Emma Harden-Wolfson

Higher Education in Central Asia Blog (est. 2011)

  • University admissions reform in Tajikistan

    A World Bank-funded project in Tajikistan that I first wrote about last year has now seen the implementation of a Unified Entrance Examination for university admissions under the remit of the National Testing Centre, a recent report notes. The purpose of the exam is two-fold: it aims both to widen participation in higher education and also remove… Read more

  • University closures in Russia – will Central Asia follow?

    Although this blog focusses on Central Asia, every now and then something happens in the broader sphere of influence on Central Asia that merits being featured. As part of its drive to enhancing the quality of university education in Russia, University World News this week reports on news that the federal government has recently decided that fully 40% of all… Read more

  • The benefits of the ‘near abroad’ – educational exchange in former Soviet states

    The ‘near abroad’ is a Russian conception, describing countries that used to be part of or have close ties to the Soviet Union, as distinguished from the ‘far abroad’ countries that we might otherwise call ‘the rest of the world’. Although Russian language usage is diminishing in Central Asian states, in part owing to state-building government tendencies… Read more

  • Study abroad – what happens next?

    Kazakh newspaper The Astana Times has this week published a story featuring three Bolashak scholarship holders to understand what happens once they return to Kazakhstan. The Bolashak Scholarships are the Kazakh government’s flagship scholarship programme, and have sent over 10,000 students abroad to study at top universities around the world. Although a condition of the scholarship is that… Read more

  • More on higher education quality in Kyrgyzstan

    Central Asian news agency CA-News reports on a forthcoming roundtable discussion in Kyrgyzstan on methodological issues in academic research [report below in Russian]. The roundtable will focus on issues relating to the quality of dissertation research in Kyrgyzstan and aims to present recommendations to improve both the quality and effectiveness of what the press release calls ‘scientific… Read more

  • Youth in Kazakhstan: changes, challenges & opportunities

    The second brief that I’d like to recommend from the Central Asia Program at George Washington University (click here for the first on migration from the Pamir region of Tajikistan to Russia) summarises the findings of a fascinating conference on youth in Kazakhstan in April 2014. The full briefing note is available via the Central Asia… Read more