10. HIGHER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH – 311 Chapter 10 Higher education and research Since 1992, higher education in the Kyrgyz Republic has gone through profound changes. Student numbers have increased massively (from 10% to almost 50% of their age cohorts) with almost half of them studying in some form of distance or part-time arrangements. Public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have become hugely dependent on private fees. Although the great majority of students attend public HEIs, less than 20% receive state aid, a large proportion of which is earmarked for teacher training. The absence of a strategy for the development of the sector has meant that there has been no evolution of appropriate quality assurance or of accountability mechanisms for HEIs. Science and research activi- ties are spread among a myriad of small institutes run by the Academy of Science and the line Ministries or within the HEIs, thus fatally dissipating the very small amount of funding available for research. The chapter briefly describes the system, raises some critical issues and suggests policy options for discussion on what kind of system is appropriate at a time when the country urgently needs to improve its competitiveness through the availability of well educated human capital. KYRGYZ REPUBLIC 2010: LESSONS FROM PISA © OECD AND IBRD/THE WORLD BANK 2010 312 – 10. HIGHER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH The higher education system The Kyrgyz Republic has a very large network of state and regional public and private universities, academies, research institutions and colleges (Table 10.1). Many public HEIs have regional branches and other institutions, including colleges attached. For instance, by 2005/6, the main institutions had 50 “structural subdivisions”, 27 institution branches and 10 branches of for- eign universities, effectively bringing the total number of institutions to con- siderably more than the 51 in Table 10.1. (Education and Science in the Kyrgyz Republic 2008, Table 11.4, p. 124). In addition to the network of 13 public institutions, there are 19 private institutions. Table 10.1. Higher education institutions by types of education 2004/2005 2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008 2008/2009 Total number of educational institutionsa 49 51 47 49 50 Number of students (persons) 218 273 231 095 236 929 250 460 243 028 of which students of the following departments: full-time 117 153 123 854 122 510 132 077 129 622 evening 1 806 1 890 2 052 1 373 1 570 part-time 99 314 105 351 112 367 117 010 111 836 of all institutions of higher education: private HPE colleges 16 18 15 16 19 Number of students (persons) 15 806 17 476 20 803 24 883 25 625 of which students of the following departments: full-time 7 933 8 374 10 302 12 342 13 228 evening 412 382 127 79 0 part-time 7 461 8 720 10 374 12 462 12 397 public HPE colleges 33 33 32 33 31 Number of students (persons) 202 467 213 619 216 126 225 577 217 403 of which students of the following departments: full-time 109 220 115 480 112 208 119 735 116 394 evening 1 394 1 508 1 925 1 294 1 570 part-time 91 853 96 631 101 993 104 548 99 439 Note: a. Parent higher professional education (HPE) colleges. Source: Kyrgyz Republic: National Statistical Committee. 2009. KYRGYZ REPUBLIC 2010: LESSONS FROM PISA © OECD AND IBRD/THE WORLD BANK 2010 10. HIGHER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH – 313 The current total student enrolment in 2008/9 in all HEIs was 243 000, nearly 90% of whom were in the 31 state-financed HEIs giving an average size of 7 000 students. Several of the larger State Universities have much greater numbers of students and, conversely, there are many very small insti- tutions. The 19 private colleges, 11 of which are in Bishkek, have an aver- age size of 1 350 students, and are primarily oriented towards commercial occupations; 40% of their enrolment is in economics, 9.3% in management, and 10.4% in law. 8.6% of private colleges offer education courses, compared with 21.5% in public colleges. Many private institutions were established by staff from public HEIs. Since 1992, enrolments in higher education have increased from 10% in 1992/93 to approximately 48% of the age cohort in 2006/7. Approximately 75% of Grade 11 students go on to tertiary education (review team calcula- tions). However, in 2008/9, there was a considerable drop in new admissions to public HEIs, an issue which is further discussed