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'The Kyrgyz Republic is at an important stage of its history when the prerequisites for its long-term development as a politically stable, economically strong and socially responsible state have been created for the first time…'By 2040, Kyrgyzstan will emerge as a strong, self-sufficient, developed state with the individual at the centre as the highest value, together with his life, health, rights and freedoms, and the most favourable environment for him. 'The education system will focus on the education of a harmonious personality fulfilling the true potential of each person through the formation of practical knowledge and competencies. Every citizen will have an opportunity to receive a quality education.' (Statements in the National Development Strategy 2018–2040) |
In conclusion, the government of Kyrgyzstan fully recognises the central role of human capital to achieve its ambitious goals for the country's economic and digital transformation. However, the magnitude of the human capital challenge is huge and a clear prioritisation of interventions is needed in the face of limited investment capacity.
The need for prioritisation becomes even sharper in light of the current COVID-19 crisis and its expected negative impact. The likely reduction in tax revenues will put spending pressures on public budgets that may create a risk of lower investment in human capital development.
Future polices to raise human capital will require a rebalancing among the different sectors of education and training. While primary, general and higher education have received a great deal of policy attention in the past, the ETF assessment suggests that the strengthening of VET and its labour market relevance must now become an immediate policy priority. An equal top priority should be assigned to lifelong learning, especially continuing vocational education and training, and it needs to be reflected in funding as well.
In this context, enhanced cooperation with international donors, as well as among donors themselves in the form of joint donor projects and funding, could help the country to better target and concentrate investments in priority fields, build a critical mass for reform, and achieve sustainability.
The assessment in this report concludes with a series of recommendations to tackle these challenges with a view to strengthening the contribution of education and training to human capital development in the country. A summary of the key recommendations can be found in Annex 1. It is hoped that they will be useful for Kyrgyzstan in the implementation of the National Development Strategy 2018–2040, as well as in the planning of future donor projects, including EU support.