Majority and Minority Tongues: Multilingual Education and Its Discontents in Central Asia – The Case study of Kyrgyzstan

Abstract

This MA thesis discusses the current status of multilingual education (MLE) in Kyrgyzstan looking at the historical development of this concept in the country, successes, failures and obstacles to the introduction of this practice into the education system of the country. Specifically, this study examines a pilot project on multilingual education run by CIMERA, a Swiss non-governmental organization (NGO), since 2000. The study seeks to answer the following questions: was the CIMERA MLE pilot project successful and are the kindergartens and primary schools in the country currently following the MLE system? The study tests the following hypothesis: despite considerable efforts and international support, MLE in Kyrgyzstan has not become a common practice due to a combination of several factors, namely lack of national ownership of the idea and its implementation, lack of social demand for MLE, and lack of political commitment on the part of both the government and donors.