TURKMENISTAN: LACK OF PROGRESS IN EDUCATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000475

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB, EUR/ACE FOR FISCHER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/14/2019
TAGS: PGOV EAID EIND EFIN SCUL SOCI TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: LACK OF PROGRESS IN EDUCATION
SECTOR MOST SERIOUS IMPEDIMENT TO PROGRESS

Classified By: Charge Richard Miles, reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: A local economist and a member of
Ashgabat's international banking community told a Eurasian
Foundation of Central Asia delegation that change, while not
happening as fast as some people would have liked, is taking
place in Turkmenistan. The economist said that it will take
decades to resolve the education gap due to the decimation of
the education system, and that the Ministry of Education is
still the most unprogressive of all ministries. He added
that no one is in the position of overseeing draft laws at
the moment in the Parliament, and the committee in charge of
this is also severely understaffed. The foreign banker
observed that one barrier to progress in Turkmenistan is the
reticence of much of the local population, who are adverse to
"rocking the boat." The Ministry of Education, which
unfortunately remains steadfastly opposed to progress,
currently acts as a barrier to development in the country,
because the general population will change only with more
progressive and improved education. END SUMMARY.

CHANGES OCCURING "PERHAPS NOT AS FAST AS WE WOULD HAVE LIKED"


2. (C) Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia President, Jeff
Erlich, and Program Officer, Aigul Tagatova, met with the
Vice President of the Union of Economists, Dr. Yury Aronskiy
(please protect) on April 13. Erlich explained that the
Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia's grant process is
simplified due to Turkmenistan's unified exchange rate and
free convertibility policy, and that a prime tenet of the
organization is the importance of initiative and program
ideas coming from local sources. Erlich said that the
Foundation is interested in exploring the possibility of
consulting the Union, for example in the areas of higher
business education and Internet development. Aronskiy stated
that changes in Turkmenistan had occurred "perhaps not as
fast as we would have liked, but there have been
developments,8 such as a greater openness on the part of
Turkmen bureaucrats to travel and outside ideas -- with the
exception of Minister of Education, "which moves slower than
other agencies." (NOTE: The Minister of Education Anaamanov
had planned to travel to the United States in fall 2007, but
did not receive final permission from the Cabinet of
Ministers to go. END NOTE.) He explained that working with
other ministries that have direct responsibility for higher
education institutions is easier than attempting projects
with the Ministry of Education. Aronskiy stated that it
would take decades to resolve the gap in education due to the
closing of the Academy of Sciences, deaths of top
specialists, and a brain drain. (NOTE: The Academy of
Sciences has since reopened under the name of Supreme Council
for Science and Technology. END NOTE.)

PARLIAMENT OVERWHELMED WITH LEGISLATION PROPOSALS?


3. (C) Aronskiy was interested in discussing the possibility
of the Foundation consulting the Union on either developing a
new business school or reform of Turkmenistan's existing
business schools. He also advised Erlich that the
development of the Avaza Free Tourism Zone will push the
government to seek assistance in the training of a work force
for the tourism industry, especially the lower levels of
service employees. He also mentioned that the Ministry of
Tourism educates very small numbers of students every year,
which will not suffice for the needs of this sector in the
future. He subsequently explained that the Parliament has
been slow to pass laws because there is no one in the
position of overseeing draft laws at the moment. In
addition, only five people sit on the committee, and three
consultants assist in reviewing laws. Draft laws on economy,
finance, and private enterprise include: Microfinance,
Credit Unions, Leasing (of equipment),Small and Medium
Enterprises, and legislation that would allow Turkmen
companies to receive construction contracts, as well as

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Gender Equality. He said that the parliament does run focus
groups around the country to discuss proposed legislation.

GOVERNMENT MORE PROGRESSIVE THAN THE PEOPLE


4. (C) European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(EBRD) Head of Office, Neil McKain (please protect),cited in
a meeting on April 13 several examples of progress in
Turkmenistan: improved company registration procedures, and
a simplified tax regime. McKain said that the tax regime is
counteracted by some illogical laws, such as one that
requires companies to pay for goods only when they reach
Turkmen soil, which has spurred an entire industry of firms
that create shell companies in Dubai so that they don't have
to follow this rule. McKain said that Turkmenistan appears
to have a genuine commitment to legislative reform. He
observed that the government appears at times to be more
progressive than the people. For example, although the new
Constitution published in September allows political parties
to register, "average people often wonder why anyone would
want to rock the boat." For this reason, the President
favors gradual change, to avoid instability, and McKain draws
a parallel to pre-Perestroika Russia. McKain believes that
it will take a generation to change things around.


5. (SBU) COMMENT: These two interlocutors frame fundamental
issues confronting the country, epitomized by an overwhelmed
bureaucracy that is nevertheless more willing to make
progress than the rest of the population. The inflexibility
of the Ministry of Education has been long acknowledged as a
barrier to development, and it is one that will impede all
other improvement if it is allowed to continue, since the
general population will change only with more progressive and
improved education. END COMMENT.
MILES