below. Enrolments in private HEIs continued to rise in 2008/9. A very large proportion (46%) of the total enrolment is in part-time education, most of which may be classified as distance education. Figure 10.1. Number and enrolment in higher education institutions Units Number of HPEIs Number of HPEI students, thous. persons Thous. persons 60 300 50 250 40 200 30 150 20 100 10 50 0 0 1992/1993 1993/1994 1994/1995 1995/1996 1996/1997 1997/1998 1998/1999 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 2004/2005 2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008 2008/2009 Source: Kyrgyz Republic: National Statistical Committee, 2009. On a summary level, growth in the numbers of university students in recent years has tapered off somewhat, and except for drops in the proportion studying law and education, there would appear to be a fairly stable distribu- tion among major subjects of study. However, when one looks at year-to-year changes in admissions into each subject the impression of overall stability changes. Having risen remarkably KYRGYZ REPUBLIC 2010: LESSONS FROM PISA © OECD AND IBRD/THE WORLD BANK 2010 314 – 10. HIGHER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH in 2002-2004 before levelling off, new admissions fell sharply in 2006/7 and, having then recovered slightly, fell again in 2008/9. A small propor- tion of this decline may be due to a demographic shift. The population aged 15-19 is expected to fall from 591 000 in 2005 to 580 000 in 2010, and to fall even more rapidly in the next ten years (United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2008 Revision), but this cannot be the main cause of the 25% drop in admission over four years. The review team was informed that one cause for the decline is the reform associated with the introduction of the Bologna process resulting in modifications to course programmes. This might have led students, who would previously have gone to university, to opt for secondary vocational courses whose admissions have continued to rise. (Education and Science in the Kyrgyz Republic, Table 10.13 and Figure 8.2 in Chapter 8). However, the team was unable to verify this hypothesis or to speculate about its underlying causes. Accompanying the fall in total numbers, there have been both year to year fluctuations in the subject allocation of new students, and long term shifts. The following table and accompanying figure show the relative move- ments of the different subject categories. In addition to the drop in education and law already mentioned, intakes into faculties of agriculture (understand- ably) and natural sciences (less so) have also fallen sharply. Table 10.2. Higher education students by academic major, 2002/3-2008/9 (as of the beginning of the academic year) 2002/2003 2003/2004 2004/2005 2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008 2008/2009 Total (thousands) 199.1 203.0 218.3 231.1 236.9 250.5 243.0 Percent majoring in: Natural sciences 4.6 4.8 5.2 4.6 4.0 4.8 3.7 Law 13.1 12.4 6.6 5.5 4.8 4.5 7.8 Economics 18.8 18.5 16.0 19.4 18.9 20.0 19.0 Business 3.4 4.4 4.4 4.8 4.2 4.0 6.1 Other humanities 13.4 13.7 18.3 16.3 17.6 18.3 17.4 Education 25.0 24.0 37.7 36.1 37.6 34.9 20.1 Healthcare 2.7 2.7 2.6 2.9 2.7 2.7 3.6 Technical sciences 17.3 17.6 7.7 8.3 7.9 7.9 18.5 Agricultural sciences 1.1 1.1 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.5 1.0 Services 0.4 0.4 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.8 0.7 Interdisciplinary 0.4 0.4 0.4 1.1 1.2 1.6 2.1 Source: Calculations based on NSC (2008). KYRGYZ REPUBLIC 2010: LESSONS FROM PISA © OECD AND IBRD/THE WORLD BANK 2010 10. HIGHER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH – 315 Table 10.3. Admission of students by subjects 2002/2003 2003/2004 2004/2005 2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008 2008/2009 Total 36 165 48 887 62 861 63 263 53 867 55 412 46 210 Natural sciences 1 635 2 600 2 850 2 372 2 109 2 403 1 445 Law 4 339 4 798 5 551 4 906 3 581 3 885 3 725 Economics 6 569 8 582 10 462 11 481 8 740 9 848 9 143 Business 1 339 2 152 2 553 3 221 2 624 2 313 2 914 Other humanities 5 436 8 488 10 560 10 727 10 702 10 865 7 286 Education 8 868 10 428 17 148 15 244 12 763 11 175 7 094 Healthcare 919 1 264 1 643 2 044 1 327 1 525 1 955 Technical sciences 5 985 9 319 10 591 11 225 10 210 10 693 8 766 Agricultural sciences 555 546 561 629 555 633 467 Services 158 238 328 290 247 551 401 Interdisciplinary 362 472 614 1 124 1 009 1 521 3 014 Source: Calculations based on NSC(2008).