Kyrgyzstan – vocational education in pictures

The purpose of his trip was to see first-hand how students and teachers fare in this remote and impoverished country, what the social problems are, how they are being tackled, how education works for a country’s development. Here is a selection of his photographs.

Alomkul Baygishiy, senior master teacher of welding, a former journalist of the local TV station in Talas, Kyrgyzstan, and his students. Vocational school No. 90 in Talas has no facilities for training welders, so the students practice in an abandoned part of a bus garage.

Students of welding in Osh’s vocational school No. 16, Kyrgyzstan. This is the so called “migration class”. They train for five months to work abroad, usually in Russia or Kazakhstan. School No. 16 alone has been producing around four hundred “migration” graduates every year for the past seven years. The programme is supported by the government. Local business, however, suffers from a deficit of skilled workers, especially welders, electricians or masons. Emigration is a big problem in Kyrgyzstan.

Abdelakim Gaparov, teacher of car mechanics, has been working at the vocational school no. 8 in Karavan, in the Batken region of Kyrgyzstan, since 2007. Earlier he worked as an engineer at a truck garage. Four out of ten of his students leave to work in Russia. He wishes he had more spare parts for the car he uses for training.

Nazgul Nurbekikz, 20, hairdressing student, born in Naryn in eastern Kyrgyzstan. She says she loves making people beautiful. Hairdressing is one of the most popular trades taught in vocational school No. 98 in Bishkek. Students practice on real clients of a hairdressing shop owned by the school.

The sewing industry is one of the few that experienced some growth in Kyrgyzstan in recent years. Most students find jobs at local workshops and factories. A graduate of this vocational school in Osh hopes to earn 100 US dollars a month.

Master teachers at the vocational school No. 8 in Karavan in the Batken region of southern Kyrgyzstan. The school teaches various agricultural trades such as irrigation, tractor operation and agribusiness. In May 2011, the Kyrgyz government raised the salaries of teachers: an experienced teacher can now earn as much as 400 US dollars. Yet experts fear that next year, with the country’s deficit soaring, the state will have trouble sticking to its commitments.

Tchinara Beysheyeva, 22, studied to be a journalist, but she has never found a job. She took a ten-month course at the vocational school No. 98 in Bishkek. The school is working closely with business and is successful in adapting its training offer to a changing labour market. Ayjamal Kaimbekova, 18, wants to work at a call center at Megacom, one of mobile phone companies in Kyrgyzstan.