Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the transformation of Tajikistan’s higher education system has been characterized by institutional expansion and growing enrollment. Moreover, Tajikistan has taken steps to align with some trends in the European Higher Education Area, despite the absence of a membership perspective. However, difficulties regarding employability of graduates and outmigration of young people pose important obstacles for the future of the state-controlled higher education system.

Tajikistan offers an interesting case to explore the intersection of domestic and international influences on higher education systems in post-Soviet states. The higher education system of the former Soviet republic Tajikistan has been influenced by a complex set of historical, political, and economic factors. The first formal higher education institutions in this Central Asian state were established during the Soviet period, and higher education was linked to the demands of the command economy. However, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the environment for the higher education system changed fundamentally. Tajikistan was hit by a civil war (1992-1997) and an economic crisis—developments that also created difficult circumstances for the higher education system and institutions. Simultaneously, the formation of Tajikistan as a newly independent state resulted in new requirements towards the higher education system. Against this backdrop, the article outlines selected developments of Tajikistan’s higher education system in the post-Soviet period.

Expansion of the Higher Education System

First, when analyzing the trajectory of Tajikistan’s higher education system, a substantial expansion and differentiation of the higher education landscape can be observed. According to the data provided by the national agency for statistics (TAJSTAT), in the academic year 1991-1992, 13 higher education institutions (HEIs) were located in this Central Asian republic. Over the next three decades a considerable expansion took place, and in the academic year 2021-2022, 41 HEIs were recorded by TAJSTAT. Moreover, the academic offer was revised, for instance in business and economics. However, a feature that stands out in comparison to many other former Soviet republics is the current nonexistence of a private higher education sector in Tajikistan. With the “Law on Higher and Professional Education” (1993), private HEIs were allowed to enter the market but a shift away from private higher education followed in the next decade. In sum, the system of higher education is currently characterized by a high degree of state control, a feature that is also reflected in the governance arrangements at the system level and at the institutional level. According to TAJSTAT data for 2021-2022, the main language of instruction at HEIs is Tajik (81.3 percent), followed by Russian (16.8 percent).

A second major development in Tajikistan’s higher education system concerns the number of enrolled students. It has more than tripled since independence. According to TAJSTAT, in the academic year 1991-1992, there were 69,300 students in the country. Following a period of high growth rates in the 2000s, 239,500 students were enrolled in Tajikistan in the academic year 2021-2022. However, the gross enrollment ratio (GER) for tertiary education remained lower than in many other post-Soviet states. The UNESCO Institute for Statistics reports a GER of 31.1 percent for Tajikistan in 2017 (the latest year for which data is currently available). Additionally, HEIs have been struggling with increasing difficulties to recruit students in recent years. According to local media reports, the number of enrolled students has remained below expectations in the academic years 2022-2023 and 2023-2024. This development was explained with a decreasing number of school graduates, increasing emigration of young people from Tajikistan and changing regulations regarding military service.

Toward the Bologna Process?

Moreover, the transition of university graduates to the labor market remains a challenge in Tajikistan. Studies have hinted at various underlying factors, referring, for example, to skills mismatches between graduate qualifications and demands on the labor market; obstacles related to the academic offer (e.g., content of curricula, didactical approaches, available resources at HEIs), and difficult conditions on the labor market (e.g., lack of adequate jobs, low salaries). Consequently, many graduates are not able to find a job in their area of specialization. These challenging conditions have fueled outmigration and brain drain. Related skills mismatches were also identified in findings of the recent Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education project TRIGGER (2021-2024). The project focused on practical measures to support entrepreneurship education and the employability of graduates in Central Asia, involving HEIs from different parts of Tajikistan as well as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Finally, Tajikistan’s higher education system has been influenced by the Bologna Process and the related European Higher Education Area (EHEA), which are promoted by the European Union. While Tajikistan is not a member of the Bologna Process and the EHEA, it has declared a European vector in its higher education policy. The country has implemented structural reforms towards a three-cycle system of bachelor, master, and PhD as well as the adoption of the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS). The National Strategy for Education Development of the Republic of Tajikistan for the Period until 2030 aims to promote “integration into the European higher education environment” and refers to the Bologna Process several times. The policy document of 2020 stipulates that “the government of the Republic of Tajikistan is currently actively pursuing to join the Bologna Declaration.” The European Union has supported related higher education reforms in Tajikistan through funding programs such as Tempus and Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education, resulting in collaborations between HEIs from the European Union and Tajikistan. However, the actual adoption of Bologna principles in Tajikistan remains uneven, and EHEA membership prospects are vague.

Questions for the Future

In conclusion, this brief overview reveals that Tajikistan’s higher education system has been influenced by a complex set of domestic and international factors. The case of this Central Asian republic illustrates that higher education systems cannot be viewed in isolation from their environment. Recent developments also raise important questions for the future of the higher education system. For example, internally, it remains to be seen how the state-controlled higher education system will be able to deal with increasing pressures of student recruitment, brain drain and difficulties in the relationship between higher education and the world of work. Externally, the question arises whether Tajikistan will follow-up on the declared rapprochement with the Bologna Process and the EHEA. Russia—traditionally an important reference point for Tajikistan’s higher education system—was suspended from the EHEA in 2022 after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and stated its intention to depart from the Bologna Process. Over time, this may reduce Tajikistan’s interest in the Bologna Process, too.

Moreover, EHEA values like academic freedom and institutional autonomy are constrained in Tajikistan, as reported for example in the 2023 Academic Freedom Index. This indicates the limitations of the declared orientation towards the Bologna Process and the impact of domestic politics on the higher education system. At the international level, Tajikistan seeks to deepen ties with powers like Russia and China beyond the EHEA, i.e., with states that are aiming to strengthen their influence in Central Asia and are competing with other international actors, such as the European Union. The increased international competition between major powers in recent years has exacerbated the geopoliticization of higher education cooperation.

Johannes Wetzinger is coordinator of EU projects and lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna, Austria. E-mail: [email protected].

Disclaimer: The Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education project “Triggering Innovative Approaches and Entrepreneurial Skills for Students through Creating Conditions for Sraduate’s Employability in Central Asia” (TRIGGER) has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Project Number: 617309-EPP-1-2020-1-SK-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP.