With the adoption of sweeping changes in the governance of university admission, namely the
implementation of the university entrance exam (UEE) in July 2014, and with broader reforms
supported by the World Bank, Tajikistan’s education system is undergoing potentially
transformative change. With a clear vision of higher education playing a key role to compete in the
global economy, the government of Tajikistan has adopted a new centralized university entrance exam
(UEE), which aims to improve fairness and transparency in access to higher education. Previously,
admission to university was managed separately by each university, putting a lot of discretion in university
admission and lacking transparency. In July 2014, Tajikistan put in place a unified, centrally administered
entrance exam, with several procedures to ensure that the exam is administered and graded fairly, and to
minimize meddling.