Competition Committee Proposes Certification for Private Educational Centers

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — The Committee for Competition Promotion and Consumer Protection of Uzbekistan has proposed introducing a system of voluntary certification for non-governmental educational services, as well as developing unified rules for the provision of paid educational services by private educational organizations.

According to the agency's press service, over the past three years, the committee reviewed 2,070 citizen appeals related to the field of education. Notably, 96% of the complaints pertained to the activities of non-governmental educational institutions.

The most common reasons for citizen appeals included non-compliance of educational quality with consumer expectations, charging fees for services that were not actually provided, lack of complete information regarding contract terms and refund procedures, difficulties in terminating fixed-term contracts, and failure to fulfill promises made in advertisements.

Following the review of these complaints, refunds and recalculations amounting to approximately UZS 1 billion were executed in favor of consumers.

The committee noted that the current regulatory system for non-governmental education lacks sufficient oversight mechanisms and unified requirements for providing paid educational services, which in certain cases leads to violations of consumer rights.

The authority also studied international practices for ensuring the quality of educational services, pointing to the French Qualiopi system, the Swiss eduQua, and the Dutch NRTO as benchmark models for auditing and certifying private educational organizations.

To improve the private education market, the committee proposed introducing voluntary certification of educational services, formulating rules for the provision of paid educational services by private organizations, and establishing minimum requirements for their relations with consumers.

The committee believes that implementing these proposals will raise the quality of educational services, strengthen consumer protection, foster fair competition, and establish transparent, unified standards for market participants.

Relevant proposals have already been submitted to the authorized state bodies.