Questions about the quality of education are currently in the spotlight of society as a whole. Therefore, one of the main tasks of reforms in the education sector is to develop a unified understanding of “quality of education” for all participants in the educational process and to implement measures to achieve it.
These issues were at the center of the discussion at the Round Table “Enhancing the Role of NGOs in the Development of Quality Education Policy,” which took place on November 16, 2015, as part of a joint project of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the ED “BIOM” “Stimulating and Monitoring Reforms in Education in the Kyrgyz Republic,” implemented with the support of the European Union.
Participants included representatives from the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic, teachers from schools and universities, members of the Public Expert Council on Education under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, members of the Public Council of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic, and an education development expert from the Russian Federation. A total of about 40 people participated in the Round Table.
The Round Table featured: Doctor of Economic Sciences Andrey Zybkin, a project expert from Moscow, who presented a report on “The Experience of the Russian Federation in Building Mechanisms for Assessing the Quality of Education and the Participation of Civil Society Experts”; Svetlana Sirmbard, Rector of the BFEA, a national expert on higher education reform in the Kyrgyz Republic, presented on “Assessment and Improvement of Education Quality: Challenges and Prospective Strategies.” The third report, presented by Larisa Marchenko, Head of the Monitoring and Strategic Planning Department of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic, was dedicated to the topic “Formation of Mechanisms to Account for Societal Needs Regarding the Results of Quality Education.”
During the general discussion, participants of the Round Table noted that this topic is relevant and timely. Although there is still no definition of “quality of education” in Kyrgyzstan’s regulatory documents, the term itself is widely used. This issue is given significant attention in the National Strategy for Sustainable Development of the Kyrgyz Republic and in the new Government Program of the Kyrgyz Republic – “Stability, Trust, and New Opportunities,” where in section (2.9.) “Human Development as the Foundation of the Future,” the formation of “quality human capital” is one of the key concepts as a main factor in the country’s success. In this regard, “in the field of education… emphasis should be placed on the quality of the services provided.”
Experts pointed out that despite a number of quality measurement tools at various levels (from the National Assessment of Educational Achievements of Students (NAEAS) to assessments at the class and individual student levels), a unified country system for assessing quality has not yet emerged. The discussions raised questions about the role of accreditation in ensuring the quality of higher education, the necessity of establishing new approaches in the assessment system of school education, and the evaluation of the education sector as an important perspective.
The results obtained from such monitoring studies and assessments of education quality, as participants of the Round Table believe, should serve as a source of information for making informed decisions on education reform.
In global practice, the quality of education is most often defined through the assessment of the satisfaction level of the consumers of the education system (society, parents, and students) with the services provided. Key to this understanding of quality is the content of education, which is implemented through standards and associated programs and textbooks. From this perspective, as research conducted in Kyrgyzstan shows, the quality of education is not high.
Therefore, at the center of the reforms taking place in recent years stands the transition of the education system of Kyrgyzstan to new competency-based learning principles established in the new generation standards at all levels of education. In this regard, participants of the Round Table discussed issues related to improving the quality of standards and educational-methodological complexes, including through the creation of a mechanism for aligning the needs of the education system and society, such as a public Coordinating Council on Standards and Quality of Education, and the possibilities of its interaction with the public council of the Ministry and other organizations and expert communities. Creating such councils is a global practice aimed at overcoming the monopoly on the development of standards, programs, and the publication of educational-methodological complexes (EMC), involving a wide range of the public (representatives of business, civil society, parents) and experts in ensuring the quality of regulatory documents and EMC in the education system.
According to the participants of the Round Table, the establishment of a Coordinating Council on Standards and Quality of Education, and the more active participation of the Public Council of the Ministry of Education, as well as other expert organizations, in the process of monitoring and assessing the quality of education will create dialogue platforms for maintaining constant attention to this issue and developing specific measures to achieve quality education at all levels.
