Reforms at Public Education Ministry discussed at the "Government Hour" of Legislative Chamber

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis hosted a “Government Hour” to discuss reforms in the public education sector.

During the session, the participants considered measures to improve the maintenance of buildings of secondary schools, providing them with laboratory equipment, textbooks and classrooms.

Alisher Umarov, First Deputy Minister of Public Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan, was invited to the lower house of parliament to answer to questions of the MPs.

As noted at the meeting, over the past period, as in all areas, the educational system has also carried out significant work towards the implementation of radical reforms and updates. Especially, consistent measures have been taken in order to improve the quality of education and create the necessary conditions for school students.

In particular, in the improvement of textbooks on the basis of innovative approaches, the content of textbooks is enriched with educational games, exercises, questions, tasks aimed at developing logical thinking among schoolchildren. MPs discussed introduction of the international assessment programs PISA, TIMSS, etc.

It was underlined that modern information technologies are introduced in the public education system to automate the educational and administrative processes.

As noted in the information, at present the level of equipment of educational schools in the republic does not exceed 72 percent. It cannot be said that they also fully comply with modern requirements. 50 percent are outdated both morally and physically. In particular, there are 11,468 sets of computer equipment in schools, the level of provision of schools in this direction reaches 72.1 percent. In 2018, 1 716 secondary schools were provided with modern computer classes (interactive panel, projector, computer, air conditioning).

Together with the Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports, a draft program has been developed for the construction, repair and equipping of sports facilities in 2020-2024, it envisages the creation of sports halls in 2 302 secondary schools, equipment for 9 446 sports halls.

According to the Decree of the President of the country “On Approval of the Concept for the Development of the Public Education System of the Republic of Uzbekistan until 2030” dated April 29, 2019, based on the needs of secondary schools, it is planned to complete the construction, repair and equipping of them by 2030.

A system of confirmation of graduates of educational institutions with an electronic digital signature was created (attestat.uzedu.uz), admission to the 1-grade school will be carried out electronically through the Centers of Public Services and the Unified portal of interactive services (qabul.uzedu .uz).

As members of parliament noted, in most schools of regional centers, especially in Tashkent, the number of students in one class exceeds the established standard, that is, it is 40 people. It does not meet sanitary and hygienic requirements. Finally, it creates certain barriers for students to receive a quality education.

MPs and officials of the Ministry of Public Education discussed issues of eliminating existing problems in the education system, including maintenance of buildings, classrooms, provision of textbooks, laboratory equipment, etc.