Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan – On December 4, 2009, a conference on student loans took place in the Hyatt Regency Hotel. This conference was part of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Student Loans project implemented by the Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia (EFCA) in cooperation with the Bishkek Business Club and the Academy for Higher Education.

The aim of the conference was to discuss different ways of introducing student loans into Kyrgyzstan. The conference was attended by students, representatives of institutions of higher education, businessmen and representatives of loans companies.

Participants of the conference were informed about the different ways of assessing the quality of education, placements and the mentoring system. They were also presented with the results of the research on students and their parents’ needs in the sphere of student loans. Loans companies also presented their student products, illustrating the favorable terms of the loans and the basic interest rates.

“The “Student Loans” project is particularly beneficial to all of the people it touches: to students and their parents, to graduates and their employers as well as to the institutions of higher education and government organizations themselves. This project will help institutions of higher education maintain economic stability and healthy competition as well as to build links with the job market and potential employers,” said Zholdosh Sydykov, the Director of Career Centre for the Naryn State University.

USAID set up an insurance foundation for loans through the Agency for the Development of Loans as part of the “Student Loans” project. This agency will cover 50% of the insurance for student loans and two loans companies will give out the loans: the Kyrgyz Investment-Credit Bank (KICB) and Companion. In turn EFCA will pick the institutions who will take part in the “Student Loans” project, taking into consideration the needs of the job market and the quality of education given. As well as this, the project will help to bring together employers and institutions of education in order to introduce and develop careers centers.

“Student loans will help me receive a higher education without worrying about not having enough money for my studies,” says Aiman Arymbekova, a Management and Tourism student at the Academy of Tourism and one of the first students to receive a student loan from KICB through the “Student Loans” project.

In the current economic climate many Kyrgyz students are coming up against difficulties when it comes to paying for their education. The “Student Loans” project will give them the opportunity to pay for their education after graduating from university.