In order to keep the UK education sector updated on the market changes, priorities and give an overview of the situation with Covid-19 in Wider Europe, the International Education Services team in the region is pleased to present you with the following news. 

In this update we will give you an overview of the situation with Covid-19 in the Wider Europe countries, the pandemic effect on the education system, economy and other key areas of countries' development. 

Here are the changes at a glance: 

Kazakhstan – returned “lockdown”, Covid-19 cases rising, education adapts to new environment, economy improving

Turkey - Turkey imposes weekday curfew and full weekend lockdown as Covid-19 cases increase, most teaching is delivered online and student mobility trends decline.

Russia - soaring numbers of Covid-19 cases, remote studying and working, mass vaccination starts, restoring flights with other countries

Uzbekistan - quarantine lifted, schools and universities delivering face-to-face, new Law on Education goes public.

 

Kazakhstan

Update 07 December 2020

Kazakhstan declared a state of emergency to curb the spread of the Covid-19 infection on 16 March through 11 May after the World Health Organization defined the spread of the coronavirus as a pandemic.

The state of emergency in Kazakhstan was lifted on 11 May 2020 with the quarantine regime persisting in nearly all regions. The decision to soften or completely take down the current restrictive measures will be laid upon city/regional administrations.

Since then, Kazakhstan has seen a number of restrictive measures being taken in order to hold the spread of virus, yet it had to allow businesses to reopen by following some sanitary requirements which include social distancing, wearing masks, limited number of people in one room, etc.

Currently, as winter has come, which is normally the flu season, the number of cases is increasing again. In order to contain the virus in the cities and regions where the cases are soaring, the administrations of those are limiting entry and outbound to/from there.

The regions which have the biggest numbers are North Kazakhstan and Pavlodar region – these are the red zones, following them comes the biggest cities lie Shymkent, Almaty, Nur-Sultan that are grouped in the yellow zone.

Kazakhstan has recently signed a contract with Russia to buy

School and universities

By the end of quarantine regime, educational institutions remained closed. Kazakhstan students at all stages of their education finished the 2019/20 academic year online.

Education in Kazakhstan in 2020/21 academic year started distantly utilising local and international online learning and collaboration platforms.

Students of schools, TVET institutions and universities have started their study journey through online platforms. The Kazakhstan Ministry of Education and Science monitors the situation with Covid-19 and will be swapping the online learning with the traditional way of learning depending on the evolution of Covid-19 in Kazakhstan, i.e. should the number of infections decrease and the situation stabilise, the following terms of studies at all levels will be slowly switching to offline classroom learning. This news was welcomed by the local community supportively as the largest percentage of people of Kazakhstan are concerned about the health and wellbeing of their children.

To get the maximum results out of online education and to prepare teaching staff for online teaching, the Ministry of Education and Science Kazakhstan has been holding free online courses for teachers on running and navigating online classes.

In addition, education institutions is organising virtual meetings with parents and students to help them understand how the new education model works and how institutions can support them in this mode of studies.

Examinations

School exams are not held in the current environment, school students are asked to submit some assignments that will be used to do a progress check.

Some TVET institutions/HEIs are using online proctoring systems to conduct their exams remotely.

Student financial support

Bolashaq Presidential Scholarship Progrmme is continuing its work and has funded around 550 students who are going to study abroad in 2020/21. The awarding of scholarships finished in November.

The scholarship body is currently working on the preparation to the next year changes to the programme and we might see some updates coming up in February – March.

Kazakhstan is going to set up a new scholarship scheme for researchers to undergo internship at world-leading institutions. It is expected that the scheme will be run by Centre for International Programmes, which is the administrator of the Boalshaq Presidential Scholarship programme. Once the details and rules are available, we will organise a briefing for UK education sector.

Competitors

Competing markets have stopped running face-to-face activities and are cancelling their autumn recruitment fairs.

Talking generally, competing markets are currently exploring all digital opportunities and trying to digitalise their offer through webinars, workshops and other virtual activities.

Given the current economic situation and how different countries are tackling the situation with Covid-19, majority of students are thinking of switching to study destinations that would allow them to save costs, i.e. Europe (Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Germany, etc.) and East Asia (China, South Korea, etc.) or are thinking of enrolling onto partnered education programmes offered at local well-known and quality education institutions.

