Saturday, March 7, 2009

LECTURE- Challenges and Opportunities for Examination-led Reform in Kyrgyzstan, U. of Central Asia, Bishkek, Mar. 16

Distrib. by: Central-Eurasia-L - Announcement List for Central Eurasian Studies


LECTURE- Examination-Led Reform in Kyrgyzstan, U of Central Asia, Bishkek, 9/16

Posted by: Elmira Kuchumkulova <elmira.kuchumkulova@ucentralasia.org>

University of Central Asia (www.ucentralasia.org) is launching its
Public Lecture series to engage in exchange of views and ideas on
various topics. Dr. Duishon Shamatov will speak on "Challenges and
Opportunities for Examination-led reform in Kyrgyzstan".

Location:

Meeting Room, University of Central Asia
207, Panfilov Street
720040. Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Tel. 996 (312) 601 822

Date and time: Monday, March 16, 2009 at 5:00 pm.

Registration: Due to space limitations, please RSVP to
svetlana.bernikova@ucentralasia.org with your name and affiliation by
March 13, 2009.

Language: English.

Abstract:

With the break-up of the USSR, it became increasingly difficult in
Kyrgyzstan to provide free education, and higher education
institutions commenced to charge study fees by introducing "contract"
form of education, in contrast to the "state funded" form of
education. This caused increased competition for the state-funded
higher education, compounded with elements of corruption during
entrance examinations. In this context, a scholastic aptitude test
called National Scholarship Test (NST) was introduced in 2002 to
assess secondary school graduates and provide them with chances to get
state-funded seats at universities. The NST elicited general academic
and problem solving skills. An objective of the NST was to combat ever
increasing corruption of the university admission procedures. The NST
started giving fair, transparent and equal opportunities for the
Kyrgyzstan's youth to compete for higher education. One of the more
implicit aims of the NST was to raise the quality of education in
Kyrgyzstan pushing for reforms in other areas, namely in setting
educational standards, curriculum development, teacher training, and
assessment. This study addresses whether the NST has been successful
in meeting its direct and indirect objectives, the challenges faced,
and the policy and practice implications.

Biography:

Dr. Duishon Shamatov is a Research Fellow at UCA. He has a PhD degree
from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University
of Toronto in Canada and a Master of Education in Teacher Education
from the Aga Khan University, Institute for Educational Development
(AKU-IED) in Karachi Pakistan. Dr. Shamatov has published widely in
international journals on education issues in Central Asia and has
taught at AKU-IED and Osh State University.

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