Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 8 October 2021, a meeting of the Parliamentary Commission for monitoring the implementation of national goals and objectives in the field of sustainable development of the Republic of Uzbekistan for the period up to 2030 was held.

The event was opened by the Chairperson of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis, Co-Chairperson of the Parliamentary Commission Tanzila Narbayeva.

The meeting was attended by members of the Parliamentary Commission, the Coordination Council for the implementation of the National Goals and Objectives for Sustainable Development for the period up to 2030, heads of UN offices in Uzbekistan, senior officials of ministries, departments, educational institutions and representatives of non-governmental non-profit organizations.

The meeting discussed the work carried out in the country, including in Samarkand region, to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and the promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all (goal 4).

It should be noted that over the past five years, important legislative acts have been adopted, in particular, the concept for the development until 2030 of the preschool education system, public education and higher education.

It was emphasized that as a result of the reforms, the level of enrollment of children in preschool education increased from 27.7% in 2017 to 62.4% in 2021.

An absolutely new direction has been established in the preschool education system - the activities of educational organizations on the basis of public-private partnerships, private, non-governmental and family educational organizations. 25% of children covered by education are brought up in non-state preschool educational organizations.

The level of enrollment of children with general secondary education has also increased. If in 2016 more than 4 million 808 thousand students studied in 9680 schools, then by 2021 the number of schools reached 10008, and the number of their students exceeded 6 million 236 thousand.

Over the past five years, the scope of construction, renovation and equipping of schools has significantly expanded in order to ensure that they acquire a modern look, as well as in order to create a favorable environment for students. For example, if in 2016 more than 379 billion soums were allocated to 371 schools, by 2020, funds in the amount of 1.7 trillion soums were allocated to 505 schools.

In the context of modern globalization and market economy, an especially urgent task is to educate specialists with huge potential, highly educated, responsible, competitive personnel, in connection with which the level of youth coverage with higher education has increased.

So, if in 2016 the admission quota for the bachelor’s degree in the higher education system was 58,022, now this figure has reached 148,114 people.

The number of higher educational institutions has increased from 77 in 2016 to 136 at the present time, branches of 33 foreign universities have been established in the country.

The large-scale work carried out in the field of education is also recognized in international rankings. In particular, in the Human Development Index announced by the UN in 2020, Uzbekistan ranked 106th among 189 countries, and 8th among the CIS republics and is among the countries with a high level of human development.

It was noted at the meeting that despite the positive work carried out, some shortcomings remain in the field.

In particular, the meeting discussed issues of strengthening the activities of the Supervisory and Board of Trustees in educational institutions, expanding the coverage of children by preschool educational organizations, strengthening the material and technical support of teaching and laboratory premises of schools, organizing an open and transparent process of recruiting teachers, as well as shortcomings made in the course of the wide involvement of teachers in scientific activities.

During the meeting, information was heard from the heads of the ministries of preschool education, public education, higher and secondary specialized education. It was emphasized that all issues related to the education system will be in the spectrum of constant parliamentary control.

It was noted at the meeting that it is necessary, with the participation of responsible workers from other regions, to once again discuss the shortcomings identified by the example of Samarkand region and determine appropriate measures.

On the basis of the opinions and proposals expressed during the event, an appropriate decision of the Parliamentary Commission was adopted.