Amid public and media attention to rising education costs, Kyrgyzstan’s Antimonopoly Regulation Service has conducted a review of tuition fees in private schools in Bishkek.

According to the agency, 45 out of 104 private schools in the capital were inspected in April. The findings show that annual tuition fees in some institutions range from 570,000 to 1.34 million soms.

In other private schools, fees are significantly lower, ranging from 40,000 to 150,000 soms per year.

For comparison, higher education costs are lower in many cases. At Kyrgyz National University tuition starts from 43,000 soms, at Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University from 110,000 soms, while at the American University of Central Asia the average annual fee is around 447,000 soms.

Overall, the service notes that tuition in leading universities in Bishkek ranges from 107,000 to 152,000 soms on average, while private school education costs between 313,000 and 580,000 soms.

In response to rising prices, the antimonopoly authority has submitted proposals to the Ministry of Education and the Bishkek City Hall. These include measures to curb tuition growth, cost analysis for schools charging over 200,000 soms, and mandatory disclosure of pricing structures and fee adjustment rules.

The agency also proposed developing unified regulations to ensure accessibility of education and equal conditions for students.