Uzbekistan launches new national school curriculum programme

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekistan's Ministry of Preschool and School Education on 18 August launched a new National Curriculum that, once implemented, is expected to cover about 7 million students across the country.

The curriculum is aimed at improving the quality of education and bringing it closer to international standards. Its implementation will be carried out jointly with Cambridge University Press and Assessment with support from UNICEF, UNICEF Uzbekistan said.

The new curriculum sets learning objectives for all students in primary, lower secondary and secondary education.

One of its main objectives is to improve academic performance and establish educational pathways that enable students to achieve results comparable with the international Advanced Level (A Level) standards.

The revised curriculum was developed over two years with the participation of 147 national and 30 international specialists. More than 260 working meetings and consultations were held during the process.

According to UNICEF, for the first time, international subject specialists worked jointly with the relevant national subject teams throughout the entire process. International specialists had previously been involved in curriculum development, but such cooperation had not covered all subjects and all grades simultaneously.

The revised curriculum is based on a competency-based approach and the principles of inclusion and equality. It applies the Universal Design for Learning approach, intended to make educational content accessible to all students, including children with disabilities as well as talented and highly motivated pupils.

The curriculum sets clear learning objectives and uses a spiral approach, under which knowledge and skills are developed progressively as students move between grades. It also strengthens links between different subjects and places greater emphasis on the practical application of knowledge in everyday life.

The new learning materials will include digital literacy, environmental and “green” education, as well as social and emotional competencies. According to UNICEF, this should help students prepare for future changes while supporting Uzbekistan's sustainable development priorities.

First Deputy Minister of Preschool and School Education Sherzod Karimov said the curriculum reform was part of a broader transformation of the education system. The reform also includes improvements to assessment mechanisms, teaching practices, textbooks and learning materials.

As part of the reform, methodological guides have been developed for teachers and school leaders. They cover the organization of the learning process, formative assessment, inclusion, gender equality and maintaining high expectations for every student.

UNICEF Representative in Uzbekistan Rehina Castijio said the development of the new curriculum had become a nationwide process bringing together national experts, teachers and organizations with international experience.

She said the outcome of the reform would depend on the further implementation of the curriculum across all grades and improvements in the quality of education throughout the country.

Steve King, head of education reforms at Cambridge University Press and Assessment, said the Republican Center for Education and subject working groups had led the curriculum's development, while Cambridge and UNICEF provided international data, research findings and practical experience.

The new National Curriculum was developed by the Republican Center for Education under the Ministry of Preschool and School Education as part of the SmartED project. The project is financed by the Islamic Development Bank, the Arab Coordination Group and the Global Partnership for Education.

The material also notes that the National Curriculum was adopted by the Republican Center for Education in 2020, with the full transition of schools to the curriculum expected by 2025. UNICEF and the former United States Agency for International Development (USAID) supported its development.

As part of a related education improvement project, the localized Cambridge University Press textbooks for computer science and IT for grades 5–11 and English for grades 1–11 began being introduced in 2021.