Abstract
This chapter describes language and education quality in Kyrgyzstan by using the results of the National Scholarship Testing (NST). The NST was introduced in Kyrgyzstan in 2002 to assess high school graduates’ competencies and select the most talented ones to study at higher education institutions. The NST has been conducted for the last 16 years, and it is considered as a huge step forward; the NST as an independent test was able to provide study opportunities to a large number of youth, especially from rural areas. This chapter explores the NST from the perspective of the wide variation in results across geographic and linguistic spaces. The content is presented with examples from the English language test items. The results are analyzed from 2002 to 2017, and descriptive data are presented to identify notable differences in scores, between urban and rural contexts, geographic regions, gender, and according to the languages of instruction and testing. The chapter raises concerns to educators and policy-makers in Kyrgyzstan about disparities of test scores by language and demographics.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Apple, M. (1971). The hidden curriculum and the nature of conflict. Interchange, 2(4), 27–40.
Bahry, S. (2018). Towards “mapping” a complex language ecology: The case of Central Asia. In S. Brunn & R. Kehrein (Eds.), Handbook of the changing world language map. New York: Springer Science + Business Media.
Bahry, S., Karimova, Y., & Shamatov, D. (2015). Review of J. M. Landau & B. Kellner-Heinkele (2012), Language politics in contemporary Central Asia. London/New York: Tauris. Language Policy, 14(1), 95–97.
Bahry, S., Niyozov, S., Shamatov, D., Ahn, E., & Smagulova, J. (2017). Bilingual education in Central Asia. In O. García & S. A. May (Eds.), Encyclopedia of language and education (Bilingual education) (Vol. 5, 3rd ed., pp. 259–280). New York: Springer Science + Business Media.
Brunner, J., & Tillet, A. (Eds.). (2007). Higher education in Central Asia: The challenges of modernization (Case studies from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Uzbekistan). Washington: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank.
CEATM (2007). Results of National Scholarship Testing and Grant Awarding to higher educational institutions of Kyrgyzstan in 2007. Centre for Educational Assessment and Teaching Methods. www.testing.kg. Accessed 5 May 2018.
CEATM (2017). Results of National Scholarship Testing and Grant Awarding to higher educational institutions of Kyrgyzstan in 2017. Centre for Educational Assessment and Teaching Methods. www.testing.kg. Accessed 5 May 2018.
DeYoung, A. (2001). West meets East in Central Asia: Competing discourses on education reform in the Kyrgyz republic. Unpublished manuscript.
DeYoung, A. (2002). West meets East in Central Asia: Competing discourses on education reform in the Kyrgyz republic. Journal of Educational Research, Policy and Practice, 3(3), 3–45.
DeYoung, A. (2004). On the current demise of the “Action Plan” for Kyrgyz education reform: A case study. In S. P. Heyneman & A. DeYoung (Eds.), The challenges of education in Central Asia (pp. 199–224). Greenwich: Information Age Publishing Inc.
DeYoung, A. (2008). Conceptualizing paradoxes of post-socialist education in Kyrgyzstan. Nationalities Papers, 36(4), 641–657.
Drummond, T., & DeYoung, A. (2004). Perspectives and problems in education reform in Kyrgyzstan: A case of national scholarship testing. In S. P. Heyneman & A. DeYoung (Eds.), The challenges of education in Central Asia (pp. 225–242). Greenwich: Information Age Publishing Inc.
Heyneman, S. (2000). From the party/state to multiethnic democracy: Education and social cohesion in Europe and Central Asia. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 22(2), 173–191.
Holmes, B., Read, G. H., & Voskresenskaya, N. (1995). Russian education: Tradition and transition. New York: Garland Publishing Inc.
Ibraimov, O. (Ed.). (2001). Kyrgyzstan: Encyclopedia. Bishkek: Center of National Language and Encyclopedia.
Komissarova, L., & Nagda, L. (n.d.). Recommendations to school teachers on preparation of students to English test. Source: http://testing.kg/ru/v-pomosch-abiturientu/rekomendacii-shkolnomu-uchitelju-po-podgotovke-uchenikov-k-predmetnomu-testu-po-anglijskomu-jazyku.html. Accessed 15 Sept 2018.
Korth, B. (2004). Education and linguistic division in Kyrgyzstan. In S. P. Heyneman & A. DeYoung (Eds.), The challenges of education in Central Asia (pp. 97–112). Greenwich: Information Age Publishing Inc.
Korth, B., & Schulter, B. (2003). Multilingual education for increased interethnic understanding in Kyrgyzstan. Online article. Cimera Publications. http://www.cimera.org/files/biling/en/MLG_Text1.pdf. Accessed 16 Sept 2018.
Niyozov, S. (2001). Understanding teaching in post-Soviet, rural, mountainous Tajikistan: Case studies of teachers’ life and work. Unpublished doctoral thesis. University of Toronto.
Osorov, Z. (2002, October 18). Higher education in Kyrgyzstan is big business. Times of Central Asia.
Preparation for NST (2005). Bishkek: Printhouse.
Shamatov, D. (2005). Beginning teachers’ professional socialisation in Post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan: Challenges and coping strategies. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis. University of Toronto.
Shamatov, D. (2012). Impact of standardized tests on equity issues in Kyrgyzstan, in European Education’s special volume titled the New Educational Assessment Regimes in Eurasia: Impacts, Issues and Implications. Guest edited by Alan DeYoung and Todd Drummond.
Shamatov, D. (2013). Everyday realities of a young teacher in post-soviet Kyrgyzstan: A case of history teacher from a rural school. In P. Akçali & C. Engin-Demir (Eds.), Politics, identity and education in Central Asia: Post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan (pp. 133–157). London/New York: Routledge.
Shamatov, D., Mamytov, A., & Iptarov, S. (2014). Impact of National Scholarship Test on Equity Issues in Kyrgyzstan. In Brown & P. C. Gorski (Eds.), Poverty and social class in the series international advances in education: global initiatives for equity and social justice (Vol. 1). E.L. Charlotte NC USA: Information Age Publishing
Silova, I. (2009). The crisis of the post-soviet teaching profession in the Caucasus and Central Asia. Research in Comparative and International Education, 4(4), 366–383.
UNDP (2003). The Kyrgyz Republic. Millennium development goals: Progress report. Bishkek. Retrieved March 20, 2004 from http://www.undp.kg/english/publications/2003/mdgpr2003.pdf
Publisher’s note:
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Shamatov, D., Dyikanbaeva, T., Omokeev, U. (2020). Language and Education Quality in Kyrgyzstan: Demographic and Geographic Analysis of National Scholarship Test Results. In: Brunn, S., Kehrein, R. (eds) Handbook of the Changing World Language Map. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02438-3_188
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02438-3_188
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-02437-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-02438-3
eBook Packages: Social SciencesReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences