Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- At the fifteenth plenary session of the Senate, the senators also considered the issue of sending a parliamentary request to the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan regarding urgent problems in providing jobs for graduates of educational institutions.

The main goal of the new system of “youth notebook”, “women’s notebook”, “iron notebook” introduced in our country is to provide employment for the population, especially youth.

In article 6 of the Law "On Employment of the Population", the main directions of state policy in the field of employment of the population determine the implementation of measures to ensure the employment of young people, especially in rural areas, graduates of general secondary and secondary specialized educational organizations, vocational schools, vocational colleges, technical schools, higher educational institutions.

Studies carried out by the Committee on Youth, Culture and Sports for Employment of Graduates of Educational Institutions have shown that currently there are some issues that need to be resolved to ensure employment of young people not only with secondary education, but also with higher education.

As of 1 January 2021, of the 19.1 million labor resources available in the republic, 14.8 million are economically active population. Of these, 13.2 million people have their own jobs, 1.6 million people need employment. More than 805.2 thousand of them are unemployed at the age of 16-30.

In addition, in 2021, a total of 560 thousand graduates will enter the labor market, that is, more than 103.1 thousand graduates from higher educational institutions, about 440 thousand from general education schools, and more than 18 thousand young people from academic lyceums and professional colleges. As a result, the need for youth employment in 2021 will amount to 1,365.2 thousand people.

In 131 higher educational institutions of the republic, 134 new areas of study in bachelor’s degree, 147 specialties in magistracy have been opened. The concept for the development of the higher education system until 2030 provides for bringing the level of youth enrollment in higher education to 50% by 2030. 

The first students enrolled in colleges and technical schools that began their activities in the 2020/2021 school year will graduate from these institutions in 2022.

As can be seen from the above, the provision of employment for graduates of educational institutions is becoming increasingly important every year.

However, at present, the republic has not introduced a system for studying the demand for qualified personnel with higher education in the context of specific industries. Due to insufficient attention to the requirements of the labor market when setting quotas for admission to higher educational institutions and training, most graduates do not work in their specialty. 27.9 thousand boys and girls included in the "youth notebook" are unemployed graduates.

In the Unified National Labor System, which is maintained by the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations, more than 116 thousand vacancies are registered related to the need for personnel at enterprises and organizations (in the city of Tashkent - 23 417, Tashkent region - 21 449, Andijan region - 10 634, Fergana region - 9 460, Samarkand region - 8 644, Bukhara region - 8 524). However, young people are not sufficiently aware of this system. In addition, the offered salaries for existing vacancies do not satisfy graduates who studied on a contract basis at a large expense. In particular, for 19,177 vacancies requiring higher education, salaries of up to 1 million soums are offered, for 26,754 vacancies - up to 2 million soums.

In 2020, 82% or 11.1 million people of the total number of people employed in the republic worked in the private sector, which indicates the need to further expand direct cooperation of business entities with higher educational institutions in the system of targeted training.

In the republic, the assignment of graduates studying on the basis of state grants to work is carried out by the commission one month before graduation from higher educational institutions. However, specific targeted measures to ensure the employment of students studying on a fee-paying basis have not been established.

Graduates studying in higher educational institutions on the basis of a state grant, in order to obtain a diploma, must bring a tripartite agreement (concluded between a student, a higher educational institution, an employer) from the place of work where they will work in the future. This process in many cases only serves to increase the number of fake certificates.

It was noted that youth entrepreneurship is also hampered by such issues as incomplete implementation of laws and legal guarantees necessary for entrepreneurship, bureaucracy, resistance from local leaders, corruption, nepotism, violation of the principles of social justice, lack of initial funding, untimely issuance of preferential credit funds, insufficient information about the market and business, the presence of cases of demolition of objects of entrepreneurial real estate.

The senators also stressed the need to study the positive experience of advanced foreign countries in terms of ensuring the employment of graduates. In particular, the senators noted the expediency of studying such programs as "Recruiting Centers" at US universities, "Lifetime Employment System" in Japan, Special Employment Service in the structure of each higher educational institution in Finland, "In a village with a diploma" in Kazakhstan.

Taking into account the above, a corresponding resolution of the Senate was adopted to send a parliamentary request to the Government on the issue of providing work for graduates of educational institutions.