General advice to the UK sector would be to actively engage with the student sector and to carefully think of their internationalisation strategy of finding a local partner to deliver their courses through various types of TNE partnerships.

Economic situation

Kazakhstan’s economy has suffered from the Covid-19 restraints a lot and its GDP growth was underperforming by -6% in the last two quarters.

Kazakhstan’s economy is gradually recovering from the Covid-19 restrictions: the annual inflation rate is around 7.3% and the current GPD growth stays at -2.8%, which is a huge leap from what it was a few months ago, the Ministry of National Economy reported at the government meeting on 10 December. This was mainly reached through the government support provided to businesses (some 645.5 billion tenge by the end of November) and the revitalisation of the construction, pharmaceuticals, services and other key industries.

Contact

For more information and insights about the Covid-19 situation in Kazakhstan, please contact Zhanaidar Duzgenbay, International Education Services Coordinator, Kazakhstan at Zhanaidar.Duzgenbay@britishcouncil.org.

 

Russia

Update 07 December 2020

Overview:

Numbers of cases have been increased for the last several weeks with 28 K and reached 2,5 mln with 150% of new cases per day increase overall in country compared to the last 2 months. The biggest numbers are in Moscow with 7,2 K new cases per day. Vaccinations with Russian vaccine have been started massively this week. International flights are available with UK and are resuming with other countries, visa centres’ operations of more countries have been resumed. Businesses are operating as usual with 30% of staff, including aged 65+ have moved to distance work and some restrictions in timing of work in Moscow. Schools have moved to distance learning depending on a region, in Moscow and St.Petersburg all universities have moved to distance learning till February 2021.

General updates:

• Despite of the number of new cases are increasing, the second lockdown in Russia is not planned. Each region is responsible for the measures on its own. Mask & gloves regime was restricted all over the country, and distance work regime is required by local authorities.
• Internal travel is operating, regular international flights are resumed with several countries by now: UK, Turkey, Tanzania, Montenegro, Egypt, UAE, Maldives, Greece and Switzerland (limited), Belorussia, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Serbia, Japan and Cuba, Maldives, UAE, South Korea, Egypt, Ethiopia, Seychelle islands.
• Face masks and gloves regime has been restricted, citizens continue to be required to wear face masks, which will be necessary for several months. Mass events are prohibited. Concert halls, theatres, cinemas are  operating with restrictions to 25% of occupancy rate per event and safety measured. Restaurants and bars are working with restrictions in timing in Moscow and St. Petersburg till 15^th of January 2021.
• The total number of cases has reached 2,5 mln with around 28 000 cases daily, with the biggest numbers of cases in Moscow (7,2K).
• IELTS centers are open. UK visa centres are open all over Russia. other visa centres are resuming their work. International flights with the UK are available for all the purposes.
• Foreigners who need to come to Russia require a Covid-19 medical test result taken no more than 3 days before the flight. Self-isolation for 14 days for foreigners is not required.
• The Russian vaccine has become the first in the world registered. Russian vaccine has been introduced to Russian citizens, first mass vaccinations have been started this week. Prioritising will be made to the most important categories of citizens (medicine workers, army, teachers, state servants). The vaccination is voluntarily and free.

Covid-19 effect on schools and universities

Schools:

Since the beginning of October in Moscow school-children of 6-11 forms have been studied remotely, it has been announced that all schools will operate in blended regime till February 2021. The majority of schools all over Russia are operating F2F (about 60-70%), but they are moved to distance learning according to the decisions of local authorities.

Digital learning is developing further. Any mass events are prohibited at schools. Masks are not required at schools, although the timing of lessons and breaks was changed. It’s prohibited to communicate with students from other classes during breaks. Parents are not allowed to enter schools. Temperature will be measured once entering an educational institution.

HEIs:

Since 30 November all HEIs in Moscow and St.Petersburg have been moved to distance learning. In other cities HEIs are operating F2F with safety measures (temperature is measured upon entrance, face masks are obligatory). This measures are planned to be continued until 2022.  Online courses by local universities are continued to be developed.

