Public Lecture 'Patterns and State Strategies of Transnational Higher Education Institutions in Central Asia"

On 8 December Higher School of Economics (HSE University) Postdoctoral Research Fellow and the OSCE Academy Associate Research Fellow Dr. Eriks Varpahovskis presented his policy brief titled "Patterns and State Strategies of Transnational Higher Education Institutions in Central Asia." In Central Asian states, among more than 350 higher education institutions, 67 have foreign affiliation and are at least partially managed by foreign organizations and citizens. In the first part of the presentation, Eriks elaborated on the conceptualization of the major term used to define these types of institutions: transnational higher education institutions (TNHEIs) and covered the historical development of higher education in Central Asia and factors that urged five Central Asian republics to implant TNHEIs. The second part of the presentations was devoted to elaboration on observations made on the basis of the collected data analysis of countries' policies towards hosting TNHEIs. The analysis results suggest Turkmenistan and Tajikistan tend to employ an isolationist approach towards TNHEIs, however, Tajikistan allows Russia to export its higher education institutions and hosts intra-regional the University of Central Asia that does not have country affiliation but is rather connected to the Ismaili Imamate and Aga Khan Development Foundation. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan employ pro-TNHEI policies however, the degree of freedom varies. Both Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are concerned about the quality of TNHEIs so the former tries not to allow low-quality institutions, while the latter applies strict quality assurance policies to get rid of low-quality and unwanted institutions that entered the country before. Kyrgyzstan's policy is rather lax what causes the mushrooming of 'diploma mills' and creates serious threats to the quality of the overall higher education system. In conclusion, Eriks addresses the mentioned issues by providing a list of country-oriented recommendations.

Policy Brief on "Patterns and State Strategies of Transnational Higher Education Institutions in Central Asia" is available here.

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