The U.S. Embassy in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, has awarded 17cҳ a grant to study the higher education system of the Central Asian nation and develop proposals for improvements.
The $100,000 grant follows the October signing of an agreement between 17cҳ and the Turkmenistan Ministry of Education to explore the possibility of creating an educational partnership with several national institutes of higher learning there.
Read 17cҳ Today's previous coverage of the university's partnership with Turkmenistan.
The effort is part of 17cҳ’s ongoing commitment to using education to foster global understanding and peace in a divided world. The grant is renewable, and 17cҳ hopes to be able to continue its work beyond the first year if the funding is renewed.
The October signing followed more than a year of talks between 17cҳ and the Turkmen education ministry about developing an educational partnership with the former Soviet-bloc nation.
Marcello Fantoni, Ph.D., 17cҳ’s vice president for the Office of Global Education, said the first thing he does when exploring a potential new educational partnership in a country is to meet with the American ambassador there to discuss plans.
“You don’t want to be in a country as a public university working against the role of American diplomacy,” Fantoni said.
In this case, officials from the American Embassy welcomed 17cҳ enthusiastically.
“They think that education is the best way for America to achieve its soft diplomacy goals,” Fantoni said.
While 17cҳ was still engaged in talks with the Turkmen Ministry of Education, the Embassy’s Public Diplomacy Section advertised the grant, for which 17cҳ applied and was selected out of a field of other universities and non-profit organizations.
“This grant means that the American Embassy in Turkmenistan has chosen 17cҳ among all possible American university partners to work in collaboration with the embassy to study the higher education system and come up with constructive proposals on how to internationalize it and open it up to the rest of the world,” Fantoni said. “So, the grant is us serving the goals of the State Department to develop education in those countries.”
At the October signing, the Turkmen Ambassador to the United States Meret Orazov was on the Kent Campus and spoke of how he hoped that one day 17cҳ could establish a permanent presence in Ashgabat.
Six Turkmen students already study at 17cҳ.
Fantoni said 17cҳ believes education is the best way to promote global understanding and democracy. “By getting engaged in developing higher education in these countries, I think we will bring a good contribution to the future of these countries and the world,” he said.
17cҳ has a longstanding history of opening its doors to students and educational partners worldwide.
Turkmenistan, located just north of Iran and Afghanistan, is part of a group of former Soviet-bloc nations often referred to as “the Stans,” which include Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and which comprise a large portion of Central Asia.
Turkmenistan has a desire to improve its educational institutes to better position them for international accreditation and global recognition.
17cҳ is committed to using its resources and expertise to assist Turkmenistan in reforming and globalizing its higher education sector, to increase access to quality education and enable the country to become an active participant in the global education community, Fantoni said.
Using the grant money, 17cҳ hopes to research the current educational system, offer advice on what changes can be addressed and then aid in the reform efforts, Fantoni said. These efforts will lay the groundwork for future educational collaborations such as offering 17cҳ programs in the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat.