TURKMENISTAN EDUCATION: GRADUATE STUDY RESUMES AFTER 10

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