TURKMENISTAN: NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTS USAID EDUCATION SUCCESS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 001252

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/ACE, SCA/PPD, ECA
AID/W FOR EE/EA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL SCUL KPAO TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTS USAID EDUCATION SUCCESS
- BUT NOT USAID'S ROLE


1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.


2. (SBU) SUMMARY: An article published on September 4 in
Turkmenistan's leading daily (official) newspaper, "Neutral
Turkmenistan," touted the achievements of teachers in Lebap
province's School 11. The article stated that the school's teachers
introduced interactive teaching methods and later provided support
for their colleagues through city and regional seminars. In the
past year, forty students from the mentioned school won awards in
state and local competitions, the best results in the province.
Although the article did not mention USAID's role in supporting this
school's teachers, all 45 teachers at the school were trained on new
methods of teaching through USAID's Participation, Education and
Knowledge Sharing (PEAKS) education program, which concluded in

2007. In a telephone conversation with school director after the
article's publication, the director told USAID FSN that the covered
achievements in innovative teaching implementation were a direct
result of the USAID/PEAKS project. END SUMMARY

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION NEVER RECOGNIZED PROGRAM


3. (SBU) USAID'S Participation, Education and Knowledge Sharing
(PEAKS) education program focused in Turkmenistan on introducing
interactive methods of teaching. Intensive efforts by USAID to
establish cooperation with the Ministry of Education for
implementation of USAID's PEAKS project were unsuccessful since the
Ministry claimed that the program's methods were not new, but had
existed even during the Soviet period.


4. (SBU) In reality, most schools in Turkmenistan used and still
use traditional teaching methods which have only limited impact on
student learning. Most rural schools were and still are not
familiar with interactive teaching methods. Additionally, the
Ministry has not acquired the materials and tools necessary to
disseminate new methods throughout the country and has remained
reluctant to adopt and promote such methods, preferring instead
fancy, multimedia driven approaches.


5. (SBU) As a result, USAID chose to work with teachers, school
directors and other stakeholders through local educational centers
or other "neutral" venues. USAID/PEAKS developed and/or adapted
training materials in Russian and Turkmen language, built the
capacity of local trainers to deliver student-centered teaching
methods, and trained teachers and school administrators on these
approaches. Despite the Ministry's lack of support, USAID provided
training to over 1,200 teachers, 152 school directors and local
education officials from 230 schools. Currently, more than ten
percent of students in Turkmenistan are taught with new methods
introduced by USAID/PEAKS.


6. (SBU) Due to strong cooperation with local partners in Lebap
province, USAID/PEAKS trained teachers in 38 percent of schools in
the province. In Galkynsh region, which has a student population of
14,400, USAID/PEAKS trained teachers in all the schools.

ARTICLE RECOGNIZES PEAKS' RESULTS - BUT NOT USAID'S ROLE


6. (SBU) The article, "Big Successes of a Small School", published
in local newspaper "Neutral Turkmenistan" on September 04, 2008,
highlighted the visible impact of the interactive methods of
teaching employed by School 11's teachers. In the past year, forty
students from the school won awards in state and local competitions,
which were the best results in the province.


7. (SBU) Although the article did not mention USAID's role in
supporting this school's teachers, all 45 teachers at the school
were trained on new methods of teaching through USAID's
Participation, Education and Knowledge Sharing (PEAKS) education
program, which concluded in 2007. In a telephone conversation with
the school director after the article's publication, the director
told USAID FSN that the covered achievements in innovative teaching
implementation were a direct result of the PEAKS project.

ASHGABAT 00001252 002 OF 002




8. (SBU) COMMENT: Even though the USAID/PEAKS project was never
accepted by the Ministry, the implementing partner was able to
establish relations with local entities that allowed it to operate
successfully at the local level. Significantly, the project's
results were recognized by the education officials who approved the
publication of this article about the teachers' achievements in
using interactive methods of teaching. USAID submitted a draft
Letter of Mutual Understanding to the Ministry on July 31 that
proposed formal cooperation to increase the quality of in-service
and pre-service training available to Turkmenistan's teachers. Upon
receipt of a positive response, USAID is ready to quickly expand the
types of trainings with the National Institute of Education and
other relevant entities that have been field-tested and proven
effective in Turkmenistan over the past four years. END COMMENT.

CURRAN