DUSHANBE, August 18, 2010, Asia-Plus — The Ministry of Education (MoE) has given its view on revoking the academic license of the Institute of Innovative Technology and Communication (IITC) in response to a letter by a number of foreign missions over the MoE actions to revoke IITC’s license.
The MoE notes that the IITC’s academic license was revoked by decision of the Dushanbe Economic Court and that decision was upheld by appeals courts of the Dushanbe Economic Court and the Supreme Economic Court of Tajikistan.
The decision was made within the framework of Tajikistan’s Constitution and on the basis of the country’s laws on education and licensing of certain types of activities, following an application by the MoE, the MoE letter says.
The MoE assures that revoking the IITC’s license will not affect the IITC students and teachers. The students will be transferred to other Tajik universities and the teachers will also be placed in jobs with other higher educational institutions. According to the MoE, they have already received more than 50 applications from the IITC students for transfer to other universities.
Besides, the ministry considers that the issue of revoking the academic license of IITC is not connected with the investment climate in the country. The MoE also noted that earlier, academic licenses of branches of six Russian higher educational institutions had been revoked because they had failed to meet with Tajikistan’s university standards. “This issue was solved within the framework of Tajikistan’s legislation without any negative consequences,” the letter by the MoE said.
We will recall that on December 3, 2009, the Ministry of Education applied to the economic court, asking to revoke IITC”s license because it failed to meet the ministry”s standards. On July 27, the Supreme Economic Court of Tajikistan handed down a ruling that rejected IITC”s appeal.
On August 6, Kenneth E. Gross, Jr., Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Tajikistan, Ambassador Eduard Auer, Head of Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Tajikistan, Trevor Charles Moore, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the Republic of Tajikistan, Doris Hertrampf, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Republic of Tajikistan, and Grégoire Chilovsky, Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of France to the Republic of Tajikistan released a letter to the government, in which they expressed concern about the MoE’s actions to revoke the academic license of the Institute of Innovative Technology and Communication, a private higher education institution.
“We are concerned that the Ministry of Education has revoked IITC”s license without presenting clear grounds. To our knowledge, the Ministry has not presented significant examples of standards that IITC failed to meet. IITC has on the contrary earned a reputation for academic excellence as an incubator of ideas where students have the opportunity to be exposed to a range of academic views. Because of IITC”s reputation for producing high-performing students, the Ministry’s failure to adequately explain its actions gives reasons for concern. The courts” handling of the case raises serious questions about transparency, due process, and the rule of law.”
The closure of IITC would substantially reduce the opportunities for young people to receive higher education in Tajikistan and it also could increase the incentive for young Tajiks to emigrate and seek education abroad, the foreign missions said, noting that the closure of a private institute for unclear reasons could have a chilling effect on the investment climate not only in the education sector. “At a time when the government is seeking greater assistance from donors in the education sector, we call on the government to thoroughly review the IITC case and ensure that Tajikistan”s students are not deprived of educational opportunities.”
