The institutional significance of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University in the national higher education system of the Kyrgyz Republic

Denisenko Viktor Vasil'evich ORCID: 0000-0002-8185-4280 Postgraduate student; Institute of Public Administration and Law; State University of Management Head of the Department; Information Policy Department; State Academic University of Humanities 99 Ryazansky ave., Moscow, 109542, Russia denisenkoviktor@vk.com

Introduction

The Kyrgyz Republic does not have a large number of economic and human resources, but it occupies a strategically important geographical position at the junction of the EAEU and SREB integration platforms, which allows the country to act as a transit platform for interregional trade. Despite the absence of a common border with Russia, Kyrgyzstan is one of Moscow's closest partners due to its participation in the CIS, EAEU and CSTO integration associations operating under the leadership of the Russian Federation, as well as its de facto focus on developing trade and economic cooperation equally with Russia and China. By the end of 2024, the volume of mutual trade between Kyrgyzstan and external partners amounted to more than 14 billion US dollars, of which the EAEU states accounted for 5 billion US dollars (an increase of 8.5% compared to 2023). Trade turnover with Russia shows steady growth of 14.5% (3.5 billion US dollars in 2024), and the total volume of exports from China to Kyrgyzstan amounted to about 19.9 billion US dollars (Brief express information on the main indicators of socio-economic development of the Kyrgyz Republic in January 2025 // Ministry of Economy and Commerce of the Kyrgyz Republic, 2025. URL: https://mineconom.gov.kg/ru/post/10791 (date of request: 05/14/2025)).

The positive dynamics of mutual trade with Russia and China, as well as the volume of parallel imports from Russia through the Kyrgyz Republic, demonstrate Russia's continued interest in the development of Kyrgyzstan as a key element of the Central Asian transport corridor. Cargo transportation from China and the Asia-Pacific countries, due to the favorable geographical location of the Kyrgyz Republic, can pass to the Russian Federation both through Kazakhstan and along the southern route through Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and the Caspian Sea. The current free trade regime with most countries of the region, as well as the most favored nation and preferential trade regimes within the EAEU, also favors the development of the Kyrgyz Republic as an interregional transport hub ^[1].

In order to further develop mutually beneficial economic integration, Russia is developing humanitarian projects in the Kyrgyz Republic aimed at "increasing the competitiveness of domestic education and using its potential to expand Russian humanitarian influence in the world" in accordance with the Concept of State Humanitarian Policy Abroad (Decree of the President of Russia dated 05.09.2011 № 611). In this regard, acting in the logic of opposing the "re-Sovietization of the region" by Russia, due to the need to control China's expansion within the framework of the Community with a common Destiny project, as well as in order to promote its own foreign policy and trade and economic projects, humanitarian initiatives of non-regional players have been greatly developed in Kyrgyzstan. Considering that acts of "soft power" can be aimed at inciting internal conflicts in order to undermine the stability of the political system, in 2023 the Jogorku Kenesh approved legislative acts strengthening state control over the activities of non-profit organizations ^[2]. By the way, these actions of the Kyrgyz authorities were negatively assessed by the United States and EU countries.

Thus, in the absence of the possibility of uncontrolled development of politically oriented NGOs in Kyrgyzstan by major foreign policy actors, the role of the educational sector is increasing, in which Russia is a traditional player, promoting its educational programs from the entry level to the level of training highly qualified personnel in order to develop human capital for high-tech sectors of the economy within the framework of the EAEU integration platform (Decision of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council dated October 16, 2015 No. 28) ^[3]. The main instruments of educational influence within the framework of the "soft power" policy are interstate educational organizations – institutions of joint management established on the basis of intergovernmental agreements, the purpose of which is to implement and maintain cooperation between the parties in the field of education ^[4]. In this paper, as an example of an interstate educational organization, the current directions and features of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University will be considered, since the education system at the level of training qualified personnel for the national economy and political management is an essential part of the functioning and development of the state under possible external pressure.

