Central Asia - Revision history

Pbacsich: added auto-cat

2013-01-28T12:53:12Z

added auto-cat

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:53, 28 January 2013
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	<br><br>		<br><br>
	>> [[VISCED]]		>> [[VISCED]]

			[[Category:Central Asia\| ]]

	[[Category:VISCED supraregions]]		[[Category:VISCED supraregions]]


	[[Category:VISCED]]		[[Category:VISCED]]

Pbacsich: wikified stan links

2013-01-28T12:32:46Z

wikified stan links

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:32, 28 January 2013
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	The complete list is:		The complete list is:

	# Kazakhstan (pop. 16.0 million)		# [[Kazakhstan]] (pop. 16.0 million)
	# Kyrgyzstan (5.5 million)		# [[Kyrgyzstan]] (5.5 million)
	# Tajikistan (7.3 million)		# [[Tajikistan]] (7.3 million)
	# Turkmenistan (5.1 million)		# [[Turkmenistan]] (5.1 million)
	# Uzbekistan (27.6 million).		# [[Uzbekistan]] (27.6 million).

	This corresponds exactly to the definition of the Central Asia subregion in the UN geoscheme (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_geoscheme_for_Asia). It is thus a subset of the countries in the wider supraregion of [[:Category:Asian former CIS]] which includes Transcaucasia also.		This corresponds exactly to the definition of the Central Asia subregion in the UN geoscheme (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_geoscheme_for_Asia). It is thus a subset of the countries in the wider supraregion of [[:Category:Asian former CIS]] which includes Transcaucasia also.

Jyri: /* Regional overview */

2011-08-02T12:51:08Z

Regional overview

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	<!-- enter a few sentences - focus on name(s) and definition(s) of Region, then its geographic location, population, major cities -->		<!-- enter a few sentences - focus on name(s) and definition(s) of Region, then its geographic location, population, major cities -->

			[[Image:Central-asian-states1.jpg\|thumb\|right\|400px]]

	Historically, according to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Asia), ''Central Asia'' is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, [[China]] in the east, [[Afghanistan]] in the south, and [[Russia]] in the north.		Historically, according to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Asia), ''Central Asia'' is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, [[China]] in the east, [[Afghanistan]] in the south, and [[Russia]] in the north.

Jyri: /* References */

2011-08-02T12:45:12Z

References

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	== References ==		== References ==

	http://www.osce.org/cpc/39626		*http://www.osce.org/cpc/39626
	http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTECONEVAL/Resources/EducInCentralAsia_Kyrguz_Rep.pdf		*http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTECONEVAL/Resources/EducInCentralAsia_Kyrguz_Rep.pdf
	http://mt.educarchile.cl/mt/jjbrunner/archives/RevAlldoc2c.pdf		*http://mt.educarchile.cl/mt/jjbrunner/archives/RevAlldoc2c.pdf
	http://www.unicef.org/ceecis/Central_Asia_2010.pdf		*http://www.unicef.org/ceecis/Central_Asia_2010.pdf
			*http://62.204.192.148/activeasia/images/Documentos/active_report_central_asia.pdf

Jyri: /* Information society */

2011-08-02T12:43:50Z

Information society

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	== Information society ==		== Information society ==

			Both Internet usage and availability of computers in the region are low. According to the “Information Society Statistical Profiles 2009: CIS” prepared by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Internet user penetration rates in the region are between 15‐20% in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and below 15 % in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Armenia, and Turkmenistan.

			Kazakhstan reaches the highest mobile penetration level in the region in 2007. International Internet bandwidth per Internet user increased from 192 bits/user in 2002 to 1’052 in 2007, and Internet penetration rate experienced some progress. Despite the improvement, Internet usage was still low and mobile broadband services unavailable in 2007.

			Kyrgyzstan made some progress in the last years but it did not match the region’s overall progress. The increase in mobile cellular penetration reached 41% in 2007 from 1% in 2002, and international Internet bandwidth per Internet user increased from 59 to 796 bits/user in the same period, yet in both cases Kyrgyzstan remained below the region’s average. Kyrgyzstan has a very low fixed telephone penetration (9 per cent in 2007).

			Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan occupy the last three places in the region. All three countries have a very low proportion of households with a computer (below 2.5% in 2007), and a low proportion of households with Internet access at home (less than 1% in 2007). Mobile cellular penetration rates are low, especially in the case of Turkmenistan (7% in 2007). Turkmenistan has the highest fixed telephone penetration of the three (9 fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants). By 2007, Tajikistan was the only country amidst the three offering mobile broadband services, although with a negligible uptake. Both Internet usage and fixed broadband penetration were low in all three countries.

