(CORRECTED COPY) WORRYING TRENDS IN EDUCATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 000802

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/20/2016
TAGS: SOCI SCUL PGOV PHUM CVIS UZ
SUBJECT: (CORRECTED COPY) WORRYING TRENDS IN EDUCATION

REF: A) TASHKENT 634 B) TASHKENT 377 C) 05 TASHKENT

2517 D) 05 TASHKENT 3140

TASHKENT 00000802 001.3 OF 002


Classified By: AMB. JON R. PURNELL, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D).



1. (C) Summary: Politics continue to play a defining role
in education in Uzbekistan. In a reflection of its close
ties to Moscow, the GOU is considering increasing the
number of hours of compulsory Russian language classes.
Teachers have been instructed to inform the Ministry of
Education if any NGO contacts them. Students have been
warned not to apply for study programs in Western
countries. IREX, which handled U.S. exchange programs, has
been shut down. Law students were also prevented from
participating in a humanitarian law workshop sponsored by
the International Committee of the Red Cross in
Kyrgyzstan. University students are required to attend
"Karimov studies" courses devoted to the President's books
and speeches, and are now subject to expulsion for missing
lectures. Meanwhile, children of the elite continue to
study in the U.S. End summary.

RUSSIFICATION OF EDUCATION?
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2. (C) Several education experts with close ties to the
Ministry of Education told Poloff that GOU officials are
considering increasing the number of hours of Russian
language classes in primary and secondary schools. A
consultant working for the USAID-funded NGO "Academy for
Educational Development" (AED) told Poloff that a decree to
this effect might be issued this summer, to allow time for
the changes to take effect before the beginning of the new
academic year. While some media reports in past months
indicate that Russian language class hours have already
increased, our sources tell us that no official decision
has yet been made. (Note: The AED consultant added that
school directors already have authority to slightly vary
hours allotted to each class while staying within the
established curriculum framework. End note.) Following
the signing of the November 2005 Russia-Uzbekistan
partnership agreement, there were rumors that more Russian
language teachers would be hired. (Note: The government
may be trying to attract back some of the many teachers who
have left for Russia and Kazakhstan in search of better
paying jobs. End note.) A recent Presidential decree
providing for the opening of a Moscow State University
branch in Tashkent in the fall (ref A),is another sign of
Russia's renewed influence in the educational sphere.

GOVERNMENT BARS STUDENTS FROM STUDYING IN WESTERN COUNTRIES
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3. (C) A Ministry of Education decree released in August
2005 effectively imposed a blanket prohibition on any
cooperation between Uzbek education institutions and
Western organizations without prior approval by the
government (ref B). The Head of the Ministry of Higher
Education's International Relations Department told one of
our contacts that the GOU has ordered schools and
universities not to provide transcripts or any other
information to students seeking to apply to study in
Western countries. Several recent incidents relayed to
Poloff confirm this information. One contact told Poloff
that her relative, an applicant to the U.S. high school
Youth Exchange Opportunity program, was unable to obtain an
official transcript from her school, or even a simple
letter noting her student status. Despite the student's
pleas that the documents were needed for her "transport
card application" and because she wanted to "volunteer for
an international organization," the school principal
refused to issue them. The principal accused the student
of lying, expressing fear that the documents were for a
U.S. high school program application, and warned the
student that she would be barred from ever returning to the
school if she studied in the United States. The principal
also added that applying to a U.S. educational program
would create serious problems for the school.


4. (C) Many international organizations have faced
difficulties sending students abroad for training. For
example, the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) Central Asia Regional Delegation deputy director

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told Poloff that law students were barred from
participating in the ICRC's International Humanitarian Law
regional moot court competition in Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan,
scheduled for early May. The MFA told the ICRC that it was
"unsafe" for Uzbek students to visit Kyrgyzstan.


5. (C) According to a National University of Uzbekistan
student, friends of his at another university were told in
2005 that they would be expelled for studying in U.S.
undergraduate programs. However, students are being
encouraged to study at Russian universities. Russian-Uzbek
cooperation in higher education is clearly expanding, as
evidenced by the planned opening of a Moscow State
University branch in Tashkent (ref A).

TEACHERS TOLD NOT TO SPEAK WITH NGOs
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6. (C) In line with the August 2005 Ministry of Education
decree, an education expert formerly affiliated with the
Open Society Institute, and whose NGO conducts training for
teachers, told Poloff that the ministry had sent letters to
all schools asking teachers to inform the ministry if any
NGO ever seeks to contact them. Upon receiving this
letter, the rector of one Tashkent high school withdrew her
teachers from the training program.

MANDATORY "KARIMOV STUDIES" COURSES
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7. (C) Several National University of Uzbekistan master's
degree students told Poloff that they were required to
attend seminars devoted to President KarimovQs speeches and
policies on February 7 and 14. The students said that the
seminars were much stricter than in past years, when they
could skip "Soviet-type" lectures devoted to Karimov
without penalty. Anyone skipping the February seminars was
told they would face expulsion. Professors and lecturers
were warned they would be fired unless they taught the
seminars.


8. (C) These three-hour long "Karimov Vedenie" ("Karimov
studies") seminars were organized by the University's
"Democratization Department" and counted as official
exams. (Note: At the University of World Economy and
Diplomacy the lectures were held under the auspices of the
Philosophy and Social Science department. End note.)
According to the students, most of their 40-50 classmates
were sleeping or talking throughout the lecture, with some
chatting on their mobile phones. Several of the lectures
covered the May 2005 Andijon events, and alleged that the
United States was responsible for the unrest. NGOs were
described as constituting "one of the world's worst
evils." A lecturer also criticized the U.S. presence at
the Karshi-Khanabad airbase, to which our contact told us
that he had raised his hand and noted that the U.S. had
vacated K2 back in November 2005. The seminar included an
oral examination with questions on "Uzbekistan's democratic
model," as laid out in Karimov's books. It also touched on
the role of international NGOs, which were described as
"spies, doing bad things."

LACK OF ACCESS TO INDEPENDENT INFORMATION
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9. (C) Graduate students from the National University told
Poloff that three Internet resource centers at their
University have been shut down since June 2004, hampering
research possibilities: the OSCE Internet Cafe, the Civic
Education Center, and the Open Society Institute library.
Students are facing a shortage of adequate research
materials. One student said that books such as Samuel
Huntington's "Third Wave of Democratization" are very
difficult to find, and can only be obtained through
purchase on the Internet, which is prohibitively expensive.


10. (C) A National University student also told Poloff
that many high ranking University officials have been
replaced by hard-core Karimov loyalists. The somewhat open
Dean of the National University, Gulmira Yusupova, was, for
example, replaced by Bahodir Hasanov, who reportedly does
not have an academic background. Farhod Tolipov, a U.S.
exchange alumnus, was fired from his position as professor
at the University of World Economy and Diplomacy in
September 2005 after writing an article criticizing the
expulsion of the U.S. airbase at Karshi-Khanabad (ref C).
Former FM Sodiq Safaev, known to be positively disposed
toward the U.S., was removed as Rector of the University of
World Economy and Diplomacy in late 2005 (ref D).

PROTECTING THE ELITES WHILE DENYING OPPORTUNITIES TO THE
MASSES
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11. (C) Comment: Despite the restrictions on student
exchange programs to western countries, there are several
hundred Uzbeks studying in the United States, many of whom
are children of the elite whose families can afford the
tuition fees. We fully expect that the GOU's clampdown on
studying in the United States will continue to target the
masses while exempting priveleged children; the GOU's
approach to education, as in many other areas, is very self
serving. End comment.