International students studying in Russia, if studying F2F, will have to self-isolate for two weeks upon their entering the country and pass the Covid-19 test. If there is no opportunity for international students to start studying F2F, studying online will be available. From 2020/2021 academic year it has become easier for international students studying in Russia to employ during their studies.

Education agents have reported that UK remains the first choice for students and the demand for studying abroad is planned to be increased for September 2022 intake.

Blended learning development:

Online education is planned to be delivered all over Russia by 2024. Blended learning has proved to be a new trend in education that should be embedded in a new education strategy. Many universities are planning to continue blended learning, exploring replacing face-to-face lectures with online courses when further developed in five years. Russian MOOC platforms will also be developed further. 

Many leading universities are planning to increase independent online course production, with the intention of making them partly open to the public free of charge.

New educational programme & opportunities for partnerships:

“Strategic academic leadership programme” is a new Russian reform in education that will replace Project 5-100 starting from 2020. It is based on the importance of science and higher education for achieving national development goals, which includes becoming a top five world economy by developing innovative businesses. The reform will involve over 100 leading universities in over 50 constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Thus it creates opportunities for joint research as well as TNE. Another fundamental aim of the reform is for Russian leading universities to achieve high standings in established educational rankings (THE, QS etc.).

By 2024 it is planned to implement the national project "Education". According to it Russian education should become more attractive for foreigners. So, in the next few years, thanks to the Federal project "Export of education", the number of foreign students in domestic universities will double to 425 thousand people. A total of 784.5 billion rubles were allocated for the national project. The project aims to ensure the global competitiveness of Russian education, as well as Russia's entry into the top ten countries for the quality of General education.

Economy:

However Covid-19 has weakened the Russian economy on 3 - 4 per cent in GDP, mainly due to the significant reduction of exports, but stabilisation of the economy is predicted due to large national projects. trade recovery in 2021 and starting of vaccination, and also agreements with OPEC. 

Fitch  predicted the Russian currency will strengthen its position against the dollar in 2021 and 2022. The Agency assumes that in 2021, the dollar will cost an average of 70 rubles, and in 2022 — 69 rubles. The Agency also improved the outlook for the Russian economy as a whole.

Other relevant information:

VTSIOM published the results of a survey, according to which every sixth person expressed a desire to leave the country with 40% among youth aged 18-24 and 31% among aged 25-31 (7 September 2020)

Contact:

For more information and insights about the Covid-19 situation in Russia, please feel free to contact Daria Lavrentieva lavrentieva@ecmcentre.com and Elizaveta Utolina Elizaveta.Utolina@britishcouncil.org.

 

Turkey

Update 04 December 2020

Turkey implemented weekday curfew and full weekend lockdown as of 4 December. Limited public places are open (restaurants and cafes are only open for take-away) with temperature checks and physical distancing rules in place. Wearing a mask is compulsory in public areas. 

The number of Covid-19 cases is stable and lockdowns are not being considered at this time.  

Most international flights are ongoing with most European Union destinations still closed to Turkish citizens.

All arrivals into Turkey will be subject to a medical evaluation for symptoms of coronavirus, including temperature checks. Anyone showing symptoms on arrival will be required to undergo a PCR test coronavirus.

Economic outlook in Turkey

The GBP-Turkish lira exchange rate remains 10 TRY. Recent currency fluctuation may discourage prospective students from the lower middle-class segment however, the core target group (upper middle-class and above) are historically not affected by foreign exchange changes.  

 
School and university closures

Over 26 million students are affected by Covid-19, including 18 million school students and 8 million higher education students.

Schools

All students continue their education online until 31 December. Exams for the first term are postponed after 31 December.

Universities

The delivery mode of teaching is hybrid, a combination of online and face-to-face teaching/activities for small groups those are required to do lab work.

International Student Mobility

MoNE scholars who are currently enrolled to a UK HE programme are advised to do their study online except those are required to attend a lab class or undertake any field work in the UK. New cohort of scholars for 2021-22 academic year are in the process of choosing the country that they will take their study. The next step of university selection period is after January 2021.

GREAT Scholarships for a Sustainable Future: As part of COP26 five scholarships will be available for Turkish students to do masters in the UK in climate change specific subjects for autumn 2021 admissions with £10K provided. Institutions are invited for bidding until 4 December. The local campaign will be launched in January.

