Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Tashkent is hosting the World Conference on Early Childhood Education and Education. On 15 November, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev took part in the opening of the conference.

The conference is aimed at expanding international cooperation in defining policies in the field of preschool education until 2030. UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay, ministers and representatives of about 150 countries, officials of international organizations take part in its work.

At the beginning of his speech, the head of state touched upon the situation with early childhood education and upbringing in the world, noting that millions of children have limited access to primary education, specialists in the field need to join forces to increase its coverage. It was noted that the creation of decent living conditions for the population of our country on the basis of the principle "a person, his honor and dignity, rights and interests are the highest value" was determined as a priority policy in Uzbekistan.

- In this regard, we attach particular importance, first of all, to the manifestation of attention and care for young people and children, their physical and spiritual education.

By developing children from an early age, creating favorable conditions for their learning, we form a solid foundation for the full self-realization of young people in the future. For investments aimed at achieving this noble goal will definitely return with multiple returns, Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.

Even in the recent past, the rate of enrollment in preschool education for children in our country was only 27 percent. Virtually all preschool educational institutions lacked modern technology and teaching aids, and their buildings were in need of repair.

Therefore, the head of our state pays special attention to this link in the education system, initiating a policy of educating a harmoniously developed generation from an early age. According to the decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan from 30 September 2017, the Ministry of Preschool Education was established. Large-scale work has begun on the construction and repair of kindergartens, the introduction of advanced forms and methods of education.

Favorable conditions have been created for the active participation of the private sector in this process. Kindergartens for each pupil began to receive subsidies from the State budget. Thousands of family kindergartens have been set up in remote and hard-to-reach settlements.

As a result, in recent years the number of kindergartens in our country has increased 6 times. The number of educators and teachers increased by 3 times and reached 160 thousand. Thus, the number of children receiving education and upbringing in kindergartens increased from 600 thousand to 2.8 million, their coverage reached 70 percent.

The head of our state also touched upon the issue of the continuity of generations in the education system. It is emphasized that the great scientists and thinkers who lived in our country made a great contribution to the development of the First and Second Eastern Renaissance.

- We raise the issue of building the foundation for the Third Renaissance in our country as a strategic task and bring it to the level of a national idea.

The systems of preschool, school, higher and secondary special education, scientific and cultural institutions are four interconnected links of the future Renaissance. We consider kindergarten teachers, school teachers, professors and teachers, scientific and creative intelligentsia to be the four most important pillars in the formation of the era of the new Renaissance, the President said.

In this process, Uzbekistan is following the path of harmonization of its national experience and the best world achievements. This work will be consistently continued with the adoption of all necessary measures in order to cover 80 percent of children with preschool education by 2025.

The President of Uzbekistan put forward important initiatives to expand international cooperation in the field. In particular, it was proposed to hold this international conference on a regular basis in order to effectively address the problems of quality early childhood education at the global level, develop joint operational solutions and systemic approaches.

An initiative was put forward to create a UNESCO Regional Center in Tashkent for the purpose of systemic coordination of efforts in the field of education in accordance with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The need to develop a comprehensive program for the implementation of projects and research in conjunction with the World Organization for Early Childhood Education for the preparation of new teaching methods and manuals was indicated.

It is proposed to create an International Community of Educators in order to exchange best practices, modern interactive teaching methods, practical knowledge and skills in this direction.

The importance of including the issue of upbringing and education of young children as one of the main topics of the common agenda of the UN Future Summit in 2024 was emphasized.

The conference continued in the format of panel sessions. As a result of the conference, the Tashkent Declaration will be adopted.