The specifics of Kyrgyzstan's higher education system

National education generally includes a cultural component, geographical reference, language, religion, and the values of a particular ethnic group, group, or nation. The national education system should be defined as an institutionally anchored system of education and upbringing of people, inculcating traditional values, language and culture for groups living in a particular territory, adapting world cultural experience and ensuring the formation of personality and socialization of participants in the process ^[5]. The concept of the education system established by the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic does not mention ethnocultural specifics, and among the principles of humanitarian policy are the secular nature of education and upbringing, independence from political and religious institutions, and the orientation of education towards the formation of a scientific picture of the world among students. In accordance with the Constitutional Law of the Kyrgyz Republic dated July 17, 2023 No. 140 "On the State Language of the Kyrgyz Republic", the Kyrgyz language is subject to compulsory use in the field of education, while on the basis of the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic dated August 11, 2023 No. 179 "On Education", the state undertakes to create conditions for the education of every citizen in the state, official (Russian) and one foreign language. The educational process, in turn, can be carried out in a foreign language, subject to the principle of multilingualism. Thus, the national education system of the Kyrgyz Republic should be defined as a state-national system of an ethnic group that is a native speaker of the state language with features of a diasporic-national system in terms of the use of the official language and the prevailing scientific orientation of education and the secular nature of education using values traditional to the ethnic groups living on the territory of Kyrgyzstan.

The educational system is defined by the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic "On Education" as "an integral, comprehensive, integrated system that guarantees the interaction of organizations, policies and government measures aimed at realizing the constitutional right to education and achieving quality education." Participants in the education system are directly educational organizations, students, government policies regarding organization, management, financing and educational standards, as well as the following bodies: the national regulator (executive authority), local administrations and local governments. The functions of local authorities are mainly focused on ensuring the constitutional rights of citizens, while local governments are at the level of basic, secondary and general education organizations, although it should be noted that they have the opportunity to create municipal educational institutions without limiting the level of educational programs. Depending on the level of educational programs, organizations are divided into 8 types, only one of which is "organizations of higher and postgraduate professional education" and forms the national system of higher education.

In the Education Development Program in the Kyrgyz Republic for 2021-2040. (Resolution of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic No. 200 dated May 4, 2021) the following problems of higher professional education are highlighted: outdated specialties of the "outgoing resource-intensive economy", outdated teaching methods and a low threshold for the receptivity of innovations by the teaching staff, corruption, low funding of science, and, consequently, the weak orientation of universities towards scientific activity, outdated material and technicalthe technical base and the low degree of autonomy of educational organizations in terms of the content of educational programs and management ^[6]. As measures aimed at overcoming these difficulties, it is especially worth highlighting:

– modernization of educational programs in accordance with current international trends and with the involvement of employers;

– expanding the autonomy of universities in terms of regulating the content of educational standards;

– targeted preparation of universities for inclusion in international education ratings through the creation of national platforms;

– increasing the scientific component in the activities of universities, especially in terms of applied research;

– creation of startups and innovation platforms by universities.

Based on the republican Program for the Development of education, the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic approved an Action Plan until 2026, the implementation of which should reflect in detail the degree of elaboration of the previously mentioned areas (Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic dated February 25, 2025 No. 111-r). Among the indicators of higher education, which will be used to measure the effectiveness of the Plan's implementation, the main focus is on issues of equal opportunities and inclusivity, as well as the transition of school education to a 12-year education format ^[7]. The previously mentioned problems and development directions include the following indicators:

– the number of universities that practice dual education programs;

– the number of teaching staff trained in English;

– number of international students;

– the number of startup applications from universities;

– the number of allocated budget places for the training of scientific personnel in STEM fields.

In addition to the Education Development Program for the period up to 2040, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic has been implementing a Concept for the transformation of higher professional education into the "University 4.0" model since 2023. The document establishes a number of development directions and criteria that Kyrgyz universities must meet upon completion of the transformation, among which the key ones should be highlighted.:

– creation of a hybrid digital educational environment;

– development of interdisciplinary programs and integration of practical training based on industrial enterprises;

– attracting highly qualified researchers working abroad;

– integration into international scientific and innovation networks;

– increasing the financial autonomy of universities.

