EXPERIENCE OF COOPERATION BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND CENTRAL ASIAN COUNTRIES IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) faced certain difficulties caused by the so-called "shortage" of qualified personnel and the need to modernize the educational system in these countries, inherited from the USSR. Since education was the dominant factor in the development of the economy for the newly independent new republics. And one of the main conditions for the integration of the educational systems of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan into the international higher education zone was international cooperation with the European Union. The article presents the experience of cooperation between the European Union and the Central Asian countries in the field of education, on the example of the participation of the Central Asian region in the educational programs of the European Union (Tempus, Erasmus Mundus, Erasmus+, Jean Monnet). The relevance of the research topic is determined by the role of higher education in bilateral cooperation between the European Union and the Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan). The purpose of the study is to reveal the peculiarities of the development of educational cooperation between the European Union and Central Asia, in the context of the implementation of EU educational programs in the region. The main conclusions of the study were the presented indicators of participation of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in the EU educational programs, which had a significant impact on the reform of educational systems in the countries of the region and contributed to the further development of partnerships between EU universities and Central Asian countries.