EF has been investing in institutes of higher education since it launched its operations fifteen years ago. In Kazakhstan, Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia (EFCA) launched a Masters of Science in Environmental Management and Engineering (MSEME), which produced its first graduates in June 2007. All nine of these graduates promptly gained employment in their field of training in both the private sector and public service. This program continues to attract high quality students and recently received funding for seven extra scholarships from the Ministry of Education (bringing the total number of currently enrolled students to 36). Complemented by internships, the program is building a sustainable and reputable base for forming specialists to help address the country’s environmental challenges long into the future.
In Kyrgyzstan, EFCA has started helping universities address the issues of governance and corruption. With support from the OSCE, EFCA works with various universities throughout the country to identify possible mechanisms for improving governance and financial transparency. A series of forums and conferences helped raise public awareness of these issues. Two universities, Naryn State University and the Bishkek Academy of Finance and Economics, have been awarded small grants to pursue projects that will create mechanisms to improve governance and transparency of Kyrgyzstan’s universities and colleges.
In Azerbaijan, Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF) implements a program to increase public participation in the management of secondary schools and their funds. Since 2006, EPF has been working with two local organizations, BUTA and Bilik, to develop a model of public involvement in school management, transparent receipt and expenditure of extra-budgetary funds and the practice of financial planning. Recently, the World Bank requested that EPF install this model into several of the pilot schools engaged in their national education reform program. This created a unique opportunity for EPF to carve out a niche within the World Bank’s larger reform program, thereby contributing to a nation-wide process of educational reform. In one school, EPF assisted with the creation of an $18,000 extra-budgetary fund collected by parents, which was put in a commercial bank. The interest from this fund is being used to pay for academic and physical improvements at the school.
One of the Foundation’s greatest accomplishments is the creation of the Economics Education and Research Consortium (EERC), a multilateral donor initiative to modernize economics education and research in Ukraine. In 1996, EERC established a two-year English-language Master’s program in economics, taught in accordance with international standards. EERC became an independent organization in 2003, and has grown into the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), offering an international caliber Master’s degree program. KSE plans to join the Institute of International Business to create the Kyiv School of Economics and Business. Alumni and faculty continue to be sought-after experts in the field of economics and publish high quality international peer-reviewed academic journals, including Southern Economic Journal, the Journal of Economic Theory and the Journal of Economic Perspectives. In June 2007, forty students successfully defended their theses, contributing to a grand total of 367 graduates since 1998.
In Russia, the New Eurasia Foundation (FNE) supports a variety of education programs that work to increase the competitiveness of regional universities; improve the quality of vocational education; and expand dialogue between parents, educators and community members.
