Nordic International University – human capital and business development platform for Nordic countries established in Tashkent

Despite the global coronavirus pandemic, a lot has been achieved in education cooperation between Finland and Uzbekistan in 2020–2022.

Uzbekistan is undergoing major reforms in the education sector. In his speech to education officials in October 2020, the President of Uzbekistan emphasised the importance of utilising Finland’s experience in reforms. Thanks to the active support of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, the Finnish National Agency for Education and other Finnish educational organisations, dozens of webinars and trainings for education authorities, university and school teachers were organised in Uzbekistan in 2021 by Finland’s leading education experts.

SDG Booster launched cooperation between Karelia University of Applied Sciences and Uzbek universities

The breakthrough in cooperation took place in September-November 2021, when Finnartnership organized three consecutive seminars for Uzbekistan educational organizations, “SDG Booster on Education for Uzbekistan”. The seminars were carried out in cooperation with the Education Quality Control Agency of the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan and more than 100 public and private organizations and companies from Uzbekistan and Finland participated.
The SDG Booster seminar launched active cooperation between Uzbek educational institutions and Karelia University of Applied Sciences. In December 2021, Karelia University of Applied Sciences and Kokand University of Uzbekistan signed a cooperation agreement, and in January 2022, five tuition-paying students from Kokand University started a year-long exchange program at Karelia University of Applied Sciences. During spring 2022, Karelia University of Applied Sciences also agreed on cooperation with Samarkand State University, Bukhara State University and Karshi State University of Uzbekistan. In May 2022, the visit of the Karelia University of Applied Sciences delegation to Uzbekistan received a lot of local media attention. During the discussions, the Education Quality Control Agency of the Uzbekistan Cabinet of Ministers asked Karelia University of Applied Sciences to support Uzbekistan’s reform process in the higher education sector by bringing the best Finnish experiences to the development of Uzbekistan’s education system.

Nordic International University brings Finnish companies and educational institutions to Uzbekistan.

All the above-mentioned cooperation efforts accelerated the idea of establishing a unique education cluster in Uzbekistan together with Finnish partners.
Nordic International University will be a new, innovative and comprehensive educational cluster based on Finnish and Nordic expertise in education. The aim of the initiative is to create a modern education cluster in Tashkent, covering all levels of education, from pre-school to university.

Nordic International University’s partners include Finnish companies, educational institutions and one non-governmental organisation: Karelia Professional Experimental School, Helsingin Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu, NOKIA, ISKU, Solar Finland, DiDacTec, Pedagogical Star Lessons and Finnish Water Forum.

The most important strategic partner is Karelia University of Applied Sciences, which produces degree programmes and brings know-how related to leadership and teacher education to the project. Finnish companies offer solutions related to, for example, teaching facilities or electricity, and some companies and organisations offer internship opportunities to students.

The official opening of Nordic International University will take place on 7.9.2022 during the visit of a high-level Finnish education delegation to Uzbekistan. Nordic International University invites representatives of Finnish and Nordic higher education institutions, companies and organisations to explore the opportunities offered by Uzbekistan and Central Asia as a whole in the education sector.

More information: Alisher Juraev, PhD
Honorary Consul of Finland
finconsulate.tashkent@gmail.com

Original text: Nordic International University – a modern and innovative human capital and business development platform for Finland and other Nordic countries established in Tashkent – Finnpartnership