THE STATE’S APPROACH TO HIGHER EDUCATION IN TURKMENISTAN: COMPARATIVE HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE DEVELOPMENT STAGES

Aim . To identify the specific details of the historical stages of Turkmenistan’s state strategy for reforming higher education. Methodology. The author has conducted a qualitative analysis of regulatory legal acts and statistical data and conducted an expert survey. Results. The two stages have been distinguished in the political history of the development of state policy in the sphere of higher education in Turkmenistan. Their features are determined by the personal preferences of the presidents. The first stage is the period of S. Niyazov’s power in 1991–2006 which is characterized by the strengthening of negative features that developed in the late Soviet period: strict centralization, closed nature of higher education for most citizens, which occur against the background of a general decline. The second stage is the period of G. Berdimuhamedov and his son S. Berdimuhamedov’s power; it is characterized by a relative rise of higher education, its formation into a compact model that meets the interests of the ruling group, as well as the formation of a relatively clear course towards internationalization and orientation towards the standards and principles of the Bologna process. At the same time, strict centralization and closed nature of higher education remain. Research implications consist in conceptual generalization of new data on higher education in Turkmenistan, recommendations for optimizing higher education in Turkmenistan, and the author’s forecast for the further development of the higher education system in Turkmenistan.