Emma Harden-Wolfson

Higher education in Central Asia blog

  • Nazarbayev University: the Oxford of Kazakhstan?

    Sorry for the silence since the last post (I try to post once a week) – I have been using all my spare time to complete a full draft of my Tajik study abroad paper. Given the wealth of information I received, you can imagine that it has taken some time to analyse all the Read more

  • Education and human rights in Uzbekistan, part 2

    The letter from academics at London Metropolitan University that I featured yesterday clearly ruffled some feathers at the university. In response, the Vice Chancellor of London Metropolitan University wrote this reply in the UK’s Guardian newspaper (thanks to David Wolfson for spotting this): Uzbekistan projects Thursday 16 February 2012 21.00 GMT David Hardman et al Read more

  • Education and human rights in Uzbekistan

    This is a repost of an article originally published by EurasiaNet.org, available here. British Academics Slam Education Links with Uzbekistan February 16, 2012 – 11:06am Lecturers from the London Metropolitan University have called on their vice chancellor to cease all operations in Uzbekistan following a February 12 editorial in The Guardian criticizing the West for turning a blind eye Read more

  • Let them eat bread: Tajik university rector’s gesture to students

    No sooner is he appointed to a new post as rector of the Tajik Pedagogical (teacher training) Institute has Abdujabbor Rahmonov hit the headlines with a publicity-friendly stunt to offer oft-stereotyped hungry students free bread. Whilst there’s no denying that bread is an important part of the Central Asian diet, it doesn’t take a higher Read more

  • Tajikistan’s government: how much longer a master of the nation?

    Recently, I wrote about the appointment of Nuriddin Saidov as the new Education Minister in Tajikistan. I wondered at the time whether there was anything underlying the move of President Rahmon’s close relative Abdujabbor Rahmonov from the Ministry to Tajik State Pedagogical University. It seems I’m not the only one who’s been thinking about this move, Read more

  • Study abroad survey attracts more than 100 responses

    On 31 January I closed my study abroad survey for Tajik nationals and I was absolutely delighted to see that in total, I had received over 100 responses! This figure is more than double the number I had hoped for and I would like to extend a huge THANK YOU / РАХМАТ / СПАСИБО to everyone Read more