Bishkek (June 13, 2022) – 12 Peace Corps Volunteers arrived today in the Kyrgyz Republic for the first time since all Volunteers around the world were evacuated in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Kyrgyz Republic is the first country to welcome Volunteers in the Europe, Mediterranean and Asia Region (EMA). For the next two years, the Volunteers will co-teach English alongside local teachers in secondary schools in Chuy, Naryn, Issyk-Kul and Talas oblasts.
Peace Corps Volunteers will work mainly in rural areas side-by-side with local counterparts. Besides teaching English, Volunteers will help teachers strengthen their capacity to teach English through new skills, methods, and information technologies. Volunteers will promote the exchange of information about effective teaching methods; provide assistance to their schools and communities in establishing or expanding English teaching resources, contributing to curriculum development, and production of innovative teaching materials.
Asel Sharshenbek kyzy, English teacher at Son-Kol school: “We are delighted to welcome Peace Corps volunteers this year. They inspire the desire of Kyrgyzstani students to gain knowledge and achieve goals by broadening their academic opportunities through improved English. While working in partnership, teachers and volunteers bounce ideas off each other in order to deliver more creative lessons”.
During the first three months, the Volunteers will attend pre-service training. The pre-service-training includes Kyrgyz language classes, sessions on Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), co-teaching with local teachers, and cross-cultural competence. The twelve Volunteers underwent a rigorous selection process in the United States that identified individuals who are highly-qualified and committed to development. They represent American diversity ranging in age from 24 to 72 and coming from all across the USA.
More than 1,250 American Peace Corps Volunteers have served in the Kyrgyz Republic since 1993 within the framework of the TEFL project implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic. The Peace Corps Volunteers are here at the invitation of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic based on an agreement it signed with the United States in 1992.
Click https://www.peacecorps.gov/kyrgyz-republic/ for more information about the Peace Corps in the Kyrgyz Republic.
For more information please contact Aisuluu Gazieva, an Executive and Communications Assistant at agazieva@peacecorps.gov, 0555756100, 0312 650494.
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