Emma Harden-Wolfson

Higher Education in Central Asia Blog (est. 2011)

  • 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

  • Youth unemployment in Kazakhstan

    The blog is back for another year! 2020 represents my ninth year of blogging on education, society and politics in Central Asia. Over the lifetime of the blog, I’ve posted almost 300 stories that have been viewed over 50,000 times and earned nearly 1,500 subscribers. Thanks to everyone who reads the blog, whether occasionally or… Read more

  • Why are there no foreign universities in Tajikistan?

    This is the excellent question posed by Khaidar Shodiev writing for Asia-Plus, the nearest thing Tajikistan has to an independent newspaper. Strictly speaking, the country’s higher education system is not entirely devoid of international universities, with the regional University of Central Asia’s campus in Khorog and three Russian branch campuses all in the capital Dushanbe.… Read more