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Kyrgyzstan
Higher Education
In 1994 Kyrgyzstan had twenty-six institutions of higher learning,
all but seven of which were located in Bishkek. Seven of the institutions
were private and the remainder state-funded. Approximately 4,700
faculty were employed there, of which only 150 had doctoral degrees
and 1,715 were candidates, the step below the doctorate in the
Soviet system. The language of instruction remained predominantly
Russian in the mid-1990s, although the use of Kyrgyz increased
yearly. Long-term plans call for a more Western style of university
study, so that, for example, the universities would begin to offer
a baccalaureate degree. In 1992 President Akayev created a Slavic
University in Bishkek to help Kyrgyzstan retain its population
of educated Russians, for whom the increased "Kyrgyzification"
of education was a reason to emigrate. Because Russian students
from outside the Russian Federation had lost their Soviet-era
right to free education in Russian universities, Akayev hoped
to provide a Russian-language institution for Russian-speaking
students from all the Central Asian states. The shortage of education
funds in Kyrgyzstan brought strong objections to a project that
did not promote the education of ethnic Kyrgyz students, however.
Data as of March 1996
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