The system of education is directly related to the national economy – an educated generation will create strong economy, experts say.
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Secondary school No. 16 is located on the outskirts of Bishkek and is surrounded by newly built private houses. In this academic year only three classes were opened for first-graders, according to the designed capacity.
A Bishkek resident, who asked not to be named, wanted to send her child to gymnasium school with better education, but they are all located far from the house. So, her son went to grade 1 to the nearby school No. 16. “The majority of gymnasiums are located in the downtown, and the child cannot travel by municipal transport unaccompanied because it’s not safe. There’s no one to bring him to school and back, so I had to send him to a nearby school,” she said. Each of three first grades has nearly 50 children. Classrooms are narrow: the first desk is one step away from the blackboard, the farthest desk touches the cabinet. This is the only solution the school administration can offer. New schools needed According to the baseline plan of the ministry of education, every classroom of general education school must contain 35 children at most, gymnasium – not more than 30, in high school – 20. Due to the overloaded classes, schoolchildren study in two or even three shifts. In some schools, elementary school has the so-called “swing shift”, according to a flexible timetable.In Bishkek, the number of pupils exceeds the required standards by 10-20 people.
“Today, the city outskirts are underloaded, while central districts are overloaded. What can be taught to fifty pupils in a classroom?” one of the teachers of a Bishkek-based gymnasium asked. However, overloaded schools pose a problem for the city outskirts, too. The city is surrounded by new housing areas, where internal migrants from the whole country live. Bulan Institute think-tank, which studies the problems of school education, stated that new educational institutions must be built immediately. According to their estimates, 200 more schools are needed. They indicated this number in their message to president Sooronbai Zheenbekov in early September. The presidential administration said to CABAR.asia that after the publication of the message, Sooronbai Zheenbekov held a meeting with minister of education and science Gulmira Kudaiberdieva and instructed that she should resolve the long-standing problems in educational system.
According to the estimates of ministry of education, Kyrgyzstan needs 670 more schools, while Bishkek needs 51.
This academic year 27 new schools were opened, and Gosstroi [State Committee for Construction] is planning to commission 47 schools before the end of 2018. But this number is apparently insufficient. According to Bulan Institute, 60 per cent of schools in the republic have been built before 1980 and they are in dire state. 192 schools in Kyrgyzstan have been officially reported persistently dangerous. In fact, there are more of them because the ministry of emergency does not report many schools as persistently dangerous, despite the reality. In new schools, the floors started to decay and ceilings started to crack long before September 1. This was caused by unfair tenders and procurement of low quality construction materials, according to the message of the institute. More workload, lower salaries Kyrgyzstan lacks teachers, and the workload of available teachers doubles. According to ministry of education, there are 81 thousand teachers in the country and schools need two thousand more. A teacher who has 52 children in her class said ironically that she has two classes instead of one. The workload is enormous, the salaries are the same. The average salary of a teacher is 11 thousand soms (159 US dollars). In 2011, the government introduced hourly wages for teachers. Moreover, elementary school teachers have higher hourly wages. Also, they introduced payment for preparing for classes: checking of notebooks, mentoring, classroom management, teaching training, etc. Teachers can earn bonuses in terms of their ILDs (Index of Labour Distribution). However, according to experts, the mechanisms of hourly wages have failed. “We should come back to the system of unified pay rates and the government should make sure that teachers earn over 20 thousand soms [per month],” analysts of Bulan Institute wrote in their message. Few people are willing to work at schools, therefore educational institutions attract all those who have a degree, not necessarily in teaching. They are given an opportunity to earn their second degree at the Arabaev Kyrgyz State University. According to Bulan Institute, those school leavers who score low on the General republican test become students of teacher education departments. Besides, the non-governmental organisation said that after the launch of distance learning programmes, “some teachers have earned their degrees without minimum practical training.” (In)voluntary contributions Not only teachers’ salaries, but also the school funding is insufficient. The state allocates every year nearly 100 million soms to all schools for minor repairs. In other words, one school receives about 40 thousand soms. Local government authorities also make their contributions for major repairs. However, every parent in Kyrgyzstan knows they should pay for schooling, although the national constitution provides for free education for all. Parents should pay such expenses as assistance to school, cleaning services, security, and repairs, procurement of missing textbooks. There are cases when parents buy new windows, curtains, and other accessories at their cost. The ministry of education keeps telling that parental contributions must be voluntary via the school board. It, in turn, must report all expenses. “At the beginning of every academic year, we write a statement that we enter some association and are bound to pay a certain amount every month,” the mother of two pupils said. How much will it cost to enrol in school?“We refused to pay this voluntary contribution. But then we found out that our son was enrolled in the class of the weakest teacher who had never worked as elementary school teacher before.”
