Only 20 percent of the theologians and imams who teach in madrasahs and other religious schools in Kyrgyzstan have a basic religious education. The report «Education of Kyrgyz citizens in foreign Islamic educational institutions» says.

Only 2.5 percent received higher spiritual education in the country or abroad. 20 percent graduated from madrasahs, and 10 percent attended special short-term courses of imams.

«Over the 25 years of independence, a lot of religious educational institutions have appeared in the republic, which do not have a license or a single curriculum. All madrasahs in the Kyrgyz Republic are privately owned and are financed from private sources. Some of them are in a sorry state, like from the Middle Ages. There are no elementary conditions, there are no tables, and the students are forced to learn, sitting on their knees, spreading carpets,» the authors of the document note.

«Deficiencies in religious education directly have a negative impact on national security, lead to the radicalization of society, the spread of ideas of religious extremism. There is not a qualitative, but a quantitative development of religious education. Today’s Islamic education is not something that does not allow you to get any specialty, but does not even meet modern requirements. There is no big difference between madrasah programs and institutes, their diplomas are not recognized by the state and do not have authority,» the report says.

The document was prepared by the Bulan Institute for Peace Innovations in cooperation with the State Commission for Religious Affairs under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic.