Joint statement of higher education institutions of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic
Osh, May 21, 2016
The Bologna Declaration and other documents on education adopted in recent years provide for the creation of a single educational space.
Currently, when there is a fundamental change in approaches to assessing the professional qualities of workers, it is necessary to shift the emphasis from the content of education to the learning outcomes. The learning outcomes are supposed to be described with the help of competencies, which are a dynamic set of knowledge, skills, abilities and personal qualities that a student can demonstrate after completing the educational program.
Competencies are formed through a combination of various forms and technologies of training – when what is heard in a lecture is analyzed in a seminar, checked in the process of ongoing performance monitoring, practiced in practice – and they can be fully appreciated only after completion of all types of educational work.
However, the content of the modules and their set itself may be different in similar (leading to the same qualifications) educational programs of universities. It depends on the educational traditions existing in educational institutions, scientific schools, regional and state educational policies, etc.
Different universities after conducting a mutual expert evaluation of programs can, on the basis of agreements concluded with each other, mutually re-read to their students the modules mastered in the partner university. Thus, the foundations are laid for the academic mobility of students, undergraduates and teachers, which is one of the basic conditions for creating a single educational space.
Thus, a full entry into the Bologna process requires us to reform the system of higher professional education. The reform provides, first of all, the development of educational programs, and for their implementation – the corresponding modernization of university structures, the regulatory framework and, finally, teaching practice.
Based on the foregoing, we accept this Declaration on the coordination of our activities in order to achieve in the near future the implementation of the principles of the Bologna process: three-level education (bachelor – master – doctor), unified diplomas of higher education and their annexes, a system of assessing the level of knowledge, based on the so-called loans, the mobility of education, ensuring the quality of education, a joint educational policy by creating internal academic mobility in universities of the Kyrgyz Republic.
To achieve the goal and obtain tangible results, we must support this course of the Declaration through the implementation of the following specific measures:
· Increasing the international competitiveness of the Kyrgyz higher education system through the introduction of a comparable Diploma Supplement, through the achievement of international recognition of domestic diplomas in order to provide employment opportunities for our graduates abroad.
· Introduction of a credit system of the ECTS type – the European system of transferring credits of labor input as an appropriate means of supporting large-scale academic mobility.
· Promoting mobility by eliminating factors that impede the effective implementation of free movement, paying attention to the following:
§ students and undergraduates should be provided with access to educational opportunities and practical training, as well as related services;
§ graduate students, teachers and staff should be provided with recognition and offset of periods of time spent on research, teaching and internship, without prejudice to their rights established by law;
· Promoting cooperation in ensuring the quality of education in order to develop comparable criteria and methodologies;
· Assistance in the development and implementation of joint training programs, especially regarding the development of curricula, mobility schemes, practical training and research.
We, therefore, commit ourselves to achieve these goals (within our authority and full respect for diverse cultures, languages) in order to strengthen the zone of internal mobility of higher education in the Kyrgyz Republic.
We believe that the implementation of the goals and objectives of this Declaration on internal academic mobility will provide confidence that higher education and research systems will continuously adapt to changing needs, the needs of society and the need to develop scientific knowledge, and will make a significant contribution to the development and strengthening of sustainable and peaceful relations between peoples and nationalities of the Kyrgyz Republic.
We expect that the universities of the Kyrgyz Republic will support our initiative and will actively contribute to successful joint activities within the framework of our Declaration.