According to the UKVI Visa Application Centre (VAC) statistics, total study visas declined by 74 per cent and Tier 4 visas by 41 per cent between Jan-Sep in the same period in 2019.

Unemployment rate dropped slightly to 13.2 per cent as of August 2020 statistics.

UKVI

As part of the phased resumption of services, UK Visa Application centres are opening at reduced capacity. This may change on a weekly basis. Further information on opening days and times for each location is available at the TLS website.

Contact

Direct marketing services, including digital promotion, remain available to help the UK institutions engage with students and retain a presence in Turkey. 

For more information, please contact Semra Yalcin Dogan at Semra.Yalcin@britishcouncil.org.tr.

 

Uzbekistan

Update 04 December 2020

Summary

• Most of the lockdown/quarantine measures have been lifted These include the suspension of most educational activities (schools, colleges, universities etc.)
• Majority of Schools and Universities started working f2f having all measures in place
• New Law on Education have been passed

General situation in country and policy level developments

Economic picture:

• The Central Bank of Uzbekistan expects GDP growth to decline to 1.5 to 2.5% in 2020 (against 5.2 to 5.5% projected earlier). According to the regulator’s forecasts, the most significant slowdown in growth is forecast in tourism, hotel industry and international transport. The Central Bank also forecasts a reduction in the amount of remittances to Uzbekistan by 30 to 35 % in 2020, which may hold back private consumption growth. Exports will likely weaken amid supply side disruptions, although higher gold and uranium prices should soften the downturn.
• In the June issue of the WB World Economic Outlook report, data on world GDP growth for 2020-2021 were announced. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) is projected to lead to a 1.7% decline in the Central Asian economy.
• It is notable that among the 24 states in the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Uzbekistan according to WB will become the only country where economic growth of 1.5% is currently expected in 2020. WB expects 6.6% increase in Uzbekistan’s economy in 2021. http://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/344691588788182868/Global-Economic-Prospects-June-2020-Regional-Overview-ECA.pdf
• Unemployment in Uzbekistan now stands at nearly 2 million. In the first quarter of the year, the unemployment level had stood at 1.35 million. The government anticipates unemployment to triple. According to government figures 45,000 businesses in retail and wholesale, 13,000 cafes and restaurants, 19,000 service companies, and 7,000 transport companies have been closed as a result of C19
• A significant proportion of the population will be immediately impacted by a decline in remittances as a result of the economic shocks in Russia (due to oil price and C19) and Kazakhstan. Already, 140,000 migrant workers have returned to Uzbekistan and the Central Bank has noted that remittances were down 50% in April year on year. Remittances were worth approximately US$ 4.25 billion to the Uzbek economy in 2019 and constitute a critical source of income for families in provincial areas. 

Education market

2020/2021 Academic Year

• In Uzbekistan this year, entrance exams to state universities started on September 2 and lasted until 14 September 2020
• This year 162,364 bachelor's and 10,425 master's degrees have been allocated for study at the country's universities. 91 higher educational institutions accepted documents for admission to bachelor's degree from 1 million 484 thousand applicants, which is 39 percent more than last year. 10.6 people apply for one student place. 78 thousand 720 people applied for admission to the masters in 72 educational institutions, which is 3 times more than last year. https://kun.uz/ru/news/2020/08/06/v-uzbekistane-vstupitelnyye-ekzameny-v-vuzy-proydut-v-dve-smeny-na-otkrytyx-stadionax
• New Decree of President dated 13 June 2020 introducing unified school graduation and University entrance exams from 2021/2022
• Earlier this year, the STC published for discussion a draft presidential decree that provides for the introduction of a system of admission to universities based on the results of school graduation tests, without conducting additional exams.
• According to the project, it is proposed to introduce a unified exam from the academic year 2021/2022. Testing is planned in April-May 2021.

The Law on Education was signed off by the President of Uzbekistan on September 24 2020 https://www.gazeta.uz/ru/2020/09/24/education/ .

It describes in detail the types of education and forms of education, clarifies the powers of government agencies, defines key education principles and standards. The Law stipulates the legal status of teaching staff, guarantees of their activities, as well as responsibilities. In addition, it describes the rights and obligations of students, their parents and other legal representatives.

