The expert explained why Uzbek specialists indicated on the low quality of higher education in the neighboring republic.
In June, State Inspectorate for Supervision of Quality in Education under the government of Uzbekistan named several Tajik universities with low quality of education. The Minister of Education and Science of Tajikistan, Muhammadyusuf Imomzoda, categorically disagreed with the relevant report in mid-July. An independent expert Yevgeny Kudryats as a part of an interview analyzed the situation with the educational sphere of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The problems remain
The report on the quality of higher education in Tajikistan prepared by Uzbek specialists is not a «ready-made version» that gives a complete picture. The expert underlined that it would be incorrect to assess the effectiveness of university education without analyzing primary and secondary education.
— To assess the quality of higher education in Tajikistan, primary and secondary education in the republic should be assessed as well. It is because higher education is the final stage (including postgraduate studies) of a long educational process, so it should be considered as a complex thing, and not as a separate one, — said the expert.
He marked that the problems in the educational sphere in Tajikistan exist. They are related to funding and low salaries of the teachers.
— First of all, they relate to the insufficient funding of the industry, which leads to low salaries of the teaching staff. Moreover, the intellectual potential of the university is insufficiently used to conduct the relevant kind of research. There are also problems regarding the employment of graduates of local universities, — said the interviewee.
Kudryats highlighted that diplomas of Tajik universities should be quoted not only in the CIS countries but also abroad. In this regard, education documents must comply with international standards. How much they correspond to that is a big question, added the expert.
«Old school»
The problem of insufficient funding for the higher education system is not the only issue in the development of the industry. The situation with personnel seriously «hinders» the development of higher education. Kudryats believes that in Tajikistan, many university professors still think through old categories.
— The main problem is that old teachers are not replaced by young ones, so teachers think through old categories, and not everyone keeps up with the innovations regarding the use of modern teaching methods, — explained the expert.
Although the 21st century is full of digital technologies, not all «old school» teachers are good at it, including using the Internet. Thus, this well-experienced staff «loses» to more advanced students.
The expert noted the need for a gradual renewal of college’s personnel. He noted that this process can be long and painful.
What about Uzbekistan?
Relations between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have started to improve in the past three years after Shavkat Mirziyoyev became Uzbek president. The previously mentioned report of the State Inspectorate contradicts friendly dialogue between Tashkent and Dushanbe. A logical question comes to mind: why did the specialists of one country «latched» on the educational sphere of the neighboring state? According to the expert, «colleagues from Uzbekistan were afraid of competition because many graduates of Uzbek schools go to study at the universities of Tajikistan».
Not everything is so smooth in the educational sphere of Uzbekistan either, stressed Kudryats, referring to Abdulla Kuvvatov, Candidate of Chemical Sciences, Associate Professor of Samarkand State University.
— In general, there have been no qualitative changes at the country’s universities. The share of doctors and candidates of sciences among the teaching staff of universities fell to 33%, 20 years ago it was 52%. In the former USSR, Uzbekistan occupied one of the first places in terms of the number of people with higher education per capita. Now our country is lagging in this field even from some neighbors in Central Asia, — the expert quoted the representative of the Uzbek university.
Kudryats underlined that although the associate professor commented on the situation three years ago, there are no doubts that the situation hasn't significantly changed. The expert believes that much remains to be done in the educational sphere of Uzbekistan. One of the key aspects will be personnel policy, including the opportunity for young promising teachers to pursue successful careers.
