Chapter 9: Education in Central Asia During the Transition to a Market Economy

The economic shock has taken a large toll on access to education in Central Asia, but not equally across all parts of the education sector. This essay utilizes recent, data from two household surveys and is able to accurately pinpoint where the declines in educational expenditures have been more severe. The authors conclude that the declines in preschool expenditures are significantly larger than at other levels. However, they also conclude that the incentives to invest in education during the transition have risen, which has generated a new range of private higher and secondary institutions, supported for the most part by parents. The authors point out that, the quality of secondary education has fallen in spite of the fact that the price of secondary education has risen and that urban/rural inequalities are on the rise. Investments in education, both public and private, however exhibit very high economic returns.