The Law talks about:

• roles and responsibilities of Ministries of education, state QA agency, the Agency for Presidential, specialised and creativity schools
• formal and inform education and different forms of it incl distance education, dual award, adult learning and inclusive education
• key education principles and standards
• education programmes, their modernisation and processes involved
• governance of education institutions and its new forms.

Specifically:

Chapter 10. International cooperation in the field of education

International cooperation of educational organizations

Educational organizations carry out international cooperation with the relevant educational institutions and organizations of foreign countries through:

• development of scientific and technical cooperation on education problems;
• creation of joint faculties, training centers and scientific laboratories;
• preparation of joint educational and research projects and programs of international level;
• implementation of joint fundamental and applied research projects;
• conducting scientific and practical seminars, conferences and symposia;
• exchange of students, masters, doctoral students, teachers and researchers;
• introduction of double degree programs (Double Diploma);
• other activities provided by law.

Educational organizations can carry out training in cooperation with educational institutions and organizations of foreign states in accordance with the law.

International cooperation in the field of education

International cooperation in the field of education is carried out in accordance with international treaties and legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Authorized government bodies in the field of education:

• cooperate with the relevant competent authorities, educational institutions of foreign states;
• send citizens permanently residing in the Republic of Uzbekistan for training in educational institutions of foreign states;
• exchange teachers and students;
• organize training, retraining and advanced training of management and teaching staff in foreign countries;
• send their employees and specialists to international conferences and internships, support their participation in international projects and scientific research.

The authorized bodies of state administration in the field of education may also carry out other measures to develop international cooperation in the field of education in accordance with the legislation.

Obtaining education abroad

• El Yurt Umidi foundation is planning to send 900 people abroad this year (700+200 civil servants). This is because government is in need of qualified people to run the country

Partnerships

• National development strategy 2017-2021: prioritises economic development and strong focus on capacity development and education
• New 2030 HE and Public Education development concepts published in 2019: relevance of education to meet country’s ambition, internationalisation and standards ( PISA)
• TNE and internationalization of HE is prioritized to widen access and ensure quality (dedicated Decrees being issued to offer preferential terms, 35 new HEIs set up with 18 being international universities affiliates)

  Investments: Government of Uzbekistan (GoU), international agencies, private 

• Public Education/Presidential schools development funding: Presidential schools being set up /Cambridge International – paid by GoU
• Public Education ministry/private investors – setting up International University for Education
• Private businesses have set up first private entrepreneurship university (TEAM) with LSBU (London South Bank), outcome of Creative Spark project in Uzbekistan
• WB, UNESCO, Swiss, KFW/GIZ considering Covid-response funds which may include education, e.g. (the World Bank approved $200 million in additional development policy financing to support Uzbekistan’s ongoing health, social, and economic policy responses to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic - http://projects.worldbank.org/P173948?lang=en).

Opportunities:

• Main area to highlight is GoU efforts to support education and welcome international HE’s
• Uzbekistan is a growing market for UK English language programmes, over the last two years the number of language centers and courses and foundation programmes with UK partners increased, short-term summer courses, foundation courses, and ELT online courses are all popular in the market.
• National Higher Education Reform Decree dated July 2017 requires all universities to teach at least one programme in English by 2020 thus creating demand for content and TNE partnership.
• TNE, products and services (WIUT, International University of Education, TEAM; Teaching materials - Macmillan, OUP, Pearson. System to System knowledge sharing and consultancies -e.g. Quality Assurance)

Number of Uzbek students going abroad for HE

• It is estimated around 80K students went abroad to study in 2020
• Most to Russia, China, Korea and Baltic states
• UK: HESA stats in 2018 – 200, 2019 – 230

Info we have on size of the market of those considering taking a TNE delivered course

• In 2019 survey showed that 15.4 % of pupil wanted to apply for foreign HEs in Uzbekistan. That is 164,306 pupils

Contact

For more information and insights about the COVID-19 situation in Uzbekistan, please contact Shukhrat Amanov, Country Projects Manager, British Council Uzbekistan at Shukhrat.amanov@britishcouncil.or

 

Read the previous Wider Europe Covid-19 update