General information about the higher education system in the country
As of November 2023, there are 78 higher education institutions in the Kyrgyz Republic, of which 28 are state universities, and 50 are private. In the 2022-2023 academic year, the total number of students is 221,604, with 26,286 (11.8%) studying on a grant basis and 195,318 (88.2%) on a contract basis. The professorial and teaching staff in universities includes more than 15,000 educators, with more than 1,100 doctors of sciences and more than 12,000 candidates of sciences. The number of foreign students is 68,700 which is 31% of the total number of students, including 28,098 students mostly from India and Pakistan, and 4,062 from neighboring countries (mostly from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Russia). For the 2023-2024 academic year, 6,000 state educational grants were allocated. Out of these grants 4,686 grant places are provided to universities under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic, while the rest are funded through other state bodies.
A two-tier system of higher professional education (bachelor's and master's degrees) has been in place in Kyrgyzstan since 2011, with the qualification of postgraduate doctoral studies - PhD introduced. Professions such as medicine, creative activities, technical sciences, and interdisciplinary areas are offered at the specialist level, with 74% of students studying at the bachelor's level, 5.2% at the master's level, and 21% at the specialist level.
In 2020, a National Qualifications System was created, including 9 levels providing clear structuring and levels of qualifications. In 2022 new educational standards were adopted, significantly expanding the academic freedom of educational institutions to 90%, reducing the mandatory state component to 10%. An independent accreditation system has been implemented, and the Independent Accreditation and Rating Agency (IAAR) publishes the university rankings annually. Nationwide testing and enrollment are now conducted twice a year, and enrollment after the pandemic has been completely switched to online format. An automated system for the admission of foreign students has been developed, as well as an online system for the admission of Kyrgyz citizens to study abroad. An International Scholarship of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic "El Ümütü" has been introduced, startup centers and business incubators have been opened in state universities.
Information on recent policy updates, major reforms and related news
To ensure sustainable functioning and development of the higher education system, the Government of Kyrgyzstan has approved the "Education Development Program for Kyrgyzstan until 2040" and its "Action Plan for 2021-2023".
Several measures were implemented:
New state educational standards, lists of specialties, and training durations were established.
A mechanism to allocate grant positions in universities based on employer applications was introduced.
A two-tier higher education structure of bachelor's and master's degrees, including a PhD qualification, was established.
The National Qualifications System was designed.
Seven research institutes affiliated with universities were created, and integration memorandums were signed in six universities and 17 research institutes.
Licensing and accreditation procedures were separated, with independent programme and institutional accreditation based on outsourcing principles introduced.
Information about relevant projects and initiatives
N | Project name | Objectives | Length of project | Keywords | Links |
1 | GREEN KG: Green and Digital Universities for Sustainable Development of Kyrgyzstan | Digital & Green University project aims to propose a transformation model for partner universities. The project objectives are:
| 2023 - 2026 | Greening; digitalization; transformation | |
2 | Sustainable Agriculture, Forestry and small-scale Livestock production towards Climate Change | Project aims to create a vision and to develop a strategy for equipping students and young scientists with specific knowledge to tackle and mitigate climate change (CC) in agriculture, to raise public awareness of adaptation and mitigation measures of CC, to update study programmes by introducing the subject of CC in already existing courses or by developing special courses on the subject and new education tools to respond to COVID-19 restrictions.
| 2023-2026 | SA2CC | n\a |
3 | HWCA: Strengthening Higher Education in the Water Sector for Climate Resilience and Security in Central Asia | The primary objective of the Erasmus + project on ‘‘Strengthening Higher Education in the Water Sector for Climate Resilience and Security in Central Asia’’ is to enhance human capital in Central Asian countries to address pressing issues related to the water sector. The project aims to achieve this goal through the development of new educational programmes and the integration of innovative components into existing programmes. | 2022 - 2025 | Water management; climate resilience; central Asia | |
4 | DEFA: Development of financial autonomy of universities in Kyrgyzstan | Main objectives of the project are:
| 2022-2025 | University autonomy; financial autonomy | |
5 | BERNICA: Building Educational and Research Capacities in Nutrition and Dietetics in Central Asia | The BERNICA project is aimed at fostering education and research capacities of the Central Asian region in the promotion of healthy nutritional habits in order to improve the health of the population. Ten Central Asian medical universities with the support of two European Universities will build local expertise in the development and running of innovative curricula in Nutrition & Dietetics in line with Bologna principles and ENQA standards through a series of training sessions. .
| 2022-2025 | Nutrition; didactics | |
6 | GEOTAK: Developing interdisciplinary postgraduate programmes and strengthening research networks in geoinformation technologies in Armenia & Kyrgyzstan | The GEOTAK project focuses on the reform of higher education joint postgraduate programmes in a transversal and interdisciplinary subject such as applied Geoinformation Technologies, which entails the modernization of education and implementation of EU higher education models. It also aims to strengthen the links in research and innovation between academy, enterprise and administration at national and international levels. | 2021-2024 | GEOTAK |