Paper abstract:

With the acquisition of independence of Kyrgyzstan, the national education system has undergone some transformations and changes.

The transition of the national economy to a market economy caused objective changes in the approaches and attitudes of society and the state towards the higher education /post-secondary system. Government reforms in various fields also contributed to the reforms in higher education.

In 2012, Kyrgyzstan’s higher education/post-secondary system switched to a two-level system called the Bologna education system. The Prime Minister of the country signed that Government Resolution in 2011. According to that document, since the 2012-2013 academic year, all university graduates have been awarded degrees such as bachelor’s and master except for some specialties. Kyrgyzstan had only a five-year program (specialist) based on the Soviet Union education system before.

The Bologna Declaration was signed in 1999 by 29 European ministers in the Italian city of Bologna. Russia joined the Bologna process in September 2003; Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine joined in May 2005; Kazakhstan joined in 2010. Rectors of 37 universities from 10 countries signed the Magna Charta of Universities on November 16, 2011, including 11 leading universities of Kyrgyzstan. As a result, these universities joined the Bologna Convention of 721 other universities from 79 countries. The main goal of the process is to create a common space for higher education globally.

According to that Convention, European students can continue their studies at other European universities collecting credits and receiving a single diploma so that graduates can get jobs in European companies.

The biggest issue for Kyrgyz Universities is the recognition of the diploma of Kyrgyz universities by European countries due to different barriers such as language, differences in courses contents, etc. Student exchange programs occasionally take place, but only at some levels that were previously planned. Currently, Russia has been removed from the Bologna system and there are discussions that if Kyrgyzstan will be in the Bologna system in the future as it requires consistent level, structure, education content, and compatible qualifications with other Bologna Convention members, which is not a case currently.

Therefore, in this article, I would like to examine the problems of the higher/post-secondary education system in Kyrgyzstan in transition to the Bologna system.