The conceptual model of the educational organization "University 4.0" is currently being developed by researchers and does not have a specific implementation example. Kyrgyz scientist and manager A. I. Musaev believes that in the near future classical educational programs will be replaced by digital applications, and the main subject of higher education will be not theoretical knowledge and mastery of facts, but complex analytics based on game techniques. In such conditions, universities will have to strengthen their presence in the virtual space, and the mission of the 4.0 model university will be the development and application of collective digital intelligence (Musaev A. I. Transformation of higher education: models of world universities and prospects for Kyrgyzstan. // AKIrgess, 2024. URL:https://mnenie.akipress.org/unews/un_post:38377/?from=mnenie&place=search&sth=37117eac4bf2863a5bc91497cccf2954 (accessed: 05/14/2025)). Russian researcher E.V. Neborsky characterizes University 4.0 as a biociferal university based on a model of multiple intelligence and focused on solving global problems based on tools of metadisciplinarity ^[8]. In turn, Tomsk scientists A. S. Fadeev, O. A. Zmeev, and T. T. Gazizov believe that this concept primarily implies a digital university that uses digital tools to quickly flexibly change communication between participants in the educational process ^[9].

The above-mentioned guidelines of Kyrgyz universities in the process of transformation to the "University 4.0" model, as well as the directions of development within the framework of the republican Educational Development Program, should not be attributed to industry innovations, but rather to measures of catch-up modernization to the level of earlier models (for example, the organization of access to international databases of scientific citation). A.I. Musaev He believes that no more than 500 universities in the world correspond to the 3.0 model, most of which occupy leading positions in the Times Higher Education ranking and the BRICS ranking. In turn, most successful large universities do not reflect concepts in their pure form and, like, for example, Russian federal universities, combine features of models 2.0 and 3.0. In this regard, it is extremely relevant for the national regulator in the field of education to study the best foreign practices using the example of permanent organizations and further integration of experience in the national system of higher education. Intergovernmental universities located on the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic, and KRSU in particular, can generally be considered such examples, taking into account the orientation of reforms towards international scientific and innovation networks.

Features of regulation of the activities of cattle

The oldest interstate educational organization of higher education in Kyrgyzstan is the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University named after the first President of the Russian Federation B. N. Yeltsin, established in 1993 in accordance with the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between the Kyrgyz Republic and the Russian Federation dated June 10, 1992 and on the basis of an Agreement on the Terms of Establishment and Operation of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University, dated September 9, 1993. Currently, KRSU operates on the basis of an Agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Government of the Russian Federation on the conditions of operation in Bishkek of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University named after the First President of the Russian Federation B. N. Yeltsin dated October 12, 2023. The updated agreement updated the legal status of the university and introduced a new management system that meets the requirements of modern political conditions. The Governing Council, formed on a parity basis by the Ministries of Education and Science of Russia and Kyrgyzstan, has become the supreme governing body. The Council determines the strategic directions of the University's activities and approves the university's budget. The rector, who is accountable to the council, is unilaterally appointed by the authorized body from the Russian side, and may hold office for no more than two consecutive five-year terms, or until his 70th birthday. It should be especially noted that the rector of KRSU has an employment relationship only with the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and in accordance with Russian legislation.

In accordance with the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic "On Education", the type and legal status of interstate educational organizations is determined by relevant intergovernmental agreements. In accordance with the intergovernmental agreement on the terms of operation of the KRSU, the university, being an intergovernmental educational organization of higher education in its organizational and legal form, enjoys the status of a state university in Kyrgyzstan, i.e. an "institution" in accordance with the certificate of state registration of a legal entity. This legal status is enjoyed on the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic by all state educational organizations of higher education with the resulting regulatory features ^[10]. The established legal regime should be considered strict in view of the fact that the main areas of management of an educational organization are controlled by the national regulator: the management structure, staffing levels and staff requirements, the appointment of a number of senior staff in addition to the rector, the forms and amount of remuneration, the receipt of extra-budgetary income and their management. Such a legal regime does not imply the emergence of management strategies in organizations aimed at implementing the target model "University 4.0" and other strategic directions of development ^[11].

In connection with this Decree of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic dated July 18, 2022. UP No. 243 "On measures to increase the potential and competitiveness of educational institutions of higher professional education in the Kyrgyz Republic", a number of universities, including KRSU, have been granted a "special status" since 2024, which has granted them relatively broad autonomy in the field of finance, management and educational activities. Especially important in the light of the strategic documents discussed earlier and the development goals indicated in them are the following rights, which most state universities of the Kyrgyz Republic do not have:

- independently establish educational standards and requirements for implemented educational programs and carry out activities on them without obtaining a license;

- independently develop and approve the admission rules for bachelor's degree programs, as well as approve the cost of educational services;

- receive extra-budgetary (special) funds from commercial activities in the field of scientific research, consulting, manufacturing, etc., and invest them in the development of the material and technical base with the possibility of further income from leasing such property.

