Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Thirteen specialists from the Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia will travel to Uzbekistan in the new academic year as part of the humanitarian project Klass! (Zo'r!). For the first time in Uzbekistan, the initiative will include the Herzen Pedagogical Olympiad for school students.
The project aims to improve the quality of teaching Russian and general education subjects in Russian at schools across Uzbekistan.
Tatyana Gdalina, Director of the Centre for Work with Talented Youth and Applicants at Herzen University, said the Olympiad would help identify school students with teaching abilities. Winners and prize-winners will be eligible for additional points for individual achievements when applying to Herzen University and its Tashkent branch, as well as receive valuable prizes.
The competition will consist of three sections: Russian language proficiency, psychological and pedagogical skills, and subject knowledge. Finalists will continue to compete in an in-person final stage.
The pilot season of the Olympiad is planned to be held in Tashkent. Organizers expect at least 500 upper-secondary school students from different regions of Uzbekistan to take part.
The project’s specialists will organize the Olympiad while conducting professional development courses for teachers over three months in Tashkent, Gulistan, Ferghana, Jizzakh, Termez, Samarkand and other cities across the country.
Yulia Komarova, Adviser to the Rector of Herzen University on the Internationalization of Education and head of the Klass! project, said annual visits by Russian international methodology specialists had become part of efforts to promote and support the Russian language abroad. According to her, the project has received recognition at the intergovernmental level.
The Klass! (Zo'r!) project has been implemented by Herzen University since 2020 with the support of Russia’s Ministry of Education. Its activities include both teaching and professional development for educators.
In 2025, around 50 interactive events were held for Uzbek teachers as part of the project. Herzen University specialists conducted nearly 300 individual and group consultations for Russian language teachers and attended 54 Russian language and literature lessons at schools in Uzbekistan.
Career guidance events involving university specialists were held at 138 educational institutions. School students were introduced to pedagogical universities in Uzbekistan and Russia, as well as opportunities within Russia’s academic Olympiad system.
In the current academic year, the specialists also plan to use Russian grammar textbooks for grades 2–11 in Uzbekistan’s schools developed by Herzen University. Work with these materials will be incorporated into teacher professional development programmes.
