Summer Travel Grant 2019 Recipient
Aidai Almaz kyzy
Graduate Degree Fellow
MPA in Public Administration

EWCA Summer Travel Grant supported me in successfully completing my summer practicum that was required under the Public Administration Master’s Program. My practicum that was scheduled between May 15, 2019 and August 15, 2019 at the Department of Pre-school, School, and Non-formal Activities under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic gave me an opportunity to deeply understand the internal activities of the Ministry, meet great people truly dedicated to their work, who slowly but firmly bring innovative changes to the education system in the country.

The first half of my practicum was in the Department of Documentation Support and Control under the supervision of Gulsara Ibraimova, where I was assisting her and colleagues in preparing the documentation for holding a tender for determining the winners in the pilot project “Kundoluk” — an automated information system allowing the educational institutions to maintain journals and student learning diaries in electronic format with the subsequent cancellation of the paper reporting form.

During the second half of my practicum, we received applications from the local information technology companies proposing their stances to develop and execute the project “Kundoluk.” My responsibilities included administrative tasks such as documenting the applications, sending the announcements to the IT department, and documenting the minutes of the meetings.

This practicum let me not only gain insights of the Ministry of Education itself, and the activities and projects it is running, but also build connections and expand the network for my future career as a public administrator.