Approved by the Decree # 1176 of the President of Turkmenistan on March 16, 2019
Order of the recognition in Turkmenistan of the documents on the higher and vocational education issued in the foreign countries
1. This Order regulates relations concerning the recognition in Turkmenistan of the documents on the higher and vocational education (hereinafter referred to as Documents) issued in the foreign countries.
2. The documents issued by the foreign countries after January 1, 1993 to the citizens of Turkmenistan, foreign citizens and stateless persons permanently residing in Turkmenistan are subject to the recognition. The documents of persons who entered and began their studies before January 1, 1993, issued after this date, go through the procedure for the recognition without taking the State examinations of Turkmenistan.
3. The recognition of the Documents is carried out by the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan.
4. Requirements for the recognition of the Documents:
1) The Documents should be issued by the following professional educational establishments:
a) for the member states of the Commonwealth of the Independent States – by the state professional educational establishments, for other foreign countries – by the professional educational establishments officially authorized in these countries;
b) by the higher educational establishments included into the list of the leading educational establishments of the world compiled by the international organizations the Documents are issued in the profiles of the social sciences and the humanities specified in the State Classifier of the Specialties of the vocational education and areas of training and specialties of the higher education of Turkmenistan;
2) training should be full-time (off-the-job training).
3) for the member states of the Commonwealth of the Independent States, the standard period for mastering the vocational education program should not be less than the period established by the legislation of Turkmenistan for the higher and vocational educational establishments.
For other foreign states, the standard period for mastering the vocational education program should comply with the established period of the International Standard Classification of Education approved by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
5. In the fourth part of this Order:
1) the requirements indicated in the 1st paragraph do not apply to persons who began their studies in accordance with the legislation in force before the introduction of this Order;
2) the requirements indicated in the 1st and 2nd paragraphs do not apply to:
a) the Documents issued to the persons sent to study in accordance with the intergovernmental, intersectoral international agreements of Turkmenistan;
b) the Documents issued after the graduation in full-time and correspondence or correspondence form to the persons who entered the state or non-state professional educational establishments of the member states of the Commonwealth of the Independent States, who passed the state international accreditation, who entered officially authorized educational establishments of other foreign states before January 9, 2014;
c) Documents recognized on the basis of the decision of the relevant Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan;
d) the Documents received at the end of studies by the persons enrolled in full-time and correspondence or correspondence education before the entry into force of this Order on January 9, 2014, if there is a request from the employer on the recognition of the Documents of the persons who had two-years work experience or permit of the departments of the Office of the President of Turkmenistan, relevant Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan on the basis of a request explained by the need of the ministries and sectoral governing bodies in the specialists.
3) the requirements indicated in the 3rd paragraph do not apply:
a) the Documents received after the shortened form of training based on vocational educational;
b) the Documents received after quick mastering of the study program of the persons with the special distinctive abilities according to an independent curriculum.
6. Documents issued by the professional educational establishments of the foreign states in the specialties (areas of training) not specified by the State Classifier of the Specialties of the vocational education and the areas of training and the specialties of the higher education of Turkmenistan are recognized by the relevant related specialties.
In order to meet the requirements for the relevant (related) vocational education, taking into account peculiarities of the specialties the additional paid courses are organized for up to one year.
7. An official letter or archival certificate issued by the educational establishment or body exercising administration in the field of education is the basis confirming that the graduate really studied, fully mastered the curriculum and the Document was issued in his/her name, and the Document certifies the compliance of the content and quality of the graduate’s training with the state educational standard.
8. For the recognition of the Documents in the established order their holders pass the State Examinations of Turkmenistan in the social sciences and disciplines corresponding to the profile of the specialty.
The State examinations are held 4 times a year (in February, May, September and November) in the state language.
9. In the established form the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan issues certificate of the recognition to the persons successfully passed the State Examinations of Turkmenistan or the persons released from it in accordance with the second part of this Order.
10. Instruction for the application of this Order is approved by the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan in the established order.