But the problems in school education start long before a child goes to first grade. First of all, a child should be enrolled in school. The residents of Bishkek know it costs a lot even if it’s a public school.
We have talked to parents who paid to enrol in school. They refused to tell their names because of the fear for their children who still go to those schools.
They said that due to the public emphasis on this problem, school administrations have “legalised” a new way, parents transfer their contributions to school’s bank account as a one-time sponsor support. The administration promises to spend the money collected on school’s needs, but it’s not possible to check the accounts. The size of a sponsor support varies depending on the status value of the school and the district.
The enrolment fee, the so-called “cap”, can reach thirty thousand soms (434 dollars). At least, this is a maximum amount we have heard about when we were preparing the article.
As practice shows, it’s impossible not to make this contribution. Then a child will be enrolled in a weak class with an inexperienced teacher.
At the September press conference dedicated to secondary school problems, minister of education Gulmira Kudaiberdieva was asked by CABAR.asia journalists about the role of private schools in the system of school education and said that she welcomed diversity of private schools in Bishkek and other parts of republic and said it was a positive tendency since parents had more options for their children. Also she added that public policy is designed to strengthen and support secondary general education schools.
Face to face National development is directly related to the quality of school education, according to the expert of analytical school of CABAR.asia, Roza Duisheyeva. The more the state invests in the development of school educational system, the more the citizens will contribute to its strengthening. She thinks one of the most-needed reforms is the increase in teachers’ salaries. This, in turn, will have an impact on the quality of education. “The system of education is directly related to the national economy – an educated generation will create strong economy,” Duisheyeva said. In their message, Bulan Institute wrote that school problems need to be resolved as soon as possible. The ministry of education admit the existing problems, but see no threats in the long run.“A modern generation of teachers is neither prepared, nor committed to educational work. They look for easy ways, easy money, and avoid additional workload.”
“In the turbulent 90s, the educational system didn’t fail and we have managed to maintain the network of public and municipal schools. Educational institutions kept working despite the fact that teachers were not paid,” chief specialist of the office for preschool, school and out-of-school education Zoya Pak said.
The agency also said it has taken all necessary measures to improve the educational system, including ensuring equal access, building of new schools, advanced training of teachers, appraisal of teachers, close cooperation with universities, procurement of new generation textbooks, involvement of sponsors and investors in project implementation, teacher incentives, etc.
However, in practice the situation is still sad. Therefore, Bulan Institute asks president Sooronbai Zheenbekov to convene a special meeting of the Security Council and discuss the problems of school education as a strategic area.
The non-governmental organisation thinks that with the current approach the educational system of Kyrgyzstan can collapse in 10-15 years and therefore calls for “immediate measures to resolve school problems.” However, it said that formal meetings are not enough, and “teachers should be met face to face to hear their voices.” A head of studies of one of the city gymnasiums that has worked in educational system for 20 years also agrees with this opinion. “It is already in the process of collapse. When the teachers of my generation who have Soviet education resign, the education system will collapse. Because a modern generation of teachers is neither prepared, nor committed to educational work. They look for easy ways, easy money, and avoid additional workload,” she complained. Also she added that repeated attempts by the ministry of education to introduce new educational standards have never succeeded.This article was prepared as part of the Giving Voice, Driving Change – from the Borderland to the Steppes Project implemented with the financial support of the Foreign Ministry of Norway.