Published
07/15/2025, 15:07In April 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic proposed introducing a moratorium on the admission of students to part-time study programs in the fields of Law, Economics and Management. As a result, the resolution was officially adopted on June 27, 2025. The draft resolution stated that a temporary six-month moratorium would be imposed on student admissions to part-time study programs in the above-mentioned fields for the 2025–2026 academic year. The restriction applies to all universities in the country, regardless of their ownership or status.
The Ministry of Education emphasizes that the moratorium is aimed at improving the quality of education and reducing corruption risks in these fields, as there is a high number of students enrolled in part-time programs, while graduates are showing declining employment outcomes. The ban is intended to provide time for revising educational standards and curricula, upgrading infrastructure, and introducing new hybrid models of learning that combine in-person and distance education.
To understand the scale, as of 2025, there are 74 universities operating in Kyrgyzstan — 34 public and 40 private institutions — with a total student population of over 220,000 (around 195,000 of them, approximately 88%) study on a tuition-fee (contract) basis. According to estimates by the Ministry of Education, more than 50–52 universities offer programs in Law, Economics and Management. Many of them enrolled students in part-time programs in very large numbers.
After analyzing publicly available data from the “Abiturient-Online” website, the editorial team at Akchabar found that, as of the 2024 summer admission period, educational institutions in Kyrgyzstan were offering 121 part-time programs in the fields covered by the moratorium (all classified under the codes specified in the resolution). According to admission plans for 2024, universities intended to enroll 4,377 part-time students, each of whom would pay between 28,000 and 50,000 KGS per year in tuition fees. In total, under a favorable scenario, this single cohort alone could have contributed 171,002,750 KGS to university budgets.
“The decision has been made, so we can no longer debate whether the moratorium is necessary or not,” — said Mirlan Chynybaev, Rector of the Kyrgyz State Technical University. “We will comply. Yes, this will lead to a slight reduction in teaching workload for faculty and a certain shortfall in financial income.”
In a conversation with the editorial team, he noted that the university is also exploring alternative formats for student training, particularly dual education.
“For example, dual education is when a student studies and works simultaneously. They attend theoretical classes at the university while completing practical training at an enterprise. The student receives a salary as an intern and gains hands-on experience in the profession. This system is already being implemented as a pilot project in logistics, and starting this year, we are also introducing it in the field of food technology,” — noted Mirlan Chynybaev.
When asked how the university assesses the level of preparation of part-time students, he recalled the origins of the very idea behind this form of education.
“Historically, part-time and evening education emerged in the Soviet Union to enable workers to study without interrupting their work. If we consider the role of universities today, we must remember this purpose — to provide opportunities for active employees to upgrade their skills and become, for example, engineers or enterprise managers. We must not forget that the primary goal of part-time education is to educate working people,” — he concluded.
It appears that not all higher education institutions are ready to publicly share their position on this issue. The editorial team of Akchabar also reached out to the Jusup Balasagyn Kyrgyz National University, the Boris Yeltsin Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University, and the International University “Ala-Too.” The Kyrgyz National University declined to comment, citing that the law has not yet come into effect; however, after the official adoption of the resolution, the press secretary avoided calls and messages. The Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University responded vaguely, referring to the adopted resolution with the remark, “All information is available on the website,” without clearly stating their own position. At “Ala-Too,” after a day of promises, they asked to direct inquiries elsewhere.
According to data on the summer admission cycle from the same “Abiturient-Online” website, the number of part-time study options has significantly decreased, although there are still universities that, despite the moratorium, offer places for part-time programs, raising questions about the legality of such practices. Nevertheless, students who had planned to enroll in part-time programs in Law, Economics, and Management will have to reconsider their plans. Some may try to switch to full-time study (which would require a change of status, possible relocation, and giving up work), while others may choose to postpone their admission.
