Kyrgyz Schools Look to Parents for Funds

Critics say forcing parents to pay will mean fewer children go to school.

Kyrgyz Schools Look to Parents for Funds

Critics say forcing parents to pay will mean fewer children go to school.

Friday, 2 October, 2009
Kyrgyz state schools faced with a funding shortfall are finding ways of extracting money from parents, which risks making education less accessible to children from poor families, campaign groups and parents say.



“Year by year the education system in Kyrgyzstan is becoming less accessible,” said Nazgul Turdubekova, the head of the public foundation the League of Protectors of Children’s Rights.



Out of 93 state secondary schools in the capital Bishkek, 24 have raised their status to selective, fee-based “gymnazia”, which unlike ordinary schools offer classes with a focus on selected subjects. They promise parents better conditions for their offspring – smaller class sizes, better qualified teachers and more popular morning sessions.



“It is no secret that nowadays parents want to send their children to prestigious schools. Their administrations are well aware of this fact and come up with various rules and conditions such as introductory fees, voluntary contributions and tests,” Turdubekovas said.



Schools in Kyrgyzstan are allowed to charge if what they offer is of a higher quality than standard teaching but school administrators are coming up with new ideas for topping up their funding that do not represent value for money, campaigners say.



Turdubekova said the problem is spreading as ordinary schools start to introduce fees and entry examinations, “At the moment we are talking about hundreds of children but in future this trend would mean that thousands could be left without access to education,” she said.



Rights activists say that the children most affected come from low-income families and those who have migrated to Bishkek from other mostly rural regions of Kyrgyzstan in search of jobs. They say a growing disparity between rich and poor in the country is being replicated in the state education system.



The Kyrgyz education ministry has acknowledged in its strategy for 2007-2010 that the tendency towards commercialisation is undermining the government’s efforts to guarantee equal access to education for all and dividing pupils on the basis of income and social status.



The most frequently used ways of getting parents to pay is to ask for an introductory fee and donations. Sometimes schools sell uniforms which some parents say are more expensive than those elsewhere.



The introductory fee is set by school administrations and can vary from 45 US dollars in some schools to more than 400 dollars in the gymnazia.



Families face a tough choice; if they cannot pay, their child is unable to attend the school or they borrow money and get into debt.



The Aitbaev family (not their real name) in Bishkek was forced to pay an introductory fee of 50 dollars to secure a place for their teenage daughter Elya at a local school. The parents were also expected to make monthly donations of seven dollars. As a low income family, the Aitbaevs had to borrow money in order not to lose the place.



The deputy director of the school, Anatoliya Prokushkina, defended the fees, saying that the school would not survive without them. “This year only 10,000 dollars were allocated for the school’s needs. That was only enough to replace the linoleum.”



Many parents dread school meetings, knowing that they will be asked for donations, Turdubekova said.



Lydia Maximova, a teacher at a Bishkek school, said parents were happy to pay because the money was put to good use, “We use money collected from parents for renovation work on the school building, on improving the appearance of the school grounds and on creating better conditions for children.”



Turdubekova said she was concerned that pressure is sometimes put on the children of parents who have not made a donation, “Security officers who are supposed to protect the children keep them out so many children miss schooling for months.



“School administrations then use the excuse of the child falling behind to force them out.”



The same can happen if children come to school without a uniform because their families cannot afford it.



The school in the village of Jany Jer, 60 kilometres from Bishkek, offered uniforms for 16 dollars. Parents who spoke to IWPR said that school representatives indicated that if they did not pay, their children would have problems attending lessons. Turdubekova said the uniforms were made of cheap, synthetic fabric and were not worth more than eight dollars.



A school spokesman insisted that it was not compulsory to buy the uniform from the school but referred to an instruction from the local education department that wearing a uniform is mandatory.



Some clearly resist the trend. One Bishkek parent, Gulnara Bolotbek Kyzy (not her real name), said that she paid 28 dollars for her daughter’s uniform, “I was the only one among the parents who bought it.”



Turdubekova complained of a lack of transparency and accountability in the management of funds accumulated by school administrations, “Parents are allowed to audit spending but very often school administrations misuse this provision.”



Prokushkina said that at her school there is no problem over accountability and the school administration organises meetings twice a year to report how the money has been spent.



“These funds go not into our own pockets but to improve technical and material provision for the school,” Prokushkina said.



Teacher Lydia Maximova said that at her school “all funds are spent legally”.



Some parent and activists say entry exams used at some schools, mostly at gymnasia, are an unfair system of selection.



“Very often it is because of testing that many children cannot go to the school they want. This is typical of gymnasia that hand-pick ‘the chosen ones’, which violates their right to equal access to education,” said a mother who wished to remain anonymous.



The children of migrants to the capital encounter additional problems, often being rejected by schools because the family have not formally registered as residents of Bishkek.



Rights activists say that wider public debate on the issue is needed and all interested parties – the ministry, parents, school administrations and non-governmental organisations – should work together to tackle it.



According to Elena Voronina, director of an NGO network that protects the interests of children, the media’s help is needed to raise awareness, “If journalists reported more often about [educational] rights and duties, about possible solutions, it would help to mobilise parents.”



Turdubekova says that parents should be more proactive and report obstacles they encounter in securing a place for their children. She said that unfortunately parents’ usual response is to move the child to another school, though this often does not solve the problem.



She also called for migrants’ children to be treated the same way as those from other families.



The coordinator of the Women’s Political Discussion Club, Kalichi Umuralieva, said the authorities should act to stop corruption in schools, “One way of doing it is to introduce corporate methods of management and set up board of directors at each school.”



She believes this would ensure that directors are made accountable for the funds collected from parents.
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