Dr. Sukhbaatar Javzan, a 2001-2002 Humphrey Fellow and Consultant Professor, Collaborative Business Development Institute of the University of Finance and Economics, Ms. Odkhoi Bold, a 2014-2015 Fulbright Student and Head of the Logarithm School, and Ms. Khongorzul Bat-Ireedui, a 2012-2013 Fulbright Student and Executive Director at the Selbe School and Kindergarten Complex Under this month’s theme of international education and its importance, we’re highlighting a 2001-2002 Humphrey Fellow and Consultant Professor at the Collaborative Business Development Institute of the University of Finance and Economics (UFE), Sukhbaatar Javzan, Ph.D., a 2014-2015 Fulbright Student and Head of the Logarithm School, Odkhoi Bold, and a 2012-2013 Fulbright Student and Executive Director at the Selbe School and Kindergarten Complex, Khongorzul Bat-Ireedui.
As globalization continues to bring countries closer to each other, the labor market is requires professionals to have a global perspective and understand how to work across different cultures, religions, and languages. This includes the education sector, which is bringing innovation and ideas beyond borders, building connections, and broadening perspectives. “In this ever-flattening world, Mongolia is a small country. To grow and improve our education system, we need to rely on international cooperation and international education programs that have been tried and tested in other countries,” noted Sukhbaatar, who participated in the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship to study Education Science at the Pennsylvania State University and later earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education, and Comparative and International Education from the same university in 2007. The demand for international education is driving schools to invest in teachers with cross-cultural skills and implement international programs, such as the International Baccalaureate and Cambridge Assessment system. “Selbe School has started implementing the Cambridge International curriculum that’s flexible and tailored to the K-12 tsum (core) curriculum of Mongolia. At our kindergarten, we’ve chosen to implement an American preschool program called HighScope that’s also flexible and comparable to the improved preschool curriculum of Mongolia,” shared Khongorzul, who participated in the Fulbright Foreign Student Program to pursue a master’s degree in Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Sukhbaatar noted that at the higher education level, UFE has similar demands for international programs and certifications. For example, the university offers CAT (Certified Accounting Technician) qualification by the UK Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) certification by the American-based CFA Institute that are helping prepare international professionals. “There’re advantages to the international curriculums for secondary school students because these programs are based on extensive research on learning science and globalized knowledge shared Odkhoi, who participated in the Fulbright Foreign Student Program to study at the Education Teachers College of Columbia University. “Nowadays, when the world is becoming flat, it is vital to keep walking with the world hand in hand while preserving our national identity and the knowledge we inherited from our ancestors. For that reason, we need mastery in our mother tongue, follow a well-defined national curriculum in schools, and teach foreign languages from a young age using correct methods based on brain science that does not interfere with the learning of mother tongue. Exposure to the multicultural learning environment is then vital for students as the value of international education doubles, making them a global person with national identity,” she added.
