On 19 July 2022, the National Erasmus+ Office in Kyrgyzstan successfully held a regional seminar titled “Advancing STEM Education in Teacher Training Programmes” in the Issyk-Kul region. The event brought together 35 participants, including university faculty, school mentors, representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science, and STEM-focused NGOs.
The main goal of the seminar was to promote the exchange of innovative practices and teaching tools used in STEM teacher training within the framework of Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education (CBHE) projects. Participants shared experiences in developing practice-oriented and digitally enhanced STEM curricula, discussed existing challenges in regional universities, and explored international models from Finland, Armenia, and Kazakhstan.
Highlights of the programme included:
Presentations by CBHE project coordinators on curriculum reform and teacher mentoring strategies.
Demonstrations of online and low-cost STEM tools used in practical teaching.
Group discussions on institutional readiness, faculty development, and infrastructure needs.
A hands-on workshop on drafting a model STEM module for pre-service teacher education.
A panel discussion on the preparedness of regional HEIs for transformative STEM training.
The seminar concluded with concrete action points, including the formation of a national working group on STEM curriculum, the development of a shared digital repository of teaching tools, and a proposal for a regional STEM educator network supported through Erasmus+.
The event reaffirmed the commitment of Kyrgyz higher education institutions to modernize STEM teacher training and foster regional collaboration aligned with European best practices.
