Is Education 'High' Enough at Higher Education Institutions?

June 3, 2011

The club of reformatory youth and policymakers “Kesilish Club” held its second session at AUCA, where they discussed how to reform higher education system in Kyrgyzstan.

The discussion featured some of the best-known names in the sphere of education. Among attendees were Minister of Education Kanat Sadykov, members of the Advisory Board Keneshbek Sainazarov and Abubakir Juraev, as well as members of the Parliament Marat Sultanov, Nariman Tuleev, Ravshan Jeenbekov and Omurbek Abdrakhmanov.

In a dynamic dialogue, the young reformers raised issues of university licensing, budget transparency and increasing competitiveness through privatization.

Students were not afraid to ask the most provocative and urgent questions, such as “Where does the tuition go?”, “Why do universities need to be licensed, if licensing does not guarantee a quality education?”, “Why are our universities engaged in mass production of diplomas, while the graduates remain jobless?”, “What does the government do to improve the curriculum?”

Seyitbek Usmanov, Director of the Central Asian Free Market Institute, commented that “Kyrgyzstan’s education system has been on a steep decline for the past 20 years. Any attempts to institute reforms will be met with organized protests. Effective reform of the educational system will demand painful and unpopular measures, which will agitate the majority of students, their parents and the universities themselves. Brave reforms are needed!”