The institutional significance of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University in the national higher education system of the Kyrgyz Republic

The Kyrgyz Republic occupies a strategically important geographical position at the intersection of interregional integration platforms. Consequently, the humanitarian space in the Republic is filled with acts of "soft power" aimed at promoting the political and economic projects of foreign countries. In the context of restrictions on NGO activities, interstate educational organizations integrated into the national education system and capable of influencing from within become particularly significant. The study substantiates the strategic importance of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University in the political, economic, and humanitarian context, reviews the national education system of Kyrgyzstan and the training of highly qualified personnel, as well as Russia's main project within this system, its functioning model, current development directions, and target benchmarks. The object of the proposed article is the national higher education system of the Kyrgyz Republic. The subject is the activity of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University (KRSU) in Kyrgyzstan since 2023. The purpose of the study is to identify the institutional significance of the KRSU in the higher education system of Kyrgyzstan. The methodological basis of the research includes: systemic method, historical method, institutional approach, content analysis, and participant observation method. The novelty of the research lies in examining the interstate educational organization as an element of the national higher education system within the framework of modern processes of its transformation, including those influenced by external actors in the context of Kyrgyzstan's geopolitical significance. A description of the national education system of Kyrgyzstan is provided as a system of an ethnic community that carries the state language, characterized by diasporic features, a predominant scientific orientation of education, and a secular nature of upbringing. Based on the analysis of the institutional foundations of the national higher education system of Kyrgyzstan and strategic documents, restraining factors and features of the target development model have been identified. An analysis of the legal framework for the functioning of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University in Kyrgyzstan has been conducted. Based on a historical and political review, the target benchmarks and key directions of the university's activities have been identified. According to the conclusions drawn, the significance of the university in the national higher education system lies in its representation by the Russian side as a typical model for the development of Kyrgyz universities aimed at orienting towards the formation of a unified educational space based on the Russian model.

state policy, humanitarian policy, scientific and educational policy, education system, interstate universities, Slavic universities, educational organizations, foreign policy, soft power, Kyrgyzstan