The University of Central Asia (UCA) was founded in 2000 by the Presidents of Tajikistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Kazakhstan, and His Highness the Aga Khan. UCA’s mission is to promote the social and economic development of Central Asia, particularly its mountain societies, while at the same time helping the different peoples of the region to preserve and draw upon their rich cultural traditions and heritages as assets for the future. UCA’s first campus opened in Naryn, Kyrgyz Republic in 2016, the second campus opened in Khorog, Tajikistan in 2017. The final campus is expected to open in Kazakhstan by 2020.

In 2014, Seneca College was engaged to lead the curriculum development efforts for UCA’s Year One Preparatory Programme (Math, English, and Science Upgrading). The key goal of the partnership between UCA and Seneca was to create an integrated, contextualized and problem based curriculum to upgrade Central Asian students who have completed 11 years of primary and secondary education.

In addition to innovative workshops aimed at enhancing the leadership skills of ITS Presidents, the program included site visits and business-to-business (B2B) sessions that gave the participants an opportunity to meet representatives from colleges and institutes across Ontario.