Gather the rectors of the universities of Central Asia into an informal club - AlmaU University came up with such an initiative, and, judging by the first meeting, the grain fell into fertile soil. The meeting, which was called in Kazakh bas kosu (analogous to Meet-Up), was attended by leaders and experts in the field of higher education from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. But, as its name implies, Central Asia + Rector's Club is open for expansion, so among the speakers were the honorary rector of the American Minerva University Ben Nelson and the president of the Slovenian IEDC-Bled School of Management, the head of CEEMAN (Association for the Development of Management in Central and Eastern Europe) Danica Purg.
- In the last two years, the growing interest in Central Asia has become evident. The EU + Central Asia, China + CA, US + CA summit appeared in exactly this format. And although the reason for the changes is not simple, it is an opportunity for the region to become visible at the global level, - AlmaU rector Gulnar Kurenkeyeva explained the idea of the club. - So far, our region is almost invisible on the educational map of the world - as if higher education in our country does not change, does not develop, does not grow. But since there is now a global interest, we decided that it should not only become part of the official agenda, but also manifest itself at different levels, in different industries. In this case, the site of the rectors' club can become an informal association that will support the processes taking place "at the top" and raise the "wave" at the level of the educational sphere.
According to the rector of AlmaU, there are people to involve in the club: these are the Caucasian countries and Mongolia, with which Central Asia has a common historical past, common university traditions, and Turkic-speaking universities based on a common language.
“In fact, our task is to create an innovative union of university leaders and world experts and determine how to make the region a global educational hub,” she set priorities and continued: “We don’t have the kind of money that American, Arab, Chinese universities have, we the economies are not so strong, we have a lot of problems. And we understand that in our case, first of all, we need to recognize the problems, and secondly, to see the window of opportunity in the region and make the most of it. And thirdly, to offer innovative solutions: new management models, new educational programs - what will make our products valuable.
The President of the University Asylbek Kozhakhmetov agrees with the rector of AlmaU.
- We have gathered people who are ready for innovation, ready to cooperate, to implement ideas together, who do not wait for a command from the ministry and want autonomy from government decisions. Now we are gathering a club of initiative people and initiative universities, together we can achieve strong synergy, - he outlined his position.
Of course, Central Asia + Rector’s Club does not plan any official registration or registration. Nevertheless, the club members intend to report the results of the discussions to the authorities of their countries. Some issues were raised already at the first meeting, such as, for example, in the speech of Arsen Kydyraliev from the Kyrgyz Economic University. M. Ryskulbekova. According to him, the Kyrgyz authorities wanted to impose a tax on foreign students, which fundamentally contradicts the trend of internationalization of education.
- We need to send messages to the authorities, - Kydyraliev is sure, - if not to create conditions for universities, then at least to convince the state not to interfere with our work.
Please read the full article at https://forbes.kz/actual/education/o_chem_dogovorilis_rektoryi_tsentralnoaziatskih_universitetov_na_pervoy_vstreche_v_central_asia_rectors_club/