Nevertheless, it should be noted that the content and procedure for the implementation of academic disciplines included in the educational program of higher education developed on the basis of the principle of autonomy are nevertheless established by the state educational standard even for universities with a special status, which potentially increases the inertia of the process of modernization of the PLO.

KRSU receives budget funding from the Russian Federation within the framework of admission control figures distributed on an equal basis with Russian universities and Development Programs. Through the Kyrgyz Republic, funds are brought within the framework of a state educational order distributed among universities based on the results of a nationwide competition (Resolution No. 231 of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic dated May 10, 2024). At the same time, the maximum number of grants allocated to each university in the areas of training is set by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic. The basic amount of the grant is further adjusted by increasing coefficients depending on the specialty and, in the case of KRSU, in connection with the interstate status. In addition, according to the norms established in the budget system of the Kyrgyz Republic, reflected also in the intergovernmental agreement, the university should use these funds mainly to pay teachers' salaries and scholarships, as well as to provide meals for orphaned children. In other respects, there is a clear disparity in the income structure of the Kyrgyz Republic: by the end of 2024, 56.1 million SOM were accounted for through budget investments in the Kyrgyz Republic, while 775 million SOM were accounted for through subsidies and targeted funds from the Russian Federation, and 410 million from income–generating activities. com (Indicators on receipts, payments and sources of financing of the Kyrgyz State University in 2024 // Official website of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University, 2024. URL: https://krsu.edu.kg/images/documents/docs_OO/Plan_FHD_2024.pdf (date of request: 05/15/2025)).

Activities of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University

At the initial stage of the university's existence, its main task, in accordance with intergovernmental acts, was to promote the development of scientific, technical and human resources of both states ^[12]. It should be noted that radical forms of nation-building in the newly independent states in the early 1990s led to a massive outflow of the ethnically Russian and Russian–speaking population, including some highly qualified specialists. Such a joint management organization, funded in equal shares by the two founding states, allowed Kyrgyzstan to retain a significant part of highly qualified scientific and pedagogical staff, initially oriented towards emigration, and Russia to help preserve the positions of the Russian language, shared historical memory and a constructive attitude towards cooperation in the Republic.

As mentioned earlier, the updated intergovernmental agreement of 2023 updated the status of the university and brought the tasks and management system in line with the requirements of the time and modern political processes. In addition to meeting the educational needs of individuals and promoting the development of human resources in countries, the following tasks should be highlighted, reflecting the political and applied importance of the organization:

– strengthening the role of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Russian Federation in the global humanitarian, scientific and technical space;

– formation of a positive image of the Russian Federation in the Kyrgyz Republic and the Kyrgyz Republic in the Russian Federation;

– promoting the preservation, development and mutual enrichment of cultures, languages, historical and national traditions of the peoples of the States of the Parties;

– creation and development of the center for advanced training of Russian language teachers;

Russian Russian language and culture awareness–raising activities to promote the Russian language and culture.

To implement projects in key areas of activity, the authorized body from the Russian side approved the Program for the Development of the University for 2023-2025, which defines the main projects aimed at fulfilling the university's objectives. The document examines each area of the university's activities within the framework of the enlarged blocks and identifies target indicators. Among the issues that need to be addressed are the standard ones for most universities in Kyrgyzstan and those previously mentioned in the national Education Development Program.:

- low receptivity of the teaching staff to innovative teaching methods and modernization of educational programs;

- low publication activity and the level of cooperation with foreign scientific centers;

- lack of special support mechanisms for students and talented youth;

- low degree of digitalization of processes;

- general obsolescence of the material and technical base of the university.

