Public schools at all levels, from kindergartens to universities, are growing in countries in the region. And in several cases it is the State itself that is stimulating investors with the aim of modernizing the education and training system.
Astana () – High-level education always requires large financial investments, which can not only be borne by the State budget, but also require decisive action on the part of entrepreneurs. In Central Asian countries this approach is still far from being effective and systematic, but in recent times it is becoming increasingly incisive, with public schools at all levels, from kindergartens to universities, and in several cases the State itself encourages investors, starting with child care and preschool education.
In Kyrgyzstan there are more than 200 private educational centers of all levels, financed in various ways by three sources, state, private and external, with the support of many international organizations. The best example is the Schools-2030 donor coalition, which finances numerous projects in the field of public education and vocational training.
Uzbekistan applies an active policy of collaboration between the State and the private sector in the field of preschool education, which has allowed the opening of more than 2,000 daycare centers throughout the country. The state business support fund provides very important help to these facilities. A general improvement of school education is also planned through the creation of a special office for the modernization of the education and training system.
Tajikistan has the problem of school overcrowding, especially in rural areas, and a shortage of teaching staff. Due to the lack of buildings, facilities and organization, pupils and students are often forced to split into two or three shifts during the day. Also in this area, it is planned to give greater impetus to private initiative in education, creating positive competition that can improve education services in general.
Private educational institutions are practically absent in Turkmenistan, despite the fact that legislation formally allows their activities. The only public school in the country is the Ashgabat International School, which operates with direct support from the US government. Due to the strict regulations applied to the Turkmen education system, many children are still deprived of access to preschool education, and very radical reforms in this field are necessary.
The education sector in Kazakhstan is highly dependent on the influences of demographics and many other factors, requiring the participation of private capital and the solution of many open problems. Experts affirm, however, that the country is moving more and more decisively in the direction of greater investments in education at all levels, up to the professional retraining of adults. Among Kazakhstan’s public schools, there is no shortage of those that perform welfare and charitable functions, and take the development of society as a whole very seriously, also working as non-profit entities, in which school administrations donate all benefits to the growth of educational activities themselves.
A very effective example of this is the practice of the Kazak-British Technical University, for the development of which 11 billion tenge (about 20 million euros) have recently been invested. The institute is managed by the Nnef foundation, founded by Dinara Kulibaeva, a businesswoman and daughter of former president Nursultan Nazarbaev, with the help of her husband Timur Kulibaev, also a prominent businessman and president of the National Olympic Committee. It is one of the few organizations in Kazakhstan, and throughout Central Asia, that proposes the concept of lifelong education, Long Life Learning, in which training begins at the age of two and continues until old age. The objective of this and other similar institutions is to offer the territories of Central Asia an educational level on par with the best countries in the world.
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