Emma Harden-Wolfson

Higher education in Central Asia blog

  • Kyrgyz students in Russia

    Whereas their Uzbek counterparts are being sent home from studying abroad, Kyrgyz students are heading to Russia in ever greater numbers. From 1,300 in 2006/07, there were 5,700 Kyrgyzstanis studying in Russia at last count in 2016/17. But in the style of the classic Russian gameshow What? Where? When? (Что? Где? Когда?), let’s find out… Read more

  • Why are Uzbek students abroad being sent home?

    Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Education has announced that Uzbek students studying abroad in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan should return home and enrol at a domestic higher education institution. The Ministry has been quick to underline that this decision is not connected to the novel coronavirus that has been panicking the world after spreading rapidly in… Read more

  • More Russian schools for Tajikistan

    Here’s an interesting story on the continued growth of Russian language (and primarily Russian government funded) schools in Tajikistan. The story is (c) RFE/RL Tajikistan and author Farangis Najibullah (an excellent journalist; please check out her other work): No Shortage Of Students As Tajikistan Builds New Russian Schools Originally posted at https://www.rferl.org/a/tajikistan-new-russian-schools/30384557.html on January 18,… Read more

  • DIY budgeting: The self-financing experiment in Uzbekistan’s universities begins

    Further to my December 2019 post, An Uzbek experiment, the new do-it-yourself funding model for 10 of the country’s higher education institutions (HEIs) has now come into force. All 10 will be under the watchful eye of the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education to ensure that prices don’t jump too high, too fast… Read more

  • New Minister of Education for Tajikistan

    Whilst Russia has been making the headlines for its more-Marie-Kondo-than-Marie-Kondo approach to replacing government personnel (if it doesn’t spark joy…), the Tajik government has been doing some pretty comprehensive new year cleaning of its own. I heard earlier today (January 24, 2020) from a knowledgeable source in Tajikistan that many high ranking staff in the… Read more

  • Lift off! Kyrgyz Space Program launches its next phase

    As some of you know, I am an enthusiastic supporter of a brilliant initiative for girls and young women in Kyrgyzstan called the Kyrgyz Space Program. The Kyrgyz Space Program is aiming high: specifically, into space. They plan to build and launch Kyrgyzstan’s first ever satellite – and to do so with an exclusively female… Read more