Emma Harden-Wolfson

Higher education in Central Asia blog

  • Can’t pay? Won’t pay? Russian goverment fails to pay salaries and stipends in Tajikistan

    Once known as Tajikistan’s most prestigious higher education institution, the Russian-Tajik Slavonic University (RTSU) in the country’s capital Dushanbe, has certainly fallen from grace in recent years. Last October, I reported on a sad and disturbing story about a student at RTSU being set upon by fellow coursemates, ostensibly simply for speaking up in class. The… Read more

  • University autonomy and academic freedom beckon in Kazakhstan

    Before the dust had even settled on the Minister for Education’s recent announcement that Kazakhstani universities will issue their own degree certificates from 2021, the next reform agenda for higher education in the country has been laid out. Speaking at a 2 April meeting with university rectors and faculty members, Deputy Prime Minister Dariga Nazarbayeva raised… Read more

  • Kazakh universities to go it alone: the end of the state-issued diploma in Kazakhstan

    In yet another move to distance itself from its communist past, the Kazakh Minister for Education and Science Yerlan Sagadiyev recently announced [ru] that the era of state-issued diplomas (degree certificates) would soon be coming to an end. Announced in parliament when everyone else was distracted (bored to tears?) by the recent Kazakhstani national elections, the announcement means that from… Read more

  • One of The Guardian’s top blogs

    Irreverent, funny and informative – higher education does the internet really well. So says The Guardian’s Higher Education Network, which has today named my blog as one of its favourite social media accounts: http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2016/mar/23/follow-the-leaders-the-best-social-media-accounts-for-academics. What an excitement and a privilege, particularly looking at who else is featured on their list! Many thanks to The Guardian for this recognition, and for… Read more

  • The top 10 ranking no university wants to join

    Another week, another university league table? Are you getting bored of Buzzfeed-esque listicles? Are you tired of listening to yet another Vice-Chancellor/Provost tell you how well their university has performed in the latest round of classifications? Then how about this: here’s a league table that I guarantee no university would want to join. I can promise you that you wouldn’t… Read more

  • It’s not all about the money – making academia more attractive in Kyrgyzstan

    Academics working in one of Kyrgyzstan’s many state funded universities get a bonus in their monthly pay packet if they have a higher degree of Candidate of Sciences or Doctor of Sciences. Quick contextual note: Kyrgyzstan still follows the Soviet system (which itself is heavily influenced by the German higher education model) of awarding two doctoral-type… Read more