On February 5, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev chaired a video conference to discuss priority tasks in the social sphere.
Building a social state in Uzbekistan was defined as a strategic goal. All measures are being taken to create decent living conditions for the population and to develop education, health care, culture and sport.
Over the past seven years, the coverage of pre-school education has increased from 27% to 74%. New schools have been built and an additional 700,000 school places have been created. Presidential schools are functioning and the number of specialized schools has increased. The number of higher education institutions has exceeded 200 and the coverage of higher education has reached 42%. Broad conditions have been created for private sector activity in education and medical services.
At the same time, there are shortcomings in these areas in terms of work with the population, introduction of modern standards and digitalization. At the meeting, these problems were analyzed and the tasks for the current year were defined.
The need to provide all pre-school educational institutions with pedagogical and methodological teaching materials in accordance with national values was emphasized, as was the need to fully digitalize such processes as food supply, attendance and payments. The issues of selection and appointment of candidates for the posts of kindergarten directors and professional development of educators were also addressed.
There is still a lot of work to be done in education. Therefore, a Project office was established last week, bringing together specialists with extensive scientific and practical experience. This Project Office, together with the Scientific and Methodological Centre for the Development of Education, will renew school curricula and programmes in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and foreign languages on the basis of international standards. International experience (PISA, TIMSS, PIRLS) will be gradually introduced into the assessment of students’ and teachers’ knowledge.
The curricula of the Presidential Schools will be introduced in a further 1,000 schools. This will improve their resource and technical base. The practice of attracting native speakers of foreign languages to schools will be expanded.
If young people learn at least one trade during their school years, they will certainly find their way in adult life. To this end, a list of 50 trades to be taught in schools will be drawn up, on the basis of which educational programmes and workshops will be developed. Workshops and hobby classes will be organized in schools with the participation of entrepreneurs and specialists, and the post of “Master of Vocational Education” will be introduced. Free rooms in schools will be made available to entrepreneurs for free use for vocational training of students. Those who complete vocational courses and pass the exam will receive a certificate of qualification.
The President paid special attention to the issue of spiritual education in schools. It was emphasized that the patriotic education of pupils should form their “immunity to offences”. It was decided to transfer 2,000 school psychologists from the Ministry of the Internal Affairs to the National Guard.
Particular attention will be paid to class attendance and pupils with ‘disruptive’ behaviour. The responsibilities of parents and makhalla chairpersons will be strengthened. An e-platform for interaction between schools, parents and makhallas will be launched.
Based on the analysis of social networks popular with young people, recommendations will be made to parents on how to protect children from harmful influences and take advantage of their useful features. Parenting manuals will also be developed.
“The implementation of these initiatives aims to increase the sense of responsibility of parents, the professionalism of teachers, the confidence of students, the quality of education and upbringing, and the involvement of makhallas in these processes,” the President said.
The failure of some areas of vocational and higher education to meet the needs of the modern labour market and the trends of technological progress was highlighted. Employers have a great need for personnel, students have the potential and the desire to work, but there is no organic system to connect them.
For this reason, the Republican Council for the Development of Vocational Qualifications and Skills and the Institute for Labour Market Research will be affiliated to the project office from now on.
The standards of 100 in-demand occupations will be renovated based on the experience of Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. At the same time, qualification requirements will be adapted to the needs of employers. Vocational teachers will be subject to training requirements according to the new standards.
Starting from the new academic year, teaching in technical schools will be organized according to a new system that ensures the integration of academic and vocational components. Therefore, the curricula, textbooks, knowledge assessment criteria and requirements for teachers in the first and second years of technical schools will be the same as those in higher education institutions.
A “credit system” will also be introduced in technical schools, and the accumulated “credits” for performance will be recognized in universities. In other words, students who accumulate a sufficient number of “credits” during two years of study in a college or technical school will have the opportunity to continue their education in the second or third year of a university through the “2+2” or “2+3” programmes.
Opportunities will be expanded for those who choose to work in production after graduating from a technical school or college. For example, people who have studied at colleges and technical schools and have two or three years’ work and experience can take an examination and obtain a qualification equivalent to a bachelor’s degree.
The responsible officials have been given the task of developing the conditions and procedures for the networking of universities, technical schools and colleges on the basis of international experience. The aim is to establish specific criteria for the granting of higher education status to institutions, to optimise the bachelor’s degree programmes and to update the educational programmes on the basis of the programmes of the top 300 universities.
It has been decided that the “El-yurt umidi” Foundation will work under the administration of the President with the implementation of a new system for studying abroad.
Healthcare is one of the sectors that occupies an important place in the life of the population. At the meeting, special attention was paid to relevant issues in this direction.
Referring to the insufficient level of quality and the shortage of specialists in primary health care, the President instructed the Ministry of Health to post all vacancies on an online platform and to create a transparent system for the selection of personnel.
During the meeting, it was emphasized that specialized scientific-practical medical centres should be closer to the rural population. The task is to connect them with primary health care and accelerate digitalization.
The screening system for cardiovascular, oncological and endocrine diseases in at-risk populations will be revised to ensure early detection of diseases. Republican Centres for Cardiology, Endocrinology and Oncology will be responsible for this.
There will also be a system of incentives for medical teams for each case of early cancer detected. The experiment will begin in Kashkadarya on May 1 and be extended to other regions next year.
Outdated clinical protocols and standards will be brought up to international standards with the help of foreign experts. Treatment for patients with minor illnesses will be expanded, focusing on non-pharmaceutical methods such as natural remedies, immune-boosting techniques, physical exercise and phytotherapy.
The instruction was given to recruit modern managers and carry out international accreditation of 23 medical centres, 12 universities and 2 centres for professional development. This should result in the introduction of new training methods for doctors and nurses, an improvement in the quality of treatment, a reduction in the prescription of multiple drugs and, most importantly, the establishment of modern clinics in medical institutions.
Over the past two years, 90 billion Uzbek soums has been allocated from the budget for the digitalization of the healthcare sector. As a result, access to medical services has become easier and more convenient. Systems such as the “electronic polyclinic”, “electronic hospital” and “electronic health card” are now being introduced. Drugs included in the guaranteed package will be dispensed on the basis of electronic prescriptions. Regional hospitals will also be connected to the electronic referral system.
The Head of State emphasized that every case of maternal and neonatal death should be treated as an emergency. Tasks have been set to equip maternity facilities with modern equipment, strengthen the health of pregnant women and mothers, and provide additional training for midwives and nurses.
During the meeting, the implementation of previously set tasks in the field of culture was analyzed. The construction of cultural centres in each district, including cinemas, libraries and clubs, the organisation of cultural events in the regions and the involvement of young people in the arts were discussed.
It was also decided that the districts should specialise in mass sports and organize regional and republican competitions.
The preparations for the forthcoming Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, which will be held in Paris this year, were also discussed. It was noted that all conditions are being created for athletes to apply for licences and prepare for the competitions. The importance of thorough medical examinations, quality pharmacological and dietary support was emphasized.
During the meeting, the responsible officials presented reports on the topics discussed.