On Thursday, 2 March, Aleksandr Guliakov, Rector of Penza State University, being part of the Penza Region delegation, took part in the IX conference on interregional cooperation "Business and investment partnership between Russia and Tajikistan". As part of the panel session "Cooperation in the field of education", rectors of universities in Russia and Tajikistan discussed issues of Russian-Tajik cooperation in the field of education.

The Penza Region delegation was headed by Nikolai Simonov, Chairman of the Government of the Penza Region.

Opening the meeting, Lutfiya Abdulkholikzoda, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Tajikistan, noted that cooperation with Russian universities has been established by all higher educational institutions of the Republic of Tajikistan. In 2022, the number of representatives of Tajikistan studying in Russian higher educational institutions increased.

By implementing joint educational and scientific and technical programmes, cooperation between Russian educational institutions and universities in Tajikistan is being strengthened. This contributes to developing scientific and educational potential of the two interacting parties.

PSU Rector Aleksandr Guliakov commented on the topic. He clarified that students from the Republic of Tajikistan study at four universities in our region.

“We have 460 students from the Republic of Tajikistan studying at Penza State University; 470 students at Penza State University of Architecture and Construction, 228 – at Penza State Technological University, 66 – Penza State Agrarian University. Moreover, most students major in technology”, explained Aleksandr Guliakov. “People come to PSU, both for state-funded and paid education, especially in the field of medicine. Students like us, they are satisfied with the quality of education.”

“We have been cooperating with Tajikistan since 2014. We have close cooperation within the framework of agreements with the Ministry of Education of this Republic, the Ministry of Labor and Migration, as well as with the three leading universities of Tajikistan - technical, pedagogical and Khujand State University," he added.

Among the promising areas for expanding cooperation, the panel session considered the possibility of holding joint competitions for technical and humanitarian youth projects, competitions, creating information and educational courses, and implementing international educational projects using distance technologies.