VZCZCXRO1638
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #1310 3370712
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 030712Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9822
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 3076
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 0891
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 0765
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL PRIORITY 1341
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE PRIORITY 1970

UNCLAS ASHGABAT 001310 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD, NEA/SCA/EX, M/A/OPR/OS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AMGT ASCH TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: MEETING WITH MINISTRY OF EDUCATION 
ON ASHGABAT INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL 
 
REF: ASHGABAT 1300 
 
 ¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The next step in the process of registering the 
Quality Schools International (QSI)- run Ashgabat 
International School (AIS) took place November 30 when MFA 
arranged a meeting for the Embassy with the Ministry of 
Education (MoE).  The Charge met with First Deputy Minister 
of Education Gundoggy Shadurdyev, Deputy Minister for Schools 
and Pre-Schools Gulshat Mammedova and Head of the 
International Department Nury Bayramov.  Mammedova, who had 
the lead, said  a 1994 Agreement signed between QSI and the 
MoE was no longer suitable, as it does not accurately 
describe the schools activities and is not fully compliant 
with contemporary Turkmenistan internal regulations.  She 
noted, however, that the presence of an international school 
in Turkmenistan was &understandable,8 as expatriate 
children could not reasonably use local schools, and some 
citizens of Turkmenistan would like the opportunity to study 
in English.  She asked the Embassy to prepare a new draft 
agreement, to which the Ministry would provide comments.  The 
MoE officials requested a copy of the &future8 curriculum, 
alluding to earlier indications from the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs that some courses on Turkmen language, culture, and 
history may be required to gain final approval (Reftel). 
They mentioned the Ministry was particularly interested in 
the name of the school and wanted to be sure that "Ashgabat" 
be part of it.  (COMMENT: The school is called the Ashgabat 
International School, so it struck us as an odd request. 
Evidently, they want to be sure that part of the name is not 
changed during the process.  Interestingly, the Russian 
school, which is sponsored jointly by the Russian and 
Turkmenistan governments does not contain Ashgabat in its 
name.  The school is named after Pushkin.  END COMMENT.) 
 
¶3. (SBU) Bayramov asked that the agreement (with copy of the 
future curriculum attached) be sent via the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs and noted it would eventually need Cabinet of 
Ministers approval.  He was especially careful to explain 
that any ongoing questions over the current location of the 
school had to be discussed with the Ashgabat mayor's office 
and not the MoE.  The next meeting between the Embassy and 
MoE regarding the school would take place after receipt of 
the new draft agreement. 
 
¶4. (SBU) On December 1, Charge and Embassy Management Officer 
met with the AIS director to brief him in detail about the 
meeting and discuss the timeline for submitting the draft 
agreement.  He welcomed the news of progress on the school's 
registration and said incorporating a Turkmen History and 
language course should not be a problem, since that would be 
a local decision that he would not have to refer to QSI 
leadership.  He said he would talk to QSI leadership on 
December 3 and obtain copies of standard QSI school 
agreements to use as a starting point.  He estimated that a 
draft could be ready by early December 5.  The group decided 
to meet again December 5 to review the draft before 
submitting it to MFA via diplomatic note. 
 
¶5. (SBU) COMMENT: This latest round of interaction is yet 
more good news in the effort to regularize the school's 
status.  AIS wants to expand its operations to account for 
increased demand and to prepare for what promises to be a 
large influx of expatriates over the coming year. 
Bayramov,s request for the &future curriculum8 appears to 
confirm that the Turkmenistan government would like to ensure 
that a school in Turkmenistan that also teaches Turkmen 
students include instruction about the country. 
CURRAN