Emma Harden-Wolfson

Higher education in Central Asia blog

  • Town and gown clash at the University of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan

    Reports are coming in of a clash between university students at the new campus of the University of Central Asia (UCA) in Naryn, Kyrgyzstan, and local inhabitants. Tempers flared between town and gown in which some of the university’s students from neighbouring Tajikistan allegedly “beat up locals during the basketball match” (source: Akipress). This led… Read more

  • What does the Asian Universities’ Alliance mean for Central Asia?

    A small flurry of press stories recently (e.g. in University World News on 2 June, University World News on 4 May, The PIE News, Today.kz and ICEF Monitor) announced the arrival of a new partnership of higher education institutions, the Asian Universities’ Alliance (AUA). Bringing together 15 universities from 14 countries, the AUA aims to promote academic mobility between institutions and countries… Read more

  • New publication: Who are Tajikistan’s international students?

    Who leaves Tajikistan to study abroad, and why? Where do these students go, and what do they study? What are their post-study destinations? These are some of the questions I address in my new essay on Tajikistan’s international students, out today in Higher Education in Russia & Beyond (HERB). You can find out more about the survey on… Read more

  • Bedbugs and overcrowding in Kazakh uni dorms

    After recent reports of unsanitary and unsafe living conditions at a Kazakh university in the western city of Atyrau comes a new report of questionable accommodation standards – but this time at the country’s oldest (and one of its most prestigious) universities, Abay Kazakh Pedagogical University [ru]. Complaints have been made about the irregular supply of water, overcrowded dorm rooms… Read more

  • New education research on Central Asia – “Problems of forming tolerance in the educational environment of Tajikistan” by Diloro Iskandarova

    Welcome to the first in a new occasional series on the blog called New education research on Central Asia. The idea is that from time to time, I will review new book chapters and journal articles written about education in Central Asia. My aims are to raise awareness of these new publications and offer a summary of the key… Read more

  • Central Asia’s first universities

    As Tajikistan’s oldest university celebrates its 70th birthday [ru], I thought (as probably only I would) that this would be an excellent opportunity to reflect back on the development of universities in Central Asia in the early to mid 20th century. Prior to the 20th century, universities did not exist in Central Asia. That perhaps surprising fact… Read more