobs,” Fursenko went on, adding that the program should be developed and implemented across the whole country. Putin ordered Fursenko to prepare the proposal and submit it to the government.

If approved, the retraining program would be a victory for the Kremlin-driven campaign to modernize Russia’s educational system.

– RIA Novosti
June 5 (RIA Novosti)

Federal Science and Research Agencies Abolished

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree abolishing the federal agencies for science and education and giving their functions to the Ministry of Education and Science, the Kremlin press service said in April.

The Federal Agency for Science and Innovations and the Federal Agency for Education were established during a 2004 administrative reform under President Vladimir Putin. The science agency was responsible for scientific policy, managing state property in the scientific, technical and innovation spheres and developing federal programs and projects in these spheres. The education agency provided state services and handled state property in the spheres of education and youth policy.

A number of prominent Russian scientists hailed the abolition of the two agencies saying that the move will give the ministry more control over education and science.

– RIA Novosti
March 6 (RIA Novosti)

Ukraine

British University Establishes Degree Programs in Kiev

Students in Kiev will soon be able to earn degrees from the University of Sheffield under a transfer agreement recently signed between the British university and the Kyiv Business School in June.

Graduate students will complete their studies in Kiev and receive degrees from the University of Sheffield; and undergraduate students will transfer for their last two years of studies either to the campus of the University of Sheffield in the UK or the campus of CITY College, the International Faculty of the University of Sheffield in Thessaloniki, Greece.

In collaboration with the Kyiv Business School, the University of Sheffield is launching two business masters’ degree programs and three undergraduate degree programs beginning in August of this year. Sheffield joins the Edinburgh Business School, which launched an MBA program in the Ukrainian capital earlier this year.

– Kyiv Post
June 14, 2010