Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekistan’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Science Erkin Turdimov has announced plans to bring order to the education system, strengthen monitoring of school attendance and improve teaching quality. He also identified patriotic education of young people as one of his priorities. The remarks were reported in a Facebook post by journalist Karimberdi Turamurod.
Speaking to the journalist, Turdimov said he did not currently plan to make frequent public appearances in the media or on social networks, preferring to begin work and deliver results first.
Responding to questions about corruption and problems in the education system, the minister acknowledged that he was still familiarising himself with the sector, having not previously worked in education. He said major revolutionary changes should not be expected, but he intended to establish order and improve the system's performance.
Addressing possible personnel changes at higher education institutions, Turdimov denied reports that five university rectors had been dismissed. He said he had not dismissed any university head so far, although four rectors had received strict warnings at a meeting.
According to the minister, a special working group has been established under the ministry to objectively assess the performance of university heads. As an example of problems with education quality, he cited an assessment of 10 students at one of the country's prestigious institutes. According to Turdimov, none of them managed to achieve even a satisfactory score on a standard test. He did not disclose the institution's name.
The minister also focused on school attendance. In his assessment, the national average currently stands below 50%. He cited the involvement of children in work and helping their parents, including trading at markets, as one reason for missing classes.
Other families, Turdimov said, prefer to send their children to private tutors or educational centres because they believe school education alone is insufficient to secure admission to universities.
The minister said that during his tenure in Syrdarya Region, school attendance had been raised to 80% through the involvement of internal affairs officers and his personal monitoring of schools. However, further improvement had proved difficult.
Turdimov believes attendance cannot be increased without improving teaching quality. A digital monitoring system is currently being tested in Tashkent, with plans to extend it to schools and classrooms across the country. According to the minister, it will make it possible to monitor the number of students attending classes and the work of teachers.
On problems with school textbooks, Turdimov said their content was handled directly by other institutions — the Education Centre and the Institute of Scientific Research. The ministry has already submitted proposals to these organisations to improve teaching materials, he added.
The minister identified youth development as another priority. He said it was necessary to foster self-esteem, national pride and respect among schoolchildren for Uzbekistan's state symbols — the flag, coat of arms and national anthem.
Turdimov also said he was studying China's and Japan's experience in youth education, particularly teaching materials used in schools in those countries.
In his view, young people should take pride in being citizens of Uzbekistan and show greater respect for the country's state symbols.
