Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ASHGABAT132
2008-01-28 07:03:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ashgabat
Cable title:
TURKMENISTAN EDUCATION: GRADUATE STUDY RESUMES AFTER 10
how-toVZCZCXRO2352 RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHAH #0132 0280703 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 280703Z JAN 08 FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0143 INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1112 RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 3296 RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0982 RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 1551 RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 2148 RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000132
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD, DRL, ECA, IIP
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SCUL SOCI KPAO TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN EDUCATION: GRADUATE STUDY RESUMES AFTER 10
YEARS HIATUS
UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000132
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD, DRL, ECA, IIP
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SCUL SOCI KPAO TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN EDUCATION: GRADUATE STUDY RESUMES AFTER 10
YEARS HIATUS
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.
2. (SBU) During a Cabinet of Ministers Meeting on January 15,
President Berdimuhamedov formally reinstated graduate and
postgraduate studies in Turkmenistan. Nearly six months earlier,
during a televised event on June 12, 2007, at Turkmen State
University, President Berdimuhamedov announced his intention to
re-open the Academy of Sciences (which is now the Supreme Council on
Science and Technology) and reestablish graduate and postgraduate
programs. Graduate and postgraduate degrees had not been awarded
since 1998, when former President Niyazov disbanded the Academy of
Sciences. In his speech, Berdimuhamedov took aim at some of the
deficiencies in higher education, noting that the country is in
serious need of highly qualified specialists, researchers, and
professors. He encouraged the educational establishment to set up
exchanges with foreign colleagues and institutions, and to seek out
international assistance in the area of science and technology.
3. (SBU) According to the January 15 presidential decree which
reinstated graduate education, the Ministry of Education will
establish rules and quotas for admissions. The Ministry plans to
admit 215 students to all graduate programs beginning fall 2008.
According to the decree, 135 people will be admitted to graduate
study in medicine, including 75 for master's degrees, and 33 for
clinical residency and 27 for doctoral degrees. For all other
sciences, there will be 80 candidates for academic degrees, both
master's and doctoral. The admission requirements for postgraduate
degrees follow the Russian model, with five years of work experience
in a chosen field, and publication of scientific articles and
research as a prerequisite.
4. (SBU) COMMENT: These new educational opportunities are a breath
of fresh air for the Turkmen people, who have long seen their
educational institutions dumbed down and shut down. The
reestablishment of graduate education is among the strongest
evidence to date of Berdimuhamedov's intentions to reform an
educational system that has long been neglected and abused.
However, it remains to be seen whether the Ministry of Education,
one of the key institutions charged with implementing this
initiative and notorious for obstructing Embassy exchange programs,
can establish an internationally recognized graduate program free of
corruption before the start of the new academic year in September
2008. END COMMENT.
HOAGLAND
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD, DRL, ECA, IIP
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SCUL SOCI KPAO TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN EDUCATION: GRADUATE STUDY RESUMES AFTER 10
YEARS HIATUS
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.
2. (SBU) During a Cabinet of Ministers Meeting on January 15,
President Berdimuhamedov formally reinstated graduate and
postgraduate studies in Turkmenistan. Nearly six months earlier,
during a televised event on June 12, 2007, at Turkmen State
University, President Berdimuhamedov announced his intention to
re-open the Academy of Sciences (which is now the Supreme Council on
Science and Technology) and reestablish graduate and postgraduate
programs. Graduate and postgraduate degrees had not been awarded
since 1998, when former President Niyazov disbanded the Academy of
Sciences. In his speech, Berdimuhamedov took aim at some of the
deficiencies in higher education, noting that the country is in
serious need of highly qualified specialists, researchers, and
professors. He encouraged the educational establishment to set up
exchanges with foreign colleagues and institutions, and to seek out
international assistance in the area of science and technology.
3. (SBU) According to the January 15 presidential decree which
reinstated graduate education, the Ministry of Education will
establish rules and quotas for admissions. The Ministry plans to
admit 215 students to all graduate programs beginning fall 2008.
According to the decree, 135 people will be admitted to graduate
study in medicine, including 75 for master's degrees, and 33 for
clinical residency and 27 for doctoral degrees. For all other
sciences, there will be 80 candidates for academic degrees, both
master's and doctoral. The admission requirements for postgraduate
degrees follow the Russian model, with five years of work experience
in a chosen field, and publication of scientific articles and
research as a prerequisite.
4. (SBU) COMMENT: These new educational opportunities are a breath
of fresh air for the Turkmen people, who have long seen their
educational institutions dumbed down and shut down. The
reestablishment of graduate education is among the strongest
evidence to date of Berdimuhamedov's intentions to reform an
educational system that has long been neglected and abused.
However, it remains to be seen whether the Ministry of Education,
one of the key institutions charged with implementing this
initiative and notorious for obstructing Embassy exchange programs,
can establish an internationally recognized graduate program free of
corruption before the start of the new academic year in September
2008. END COMMENT.
HOAGLAND