Improving the quality and accessibility of education in the Issyk-Kul province of Kyrgyzstan
Did you know that a child's speech disorders must be corrected before s/he starts school? This is important so a child can study on an equal footing with classmates and maintain good academic performance.
Meerim Abdykadyrova from the city of Cholpon-Ata, Issyk-Kul province, has four children and one of them has a speech disorder. This prompted the woman to study speech therapy. “In 2017, after analysing the area, I realized that there was not a single speech therapist in the entire Issyk-Kul district,” says Meerim.
Issyk-Kul district is one of the longest districts in the country - 192 km. “We need inclusive centres because the nearest ones are located hundreds of kilometers away, and it is very expensive for parents to travel and undergo a therapy with their children,” says Meerim. Usually, mothers have to quit their jobs and leave the rest of the family behind in order to take their child to an accessible speech therapy centre. Rarely parents have enough resources and time to do so, because speech disorders cannot be corrected in one day; it is a long and meticulous process that takes at least 3 months and up to 1-2 years. It’s imperative to work with each child individually.
The local speech therapy centre operates on the basis of the private elementary school "Birinchi Mugalim", where Meerim has been the director since 2014. “Our family often moved from town to town for my husband’s work,” says Meerim, “and since 2014 we have been settled in Cholpon-Ata.” Of course, it is not easy for a mother of four, of whom the youngest one is 10 months old, to be an entrepreneur and take care of house chores, routine motherhood and the school’s development. Notably, Meerim currently is on maternity leave, yet she is still working almost full-time.
The woman entrepreneur is always looking for ways to improve her business. Thus, in 2021, she learned via social networks about the programme “Economic Empowerment of Women in the Issyk-Kul Province” coordinated by the local Entrepreneurship Support Center (ESC), which was launched and works with the support of the OSCE. After an intense competition Meerim was selected for the programme, and with the ESC consultants’ support she developed and implemented her business plan. Based on the business plan, the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek purchased the requested equipment for the “Birinchi Mugalim” school for a total sum of 2,700 euros.
“Thanks to the support of the OSCE and the new equipment, the life of the school has become much easier,” Meerim said happily. To date, students of the school demonstrate great results. Studying mental arithmetic, language lessons and science has become significantly more exciting, generating more interest among students, and better facilitating the work of teachers. Meerim continues to work closely with ESC consultants, and regularly receives legal and business advice.
Since 2017 the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek has been supporting the development of SMEs across Kyrgyzstan. Notably, to date, the Programme Office helped establish and continues to support the operation of Entrepreneurship Support Centres in Batken, Osh, Djalal-Abad, Talas and Issyk-Kul provinces. In 2020-2021 on the basis of the two ESCs in Batken and Issyk-Kul provinces, the Programme Office has developed a women’s entrepreneurship support project, which has won the 2022 OSCE Gender Champion Award in the Best Initiative category. The Programme Office’s team remains committed to supporting the sustainable development of women's and men’s SMEs in the provinces of the host state.