On 22 October 2026, a roundtable involving the education ministers of Central Asian countries and Mongolia was held in Ashgabat. The meeting focused on strengthening regional cooperation in education, promoting multilingual learning and improving access to quality education for all children.

According to Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Education, the meeting in Ashgabat continued the intergovernmental dialogue launched in Tashkent in 2006. It also supports regional cooperation under the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities’ Central Asian Education Programme, which has been implemented since 2012.

The platform aims to facilitate the exchange of educational experience, support learning opportunities for linguistic minorities and strengthen understanding between different ethnic groups.

During the meeting, Nadira Zhusupbekova, Deputy Minister of Education of Kyrgyzstan, presented a report entitled “Developing Regional Cooperation and Quality Education through Multilingual Approaches.” She introduced Kyrgyzstan’s experience in multilingual education and the teaching models used in the country.

According to the Kyrgyz side, linguistic diversity is an important social and cultural asset. Multilingual education helps improve students’ learning outcomes, promote the state language and create equal opportunities for education.

Kyrgyzstan put forward three key initiatives to advance regional cooperation. These include exchanging teacher-training programmes, establishing a shared digital library featuring bilingual and multimedia learning resources, and improving methods for collecting and analysing education-related data.

The proposals are expected to be implemented with support from the OSCE, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and other international partners.

Experts believe these initiatives could help improve the quality of education in Central Asian countries and Mongolia, expand learning opportunities and promote inclusive and accessible education.