Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 15 December, a press conference was held in Tashkent to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the British Council in Uzbekistan. 

The press conference was attended by the Director of the British Council - Denise Woddingham, the British Ambassador to Uzbekistan - Tim Torlot, representatives of the Ministry of Public Education, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Education and other partners.

The work of the British Council in Uzbekistan began with the signing of a formal bilateral agreement with the government of Uzbekistan in October 1996. Over the years, the organization has made significant strides in strengthening educational, institutional and cultural relations between Uzbekistan and the UK.

The activities of the British Council can be divided into 3 areas - activities in the field of culture, art and the development of the creative economy, work in the field of reforming the education system and teaching English, as well as assessing the knowledge of the English language.

Among the major achievements of recent years are:

- Support in the opening of a branch of Westminster International University in Tashkent, where more than 4000 students are currently studying

- Development and successful implementation of a modern national curriculum for the training of teachers of the English language. The program is implemented in 18 educational institutions, and more than 4,000 future teachers pass it a year. 

- Development of the English for Special Purpose Curriculum (ESP) used by 45 public universities

- Introduction of the “Culture of Quality” program, created jointly with the London Metropolitan University and the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Education. The program offers an innovative professional development path for 500 academic leaders annually for 6 years.

As part of the memorandum, in 2021, the British Council has developed a number of programs to support the national education reform in Uzbekistan.

“Over 25 years of work in the programs of the British Council in Uzbekistan, more than 700 organizations took part, more than 115,000 people received direct support, and the total coverage amounted to more than 27 million people in Uzbekistan and the UK,” said Denise Woddingham, Director of the British Council.

“The coverage of British Council projects in Uzbekistan is impressive! 27 million for a country with a population of 34 million is really an outstanding result, but there is nothing surprising in it. Since the country gained independence, everyone who in one way or another came into contact with the educational system, studied in different educational institutions, in one way or another were affected by the results of the work carried out by the British Council team. And these results will be felt for many years and decades to come,” said Tim Torlot, British Ambassador to Uzbekistan.

In October 2020, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the British Council and the Ministry of Public Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The memorandum became a symbol of strengthening and expanding cooperation between Uzbekistan and the UK in carrying out a national large-scale reform of higher, vocational and school education and reform of the teaching of the English language. Major projects include Future English, which aims to help school graduates improve their English and provide continuing professional development opportunities for English teachers across the country through the Online Teacher Community platform.

“We launched the Future English program in 2021, but this year more than 900 English teachers have been able to take advanced training courses developed by the British Council on Modern Techniques. We expect that by the end of 2022 there will be more than 2,000 of them. We have ambitious goals, and in the coming years we hope that all 40,000 English teachers in Uzbekistan will be able to join and complete our program,” said Jamilya Gulyamova, deputy director of the British Council.

The British Council also supports the Ministry of Public Education to participate in international conferences and forums such as the World Education Forum on vision, policy and action for long-term sustainable change in education. And they are also jointly conducting research aimed at forming a holistic approach to the implementation of education reform, including teacher education and the adaptation of the learning process to the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, the British Council took part in the development of a strategy for a national curriculum in English with the Ministry of Public Education. Already from this academic year, schools and universities began to introduce a new curriculum for teaching English, on the development of which a team from Leicester and Cambridge Universities worked.

This year, the British Council launched the Going Global Partnership program, which provides governments, national industry bodies, universities, researchers, academics and students with the opportunity to collaborate and partner with the UK. The goal of the program is to create strong, inclusive, globally connected higher education systems that support economic and social growth. The program includes ministerial cooperation, "Change Academy" - a program for universities aimed at ensuring high results and quality of education for graduates. From the new academic year, the program will pay great attention to the development of secondary specialized and vocational education in order to improve the quality and efficiency of educational institutions and systems, as well as to solve the problems of developing the necessary skills among graduates.

The British Council supports the development of the creative economy in Uzbekistan within the framework of the Creative Spark Higher Education program. Since 2018, Uzbekistan's universities have established six partnerships with leading UK universities: Goldsmith University of London, South Bank University, Queen Margaret University, London Metropolitan, University of Leicester and University of Central Lancashire, as well as agencies such as Change School and People First. Through these partnerships, universities are innovating, educating entrepreneurship, and developing the education ecosystem. As part of this program, the British Council hosted competitions for students and university professors, such as the Big Idea Challenge and the Entrepreneurial University Awards, where participants presented their business ideas and received mentoring and funding from leading UK experts.

More than 11,000 students from Uzbekistan take part in the Creative Spark program annually, and more than 92% of the surveyed participants noted that Creative Spark improved their knowledge of the creative industries and the business environment, 76% of the project participants noted that they have already begun to use the knowledge or skills they acquired in their work. The British Council plans to expand the number of partners in the arts and the creative economy under the new Regional Creative Economy Program 2021-2024. The goal of the program is to develop a creative economy, cultural leadership and creative entrepreneurship in the country. For this, a series of conferences are planned for Creative Central Asia on the development of leaders and politics for the creative economy, and Creative Producers on the development of interdisciplinary skills for aspiring producers of cultural projects.

The British Council has also implemented a number of projects to promote British contemporary art and culture in Uzbekistan. So in 2017, the first educational program and exhibition of contemporary art in the history of our country was organized, which was attended by 14,000 people, and more than 4 million people took part in it through educational programs and the media.

The program for the development of theatrical arts was carried out in 2016-2018, which included 75 academic staff, 42 theater professionals and 170 students from theaters and universities from all over Uzbekistan. The result of the program was the emergence of new educational programs at the Institute of Culture and Art, as well as the creation of the play "Uzbek Hamlet", which was successfully held in Tashkent and on the London stage. The play was presented at the International Theater Symposium and was watched by over 2300 people in Uzbekistan and the UK.

Crafting Futures project launched in the second half of 2021.aims to educate young talents in the creative industries and crafts. The project has hosted a series of round tables, organized international residencies and, in collaboration with British partners including the University of Leicester, the Hunarmand Uzbek Crafts Association and the Human House art gallery, is developing new platforms and tools to support handicraft in the regions. In 2021, 30 women artisans received training in sustainable development and marketing. “In December of this year, we organized an exhibition of craftsmen Crafting Futures, where all project participants exhibited their products. As a result, they were able to attract both national and international contracts totaling more than US$70,000,” said Umida Nurzhanova, Marketing Manager of British Council.

In the coming years, the British Council will continue to work on the development of the education system in Uzbekistan and the popularization of the study of the English language, as well as support for the cultural and creative spheres within the framework of promoting projects to develop the creative economy.