The Turkmen Delegation Held Meetings with Leading Global Education Partners at the Education World Forum 2025 in London

London, 19 May 2025 — On the first day of the Education World Forum 2025, the delegation of the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan held a series of important bilateral meetings with representatives of leading international educational organizations and technology companies. These meetings reflect Turkmenistan’s active participation in the global education dialogue and are aimed at expanding strategic cooperation to modernize the national education system.

Times Higher Education (THE): Integration into the Global Academic Community

During the meeting with Nick Davis, President for the Middle East and Africa at Times Higher Education (THE) — a globally recognized authority in academic rankings — the parties discussed ways to expand the participation of Turkmen universities in the international academic ecosystem. THE annually publishes global university rankings based on key performance indicators such as research output, international engagement, teaching quality, and graduate employability.

It was emphasized that Turkmen universities are actively working to improve efficiency by introducing internal monitoring systems. In particular, the Center for Innovation Information of the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan has developed a digital platform that enables real-time tracking of university performance across the country, including the ability to analyze the outcomes of faculties, departments, and individual instructors. As a result, over the past five years, the number of publications by faculty members of Turkmen universities in indexed scientific journals has increased more than 95 times, serving as a strong indicator of the growing scientific potential of the country.

Special attention was given to the ongoing development of Turkmenistan’s Higher Education Development Strategy through 2052. THE acknowledged that the methodology used in Turkmenistan aligns with international best practices and expressed readiness to share research and experiences from other countries related to long-term higher education strategy development.

THE highly praised Turkmenistan’s achievements in quality-focused higher education management, based on evidence and performance metrics that reflect academic and research excellence. The organization expressed its willingness to support Turkmenistan’s strategy to enhance global competitiveness, including through webinars, analytical consultations, and training programs on university assessment and international positioning.

Pearson: International Knowledge Validation and Digital Platforms

A productive meeting was also held with Arek Jaworski, Director for Education in Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS at Pearson — the world’s leading provider of educational content and international certification, cooperating with over 75 governments and thousands of educational institutions globally.

It was noted that Turkmenistan is increasingly focused on international certificates as objective indicators of validated knowledge among students and educators. The parties discussed the practices of Pearson VUE testing centers in various countries and their contribution to improving education quality. Pearson also provided information on the implementation of digital educational resources, diagnostic platforms, and international-standard teacher training programs.

The Pearson VUE representative proposed launching a series of pilot projects aimed at certifying foreign language proficiency and ICT competencies among educators, to demonstrate the effectiveness of the international certification system.

Google for Education: A Digital Learning Ecosystem

A meeting was also held with Chris Harte, representative of Google for Education, a global leader providing schools and universities with digital tools in more than 190 countries.

The Deputy Minister of Education of Turkmenistan highlighted that, on the initiative and under the patronage of the President of Turkmenistan, all first-grade students are annually gifted laptops, and that a whole generation has now completed schooling from the first grade in a fully digital environment — a unique example of early technological integration.

Google representatives shared their vision for a creative approach to integrating computing into the educational process and presented solutions for building a digital learning environment where each student is an active participant — from engaging with AI-powered tools to benefiting from personalized learning analytics.

Special attention was given to Chromebooks — not just computers, but a system based on the installation of the cloud-based ChromeOS operating system. ChromeOS can be installed on any existing computer and, thanks to the fact that all computing takes place on Google’s cloud servers rather than locally, it ensures fast and stable performance regardless of brand or device specifications. As noted, this model is ideally suited for educational institutions, offering accessibility, security, and centralized management. Each device can thus be transformed into a full-fledged digital learning tool at minimal cost.

Google expressed its readiness to organize training programs and provide technical support. The parties also discussed the potential of centralized device management and monitoring student activity by educational institutions.

Coursera: Online Learning and Outcome Analysis

In a meeting with Evghenia Iarina, Executive Director for Government Partnerships at Coursera — a global online learning platform working with more than 300 universities and companies, specific proposals for collaboration were discussed. Coursera shared research highlighting the platform’s impact on education quality and graduate employability across different countries and institutions.

Discussions also included opportunities for content localization and integration of Coursera’s learning analytics into national education planning. Coursera expressed its willingness to provide data and research findings that could help develop methodological recommendations for creating effective digital educational content.

Overall, the meetings confirmed the strong interest of international partners in cooperating with Turkmenistan and supporting its position in the global education landscape. The discussed initiatives are aligned with the strategic goals of Turkmenistan to develop human capital, accelerate the digitalization of education, and build a resilient national model based on quality and international standards.

Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan