Education in Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan is the state of youth Uzbekistan is the state of youth. Children, teenagers and young people under the age of 25 comprise approximately 60% of the total population. Inherent in Uzbekistan's ancient heritage is love of children and care for their health, well being and education. As early as in the 7th century the Chinese scientists and explorer, Suan Tsan, wrote that he saw 5-year old boys in Samarkand being thought how to read, write and count. Later, these children were sent out with caravans to learn business and trade.

Nowadays in our country every third child studies at the secondary school or gets trade experience at the high and secondary special schools and trade institutions. Five million children study at school, and more than a million are preparing to be school children at kindergarten level. The education of children and youth is one of the main priorities of the countries government policy. That is why the LAW of Education was adapted in June of l992, which became one of the first laws in our young sovereign state.

The essence of educational reform in Uzbekistan is to preserve the present intellectual potential of the educational system and to modify our goals and activities in order to develop individuals who are capable to build and live in a democratic civil society and a free market economy. These reforms, however, do not only reflect nationalistic aspiration. Since securing independence, the Uzbekistan nation realized its great responsibility as citizens of the international community and as citizens of our planet. Therefore one of our main goals is to educate a healthy generation , both physically and mentally. The main principals of our new educational policy support this endeavor.

Our goals are determined as the following: humanistic, democratic methods of teaching and socialization, priority to human values , national and cultural traditions, and the separation of educational institutions from the influence of political parties and social and political movements . Considering these principals and the experiences of developed countries of the world, the Republic of Uzbekistan has recognized its main direction of educational development.

They are as follows: Modification and further perfection of the education and socialization content Development of new school, curricula and textbooks Stress on individual ability and talent Vocational and Professional development in accordance with changing economical needs Integrating Uzbekistan with world educational standards At present within the process of transformation of all the social activity and perspectives of the country development, textbooks are being renewed, new subjects are added and teaching staff is being retrained.

The working out of the new state educational standards are being completed. A great number of new types of schools are being established. These schools specialize in foreign languages, economics and in ecological problems . Parallel to this, research work is being done on continuation of educational complex including kindergarten, high school, scientific research and retraining institutions. New methods and technologies are created rapidly based on the national and worldwide pedagogical needs. The basic principals of educational reforms in our republic are democratization and humanization.

Of course, all these processes are not easy and simple Of course, all these processes are not easy and simple. The government has to solve many economical ,and social problems besides other conflicts. With the support of half million hardworking teachers who share the same idea we hope achieve our goal. We realize one of the main results to accomplishing educational reform is changing the thinking mentality of our people and society This is of great importance. At the same time we understand that by striving to create a new education system according to the world standards we will achieve success not only in our country but we might by sharing our knowledge and experience with developing countries add our contribution to the world educational system.

Topic - Education in Uzbekistan In Uzbekistan, eleven years of primary and secondary education are obligatory, starting at age seven. This requirement includes four years of primary school and two cycles of secondary school, lasting five and two years, respectively. The rate of attendance in those grades is high, although the figure is significantly lower in rural areas than in urban centers. Preschool registration has decreased significantly since 1991.[1]

The official literacy rate is 99 percent The official literacy rate is 99 percent. However, in the post-Soviet era educational standards have fallen. Funding and training have not been sufficient to effectively educate the expanding younger cohorts of the population. Between 1992 and 2004, government spending on education dropped from 12 percent to 6.3 percent of gross domestic product.[1] In 2006 education’s share of the budget increased to 8.1 percent. Lack of budgetary support has been more noticeable at the primary and secondary levels, as the government has continued to subsidize university students. However, bribes often are necessary to ensure success and advancement in universities.[1]

Between 1992 and 2001, university attendance dropped from 19 percent of the college-age population to 6.4 percent. The three largest of Uzbekistan’s 63 institutions of higher learning are in Nukus, Samarkand, and Tashkent. All are state-funded. Private schools have been forbidden since the establishment of Islamic fundamentalist (Wahhabi) schools in the early 1990s brought a government crackdown. However, in 1999 the government-supported Taskhent Islamic University was founded for the teaching of Islam.[1] In 2002 Westminster International University in Tashkent was established in collaboration with the University of Westminster (UK) and “UMID” Foundation of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Education - образование government – правительство Support – поддерживать Achieve – историческое Results – результаты Hardworking – тяжелая работа educational reform – реформы образования Changing – менять education system – система образования