	<!-- overview, focussing on laws, statistics, rankings, ministries, agencies and initiatives -->		<!-- overview, focussing on laws, statistics, rankings, ministries, agencies and initiatives -->


	== ICT in education initiatives ==		== ICT in education initiatives ==

Jyri: /* Experts situated in Central Asia */

2011-08-02T12:02:32Z

Experts situated in Central Asia

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	None		None

	<!-- This should include VISCED partners in the region , or partners from other current/former relevant projects such as Re.ViCa -->		<!-- This should include VISCED partners in the region , or partners from other current/former relevant projects such as Re.ViCa -->
	<!-- as well as members of IAC and experts in universities, key ministries or agencies -->		<!-- as well as members of IAC and experts in universities, key ministries or agencies -->

Jyri: /* Experts situated in Central Asia */

2011-08-02T12:01:06Z

Experts situated in Central Asia

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	== Experts situated in Central Asia ==		== Experts situated in Central Asia ==

			None

	<!-- This should include VISCED partners in the region , or partners from other current/former relevant projects such as Re.ViCa -->		<!-- This should include VISCED partners in the region , or partners from other current/former relevant projects such as Re.ViCa -->
	<!-- as well as members of IAC and experts in universities, key ministries or agencies -->		<!-- as well as members of IAC and experts in universities, key ministries or agencies -->


	== Regional overview ==		== Regional overview ==

Jyri: /* References */

2011-06-30T12:18:01Z

References

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	http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTECONEVAL/Resources/EducInCentralAsia_Kyrguz_Rep.pdf		http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTECONEVAL/Resources/EducInCentralAsia_Kyrguz_Rep.pdf
	http://mt.educarchile.cl/mt/jjbrunner/archives/RevAlldoc2c.pdf		http://mt.educarchile.cl/mt/jjbrunner/archives/RevAlldoc2c.pdf
			http://www.unicef.org/ceecis/Central_Asia_2010.pdf

Jyri: /* Quality assurance */

2011-06-30T12:17:20Z

Quality assurance

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:17, 30 June 2011
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	== Quality assurance ==		== Quality assurance ==
	<!-- this is just a heading - no text normally needed -->		<!-- this is just a heading - no text normally needed -->
			Both large assessments and informal proxy measures affirm that greater effort is needed to improve the quality of education in Central Asia. Large-scale international and national assessments offer some insights into the quality of education in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Kyrgyzstan’s overall score on PISA 2006 earned it a last place ranking out of the 57 participating countries in reading, mathematics and science. It performed particularly poorly in reading, where it ranked third to last, and almost 200 points behind the regional average. Kazakhstan’s performance on the same assessment, by contrast, suggests impressive primary school outcomes, but national indicators reveal that only three fourths of students are proficient in reading and mathematics. In other Central Asian nations, proxy indicators are used to monitor educational quality. Proxy measures include student data, teacher competency and school resources. These proxy measures confirm that educational quality throughout this subregion is subpar. In Tajikistan, for example, districts struggle to find qualified teachers, have limited textbooks and worn-out furniture. Challenges in Turkmenistan include the prevalence of traditional rote teaching methodologies and limited student engagement, which affects students’ attainment and retention of knowledge. Kazakhstan faces problems with the retention of teachers as a result of low salaries and the limited engagement of students in classes.
	~~=== Schools ===~~

	~~<!-~~- the ~~focus is~~ on ~~any common features~~, e.g. ~~inherited from EU policy~~, ~~British Commonwealth~~, ~~Francophony~~, ~~Soviet era~~, ~~etc) -->~~


	~~=== Post-secondary ===~~
	~~<!-- subdivide as necessary - QA for HE~~ is ~~usually very different from QA~~ for ~~colleges -->~~
	~~<!-- VISCED authors should focus on colleges only -->~~
	~~<!-~~- the ~~focus is on any common features~~, e.g. ~~inherited from EU policy, British Commonwealth, Francophony, Soviet era, etc) -->~~


	== Information society ==		== Information society ==

Jyri: /* Administration and finance */

2011-06-30T11:55:40Z

Administration and finance

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:55, 30 June 2011
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	== Administration and finance ==		== Administration and finance ==
	<!-- this is just a heading - no text normally needed -->		<!-- this is just a heading - no text normally needed -->
			In Central Asia, as in the other countries of the former Soviet Union, one of the first acts of the newly independent republics was to legally decentralize the responsibility for finance and provision of most primary and secondary education to regional or local governments. Decentralization was motivated both by necessity (falling budget revenues at the republic level) and by ideology (the centrifugal pressures for local governance). Primary and secondary education management has ostensibly been decentralized in Central Asia. School ownership has been transferred to oblast (regional) and rayon (local) governments that are nominally responsible for managing, financing, and maintaining them.

	~~=== Schools ===~~		In reality, little real decentralization has occurred, for two reasons. The first is that centrally imposed norms on class size and teaching loads severely constrain regional and local governments’ discretion to manage education programs, including reconfiguring schools and right-sizing the teaching force to achieve better efficiency and performance. The second is that revenues of regional and local governments fall far short of the amounts needed to operate schools. In order to keep schools in operation, teacher salaries (and sometimes utilities) are being financed by state budgets. This is meant to be a temporary measure, but there is very little prospect in any of the Central Asian countries that oblast and rayon revenues will be adequate to finance teachers’ salaries for at least decade.

	~~=== Post~~-~~secondary ===~~		Collapsing state budgets also motivated efforts to mobilize additional sources of financing through various non-budgetary sources, including contributions of parents and communities for textbook rental and other educational inputs at the school level, through income-generating activities such as rental of school premises and production of articles for sale, and through the establishment of fee-paying “contract” places in higher education for students who fail to qualify for free, budget-subsidized places. Throughout the Central Asia region, as in much of the former Soviet Union, the practice of private contributions to schools has been subverted from its original purpose of augmenting educational resources at the school level. It has often contributed to corrupt practices such as “selling” examination grades and places to the most coveted schools and programs, and has eroded the credibility of diplomas and degrees to employers and the public.
	<!-- ~~VISCED authors should ignore this section~~ -->

	== Quality assurance ==		== Quality assurance ==