Ministers responsible for education in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have held a roundtable in Ashgabat on strengthening regional cooperation around multilingual education. The meeting on 22 October brought together government delegations, representatives of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and international experts.
Its agenda ranged from language competences and teaching methods to the practical systems that support learning in more than one language. Discussions covered curriculum development, the preparation of teaching and learning materials, the assessment of pupils’ progress and the professional development of teachers. Early-childhood and primary education were also identified as areas where participants could explore closer regional work.
Delegates also compared national experience of teaching and learning across multiple languages.
Different national approaches in one regional forum
The meeting was framed as a place for governments to compare their own experience rather than as an attempt to impose a single model on six education systems. Participants considered international approaches to multilingual teaching alongside questions of how such approaches might fit national circumstances.
Tajikistan’s education and science minister, Rahim Saidzoda, used the roundtable to set out his country’s approach to language learning. His presentation placed emphasis on strengthening the state language, respecting mother tongues and widening opportunities to learn foreign languages. That combination illustrates why multilingual education is wider than the teaching of one additional subject: it can involve the language of instruction, the materials used in class, teacher preparation and the way learning is assessed.
The shared agenda also included the development of language skills and the quality of educational programmes. Delegates discussed effective methodologies for multilingual teaching, relevant classroom resources and assessment mechanisms. These are connected issues. A new teaching approach needs suitable materials and trained staff, while assessments need to reflect what pupils have been taught and the languages in which they are expected to demonstrate their learning.
Teacher development and early learning in focus
Professional capacity was a recurring element of the discussion. The roundtable considered opportunities for teacher-development programmes, including the exchange of experience between participating countries. It also examined cooperation in early-childhood and primary education, when children begin to encounter formal learning structures and, in some settings, more than one language of instruction.
On the margins of the gathering, Turkmenistan’s education minister, Jumamyrat Gurbangeldiyev, met Uzbekistan’s deputy education and science minister, Ilhom Tohirovich Sirajev. Their bilateral discussion covered academic mobility, short-term placements, digital solutions and teacher training. The two sides expressed interest in further contact between education authorities and institutions. Separate exchanges involving the Tajik delegation were also held alongside the roundtable.
Discussion rather than a binding regional scheme
The immediate result was an exchange of national experience and an exploration of possible cooperation. No common curriculum, funding package or implementation timetable was announced. That boundary matters: the meeting did not create a single regional education policy or establish that new teaching programmes are already under way in classrooms.
Its significance lies instead in the fact that ministers and specialists discussed the practical building blocks of multilingual education together, from teacher preparation and materials to methods and assessment. Any common projects, formal agreements or changes to national systems would require later decisions by the relevant authorities. For now, the Ashgabat roundtable has set out areas in which the six countries may seek further cooperation while leaving the substance, resources and timing of any future initiatives open.
