In May 2014, the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic adopted the Law “On public councils of public authorities of the Kyrgyz Republic”, as a part of which it was necessary to establish public councils under relevant ministries, state committees and administrative departments of the Kyrgyz Republic. Tasks of public councils include matters of creation of mechanisms for public monitoring of activities of public authorities and their officials as well as assisting in making decisions on formation and implementation of public policy.
In relation to problems associated with development of education, there is particular need for activities of the Public Council, which can be summarized as follows: due to lack of potential and officially recognized authority, relevant public representatives do not follow the agenda of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic on reforming the education sector.
The Project “Promotion and monitoring of reforms in the field of education development in the Kyrgyz Republic” is aimed at improving the potential of the PC of KR MES and making it possible to exchange of views with civil society within the given structure. It shall enable to resolve issues on assuring of quality of reforms in the field of education, to improve accountability of the Kyrgyz Republic Government to civil society and to strengthen the “public voice” in decision-making at the political level. Attention in the project will be given to involvement of civil society in policy development, decision-making and their implementation through creation of structured co-operation and consultation mechanisms. Thus, transparency of the education system reforming process will be improved.
Project goals and types of activity
Main expected outcomes as a part of the project are the following three factors:
- Strengthening capacities of the Public Council in the field of education. PC of KR MES should have a potential to fulfil its role as envisaged by the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On public councils of public authorities” dated May 24, 2014. It is expected that upon completion of the project, the PC will be capable to carry out its activities independently and can become institutionally sustainable public consultative body with clearly defined functions and obligations.
- PC cooperation with public authorities and civil society should be improved, which goal is to improve transparency and to guarantee their participation in the education system reforming process. Upon completion of the project, the PC of KR MES should become a platform for constructive dialogue between public authorities and civil society. This will enhance transparency and accountability and will strengthen the democratic foundations of the society.
- Representatives of civil society shall pass training and will have great potential upon monitoring of how educational reforms are being implemented as well as upon making necessary, appropriate and achievable recommendations for the PC of KR MES. The potential of active and conscientious representatives of NGOs of Kyrgyzstan, which carry out their activities in the field of education, will be strengthened to monitor educational reforms. As part of the project representatives of NGOs will be able to make appropriate and feasible recommendations for the PC of KR MES.
Various activities will be undertaken to achieve specified results under the project. Initial assessment of the needs of target groups upon preparation thereof will improve efficiency of regular seminars, workshops, round tables and organization of study tours. During various working meetings the PC of KR MES shall develop operational plan of actions defining internal organizational structure, functional responsibilities and objectives. Goal of trainings and seminars will be strengthening the potential of members of the KR MES PC and other participants from the civil society, who will share information on the progress of education reforms in key areas such as: development of curriculum, matters of financing and management of the education system or direction of educational reforms in line with sustainable development. Similarly, it is planned to train members of the KR MES PC and other representatives of non-governmental organizations involved in the education system to procedures of monitoring, evaluation methods and to education quality monitoring mechanisms. To ensure that these seminars and working meetings are conducted with relevant training materials, requests to provide analytical copyright works and textbooks on subjects mentioned above will be addressed to international and national experts. As the first pilot project for monitoring the Education Development Strategy of KR MES for 2012-2020, we plan to strengthen the potential of the KR MES PC’s members and other interested representatives by teaching to methods of effective monitoring implementation. All reports, textbooks and recommendations issued as part of this project will be published on the website for free access to public information.
Main outcomes of the project should be:
- Development of strategic and operational plans for activities of the KR MES PC;
- Preparation of five analytical reviews on principal directions in the field of education development and educational reform (advanced experience of the EU);
- Preparation of analytical reports on key aspects of the educational reform in Kyrgyzstan;
- Analysis of teaching guides on implementation of monitoring procedures (best experience of the EU) and participation of public members in educational reform;
- Organization of public hearings during which recommendations of the Public Council of the KR MES will be presented for discussion among education experts and members of the Committee of the KR Parliament;
- Regular updating of a website, where all documents and teaching materials will be published.