BISHKEK: THE FIRST DAY OF THE FESTIVAL OF EDUCATION

On Saturday, April 13th, the first day of the Seventh Festival of Education was held at the American University of Central Asia, an event that gathered more than five thousand people. This year, the Festival was organized by the International Public Foundation „Roza Otunbayeva Initiative“, the City Hall of Bishkek and AUCA, with the support of UNESCO, the Soros Foundation-Kyrgyzstan, the KICB Bank and numerous state-run, educational, private organizations, as well as the media. 

In 2019, the festival’s first-day attendance record certainly surmounted that of previous years.

Throughout the day, more than 5000 participants ranging from high school pupils, university students and teachers from Bishkek schools visited AUCA to take part in the Festival’s events, more than 400 heads of educational organizations, computer science and English teachers assembled at some of the Festival’s professional stages such as round-table discussions, pedagogical workshops, the „Fair of Educational Services“ and the „Vocational Guidance Exhibition “. This day was also made possible by the generous help of the more than 100 volunteers. 

The event was officially declared open by the ex-President of the Kyrgyz Republic R.I. Otunbayeva, who emphasised in her speech: „Our task is to prepare the new generation for the smart usage of information digital technologies. Otherwise, our youth will reside on the sidelines of life, of civilization. And the education reform, quality education without the implementation of ICT and IT education is unthinkable.“ 

Having officially commenced, the Festival grounds awakened with the entrance of avid partakers.

Throughout the day, hundreds of guests - particularly young people, schoolchildren and students - had the opportunity to tour the AUCA, as well as converse with trained professionals in the IT and technological sphere, get acquainted and collect new information and ideas at the "Faire of Educational Services“ and the „Vocational Guidance Exhibition“ stationed in the campus yard.

Also, located in the yard were several stands held by a number of colleges, lyceums, universities and faculties of AUCA, not to mention a concert stage with numerous uplifting performances, a huge robot and of course, positive representatives of the respective educational institutions providing information on questions such as e.g. entry requirements. Naturally, these installations received much attention from the visitors.

Meanwhile, another attraction on the fourth floor seemed to be gaining momentum: the Round table talk on „Information and Communication Technologies in Education“ between different school principals, heads of educational organizations and IT and ICT experts and specialists. At the same time, a pedagogical workshop for computer science teachers in schools took place in two groups, in which 95 teachers from Bishkek familiarised themselves with new types of smart boards and free online distance learning platforms. As a parting gift, all participants received an alternative computer science textbook for grades 5-6, developed and published with the support of the Soros-Kyrgyzstan Foundation. A separate masterclass in English for school teachers was specially organized and taught byAUCA’s professors at a nearby location.

During the day, AUCA’s volunteers organized some 80 excursions, in which more than 3,500 schoolchildren took part. After the excursions, the children had the chance to engage in hourly "motivation" meetings with famous representatives of the IT sphere. Amongst others, these representatives included: Tilek Mamutov(10 year-Google employee in San Franciso, USA); Dinara Ruslan (general manager of the international IT company Zensoft). Ruslan spoke about how past difficulties in her life had led her to success and made her a recognized professional in her field. On top of that, two further guest speakers shared their stories and predictions about the tech-field with the audience:Vitalia Shutova, CEO of DevCIT shared her opinion on artificial intelligence and

computerization: will robots/ technologies replace humans in the future? Altynbek Ismailov, director of High-Tech Park (HTP), informed the listeners about the sought-after skills in ICT’s near future. A complete list of the speakers can be found here.

In parallel, the Festival partners organized special platforms for schoolchildren: the IT Academy conducted an intensive course on the basics of programming “Rails Girls Kyrgyzstan”, while DevCIToversaw a series of workshops for schoolchildren(grades 8-11) about the benefits of IT courses: “Play. Learn. Earn” and an interactive programming lesson called "Hour of Code".

The second day of the Education Festival will be held on May 4th and will take place on the main stage in front of the "Kurmanzhan Datka" monument. 12 sites/ classes will stretch all the way to the National Center for Children and Youth “Seytek“ and will be located on the territory and in the gallery of the Oak Park, the K. Bayalinov Republican Library for Children and Youth and in the Ch. Aytmatov Russian Drama Theater.

Admission to all of the events of the Seventh Education Festival is free. 

We await you fondly on May 4th!

Detailed information about the Festival:

On the website: festival.roza.kg 

and by phone: +996 555 788825 

Website: http://festival.roza.kg/, roza.kg 

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/festobrazovania.kg/ 

Instagram: @bilimfestkg 

YoutubeChannel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTAPe6Pl2m2BBoWgXTUH8Og 

Hashtag: #bilimfest2019 

Contact for the Media: 

Alena Mukhovikova: +996 555 81 22 51