Kyrgyzstan Education Profile 2012

Public expenditure on education has remained between 3% and 4% of GDP, close to 20% of the government’s budget, while public expenditure on research and development is less than 1% of GDP. Underfunding, especially in research and development, which is still not fully a priority area, is the most serious problem. While school enrollment, especially primary school enrollment, is at fairly high level according to various reports, the country’s economic difficulties have strained investment by the state and by families on education and R&D. However, private, independent institutions are generally free in their operations; with the exception of irregular impediments such as corruption or an inflexible bureaucracy, private institutions have been growing.