Chapter 12: On the Demise of the “Action Plan” for Kyrgyz Education Reform: A Case Study

This essay involved the resistance to “rationalizing,” or instituting several Western school reform models in Kyrgyzstan as championed by the pro-American Minister of Education and Culture during 2001 and 2002. The drama is here portrayed though not in terms of often suspect numbers and rates calculated by external agents and international banks, nor upon the lofty educational aims and inflated educational promises usually found in the constitutions of most Central Asian countries. Rather, it came from “on the ground” witnessing of earnest efforts of the Kyrgyz education minister (and a few of her local allies) during this period. Although she created a strong external coalition for school reform and did institute some important higher education reforms, in the end she was removed from her post exactly for attempting some of the efficient and market oriented reforms called for by the development banks and international agencies. This essay is based upon 20 months of participant observation during reform efforts undertaken by Camilla Sbarshekeeva in 2001 and 2002, and the subsequent disappearance of her “Action Plan” for educational reform.