A distant reality or distinctly possible? Challenges and opportunities for distance education in the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia and Tajikistan

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Educating for inclusion beyond the pandemic: Digitalization, distance education and the teaching profession in Central Asia

Proposal

Distance education has been taken up by many governments as a mode of learning that can support countries to improve education and increase access to education for students most at risk of being left behind, particularly those living in remote areas, girls, and students from ethnic minority groups. However, these worthy policy commitments are not always matched by change on the ground. This paper examines the challenges and opportunities for distance education in the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, and Tajikistan, mapping the interpretation of distance education in policy documents and comparing this to the findings of qualitative research in the three countries.

In terms of policy pronouncements, the paper examines the countries’ education development strategies and related policies. Distance education and distance learning are terms that are frequently used in the policy documents, but not always fully defined or backed up with targets that relate to teacher development or school education. For example, Mongolia’s Education Medium Term Development Plan 2021-2030 states that by 2025, there will be universal access to formal and informal education, but only informal education is understood as including distance learning. The plan includes targets for increasing the number of students in higher education who study online/by distance, but not for K-12.

In all three countries, the national strategies connect distance education to technology. In the Kyrgyz Republic, for example, the digitalization of education as a way to strengthen distance and other forms of education provision is discussed in the Education Development Strategy for 2021-2040. In Tajikistan, the National Strategy for Education Development (2021-2030) envisages the widespread introduction of ‘interactive training formats using information and communication technologies (ICT), including distance learning (online) and creation of educational platforms in state languages’ (p.38). However, national data from Tajikistan shows that only 33% of households report having access to the Internet, while only 20% of rural girls have access to the Internet. Furthermore, a UNICEF assessment during the outbreak of Covid-19 found that only 15% of schools in Tajikistan were able to make the Internet available for educational purposes.

Across the three countries, the situation during the pandemic showed a disconnect between government policies and the lack of preparation for the full use of ICTs and distance learning. In order to map these distinctions, field research was conducted between March and June 2022 in 10 locations (four in the Kyrgyz Republic and three each in Mongolia and Tajikistan). In each location, local research teams carried out focus groups with students and parents as well as semi-structured interviews and participant observation. Interview respondents included education leaders, teacher training providers at higher education institutions, teachers, students, and parents. The fieldwork was undertaken as part of the larger international research project ‘Distance education to improve quality and access in Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Tajikistan’. The full findings of the field research will be presented at CIES 2023 and are under analysis at the time of the abstract being submitted.

Authors

• Zhyldyz Doolbekova, Taalim-Forum Public Foundation

• Almagul Osmonova, Taalim-Forum Public Foundation

• Emma Sabzalieva, UNESCO IESALC