Using the right to appoint the university's management unilaterally, as stipulated in the new intergovernmental agreement, the Russian side has stepped up the development process of the University, including by allocating additional funds for the implementation of the Development Program. According to the materials published on the organization's website, the amount of financing for the Development Program for 2020-2022 amounted to 70 million rubles per year. The annual amount of funding for the updated program was not disclosed, however, 70 million rubles were allocated in 2024 only to stimulate scientific research of teaching staff within the framework of individual grants (A program of mini-grants for scientific research in the KRSU was launched. // Official website of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University, 2024. URL: https://www.krsu.edu.kg/node/3685 (date of request: 05/15/2025)).

As part of the university's Development Program, a comprehensive modernization of the educational environment is being carried out, based on close cooperation with Russian partner universities. According to the established model, a university curator from leading Russian organizations is established for the educational unit. Together with the partner, the following activities are being carried out: the revision of curricula for training areas, the partial unification of curricula and the further transition to the implementation of educational programs in this area in a network form. Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, which oversees educational programs of natural sciences and technology, has become a key partner of KRSU in this context. Since 2024, 9 basic educational programs have been launched in the format of joint implementation. In general, KRSU announced the introduction of a new model of integrated training based on the "University – Educational Partner – Industrial Partner" network interaction. During the training, students are expected to take joint courses, network modules and internships at the Russian curatorial university, as well as practical training in the format of industrial practice at enterprises and organizations. Practice-oriented training is supposed to be conducted on the basis of an industrial partner of a specific educational program (KRSU and St. Petersburg Polytechnic University have signed the first training agreements as part of a joint project. // Official website of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University, 2024. URL: https://www.krsu.edu.kg/news/26092024-1945 (date of request: 05/15/2025)). This training format will allow the university to quickly respond to the needs of the labor market and flexibly build educational programs without taking into account the real demands of employers, which corresponds to the previously considered requests of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic for the professionalization of educational programs, the introduction of digital practices and foreign experience.

The Supplement to the Development Program for 2024-2025 looks more textured, which outlines previously unannounced projects within the framework of additional financing from the Russian federal budget. The conducted analysis allows us to conclude that management is focused on modernizing the material and technical base of the university and supplementing educational programs with professionally oriented courses in higher professional education and vocational education, which also correlates with the previously discussed transformations of the educational process and can further serve as the basis for a system of individual educational trajectories. In a separate block, it is worth mentioning the project "School functioning at the University", the full financing of which is assumed by the Russian Federation under the program, which indicates the focus on enhancing the social mission of the university in Kyrgyzstan and the possible development of a seamless school–university learning format while maintaining constant subsidies from Russia. More than 490 million rubles have been allocated for the complex of projects within the framework of the supplement for 2024-2025.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the proposed construction of a new modern campus and a KRSU technopark, for which, according to the university's management, the Russian Federation has allocated about 15 billion rubles, which will be one of the largest investments in the educational sector of the Kyrgyz Republic (the Kyrgyz-Russian University will build a new campus. // TASS, 2025. URL: https://tass.ru/obschestvo/22917855 (date of request: 05/15/2025)).

Conclusion

Based on the results of the study, a number of conclusions should be drawn. The national system of higher education of the Kyrgyz Republic has the features of both a state-national and a diasporic system. The target areas of university development established by the state are elements of a catch-up modernization strategy based on the main foreign practices of both the Russian or Chinese and Western models of university functioning. At the same time, the higher education system of Kyrgyzstan is characterized by strict regulation by state authorities, which does not imply autonomous management of universities. The exception is the special legal regime established for a number of leading universities, the modernization of which should serve as a model and a starting point for further transformation of the national educational system.

The Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University should be considered an investment project of the Russian Federation aimed primarily at promoting the Russian language and a positive image of Russian education in Kyrgyzstan. KRSU, like other intergovernmental educational organizations, serves as a model of the best Russian practices in the national system of higher education of the Kyrgyz Republic, on the basis of which, among other things, its modernization is carried out. At the same time, the increasing amount of funding and the high degree of participation of the Russian side in the management of the university allow us to draw the following conclusion: the expected result, in addition to the increased number of intellectual and political elite of the Republic who have been trained in Russian educational programs and in accordance with traditional spiritual and moral values at the heart of the educational element, is the orientation of the Kyrgyz education system towards the Russian model of development. This goal is designed to promote the formation of a single educational space in the EAEU countries, necessary for the formation of a single labor market and a system for training highly qualified personnel.