Education programmes and projects aimed at developing human capital in Uzbekistan

Legal framework for education programmes

Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan

The Constitution was updated on 1 May 2023 as a result of a referendum, introducing such additions as the introduction of State guarantees for the education and upbringing of children of preschool age, the compulsory completion of secondary education and its free provision by the State, and the acquisition by citizens of higher education at the State's expense on a competitive basis in State educational establishments.

The Constitution also introduced a separate article on the status of teachers in society, aimed at strengthening the recognition of teachers' work, protecting the honour and dignity of teachers, caring for their social and material well-being, and their professional development. This innovation will strengthen the social status of more than 685 thousand teachers working in the country, enhance their state support and ensure their professional development.

It is known that without improving the quality of human capital it will be difficult to ensure further economic growth, so channelling the necessary efforts and resources to improve the quality of education, training qualified personnel becomes a priority not only today but also tomorrow.

Uzbekistan-2030 Strategy

Presidential Decree No. UP-158 of 11 September 2023

By a presidential decree dated 11 September 2023, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev approved the "Uzbekistan-2030" Strategy, which covers five priority areas, where the goals for reforms in the education system have been identified and included as a priority:

1. Raising the preschool education system to a new level and ensuring full coverage of children.
2. Implementation of the programme "Enabling Environment for Education" in the system of general secondary education.
3. Raising the general secondary education system to a new level.
4. Raising the status of pedagogical staff, developing their knowledge and qualifications in accordance with international standards.
5. Wide involvement of the private sector in the development of general secondary education.
6. Training students in modern knowledge and skills through the development of the vocational education system.
7. Expanding the coverage of higher education, improving the quality of training of specialists with higher education.
8. Improving the organisational and managerial activities of higher educational institutions, strengthening their material and technical support.
9. Enrichment of fundamental research with new directions based on modern requirements.
10. Strengthening applied research in the most rapidly developing sectors of the economy, introduction of the cluster system "enterprise - university - scientific organisation".
11. Increasing the share of young researchers, supporting their scientific research.
12. broad introduction of innovation activities in all directions, support for scientific research and innovation initiatives

Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan from 21.02.2024 №DP-37 "On the state programme for the implementation of the strategy "Uzbekistan-2030" in the "Year of Support for Youth and Business". (Presidential Decree No. DP-37 of 21 February 2024)   

As part of improving the quality of life of citizens and creating decent conditions for each person to realise his or her potential, the following are planned for 2024:

• Introduce the system of Presidential and specialised schools for the assessment of knowledge in an additional 1,000 general secondary educational institutions and increase the share of practical training in subjects to 60%.
• Provide training in modern professions for 7,500 young men and women and cover the examination costs of 6,000 young people who have achieved high scores in foreign languages in international examination systems.
• Take measures to attract 10 million people to mass sports by organising marathons and sports competitions.

New Uzbekistan Development Strategy for 2022-2026.

Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. UP-60 of 28.01.2022

The development of the education system in our country has been recognised as an important State policy, and the tasks of reforming this key sphere, which determines the future of the State, are being addressed step by step. One of the seven priority areas of the New Uzbekistan Development Strategy for 2022-2026 is the development of human capital. Goals 43 and 44 of the Strategy envisage, among other things, improving the quality of education in schools and achieving a world-class level of knowledge and qualifications of teaching staff.

The main measures envisaged in the Strategy include actions to increase the number of young people enrolled in higher education to 50 per cent by 2030 and to improve the quality of education.

Laws "On Education" and "On Preschool Education"

(Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan of 23.09.2020 No. LRU-637, Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan of 16.12.2019 No. LRU-595)

The Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Education", adopted in 2020, clearly formulated the goals of our country in the direction of improving the education system. This document defines the basic principles, the structure of education, and the types and forms of educational institutions.

The Preschool Education Law, passed in 2019 as part of the 2019-2023 education plan, has significantly increased the number of children attending preschool, from less than 30 per cent in 2017 to more than 70 per cent in 2023.

Resolutions and Decrees in the field of secondary education

Presidential Decree No. DP-79 of 26 May 2023 on measures for the effective organization of the activities of the Ministry of Preschool and School Education and the organizations in its system. The following documents have been approved as part of this Decree:

·      Priority areas of activity of the Ministry of Preschool and School Education;

·      Programme of organisational changes in the system of the Ministry of Preschool and School Education;

·      Organisational structure of the Ministry of Preschool and School Education

·      Organisational structure of the Agency for Preschool Education, according to Annex No. 4;

·      Organisational structure of the Agency for Specialised Educational Institutions;

·      A road map for deepening reforms in preschool and school education and transforming the system's activities;

·      List of functions of the Ministry of Preschool and School Education and organisations in its system to be transferred to the private sector.

By the Resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated 25.01.2021. No. RP-4963 "On measures to support research activities and introduction of continuous professional development system in the sphere of national education", approved:

• "Roadmap for further improvement of the system of continuous professional development of public education employees;
• Main target indicators to be achieved as a result of continuous professional development of public education workers in 2021-2025;
• Target Programme for the improvement of the activity of the A. Avloni Research Institute for Studying Problems and Determining Prospects of Public Education. A. Avloni;
• Target indicators of the A. