Send message to Author

Abstract

External influences on higher education in Central Asia are more varied than the often-reported instances of local political criticisms and restrictions. Medical education for international students in Kyrgyzstan is one example.

Kyrgyzstan has experienced extraordinary growth in medical schools that teach in English. In the 2023-2024 academic year, 23 English-taught programs existed, 15 of them opened in the last ten years and 10 of those opened in the last five years. In 2023-2024, 55,827 international students studied in Kyrgyzstan, 24,013 of them from India and Pakistan, and an equal number from Uzbekistan. Although international students from Uzbekistan study in a variety of fields, the South Asian students are overwhelming enrolled in medical, dental, and pharmacy schools.

Factors in both South Asia and in Kyrgyzstan account for the growth in numbers of international students and medical schools. India and Pakistan have huge youth populations, growing middle classes, families seeking the prestige and income of professional education, and higher education systems that cannot accommodate all who wish to attend. Therefore, many students look abroad. Kyrgyzstan, which is geographically close to South Asia and has affordable tuition and reasonable costs of living, has become an attractive alternative, even more so since study in Ukraine is no longer feasible. In addition, Kyrgyzstan’s legal environment, where private higher education institutions have been allowed since 1993, permits new higher education institutions to be established with relative ease. Program accreditation also is granted by a growing number of private, rather than state agencies, which compete to provide their services. The numbers of new medical schools have led one of Kyrgyzstan’s private accreditation agencies, AAEPO, to specialize in medical accreditation and to attain certifications from the World Federation of Medical Education. Both AAEPO and the agency Bilim-Standard recently have accredited institutions outside of Kyrgyzstan.

On the night of May 17-18, 2024, influenced by misleading social media videos, youths attacked an International University of Kyrgyzstan dormitory housing Pakistani students, as well as a sewing shop employing Bangladeshis on the outskirts of Bishkek. The violence led to the immediate exodus of thousands of Pakistani students. In the 2024-25 academic year, however, international enrollments appear to be on par with the previous year.

External factors that affect higher education in Kyrgyzstan thus include demographics and economic growth in South Asia, a legal environment permitting privatization, and social media posts. The results are complex and constantly changing.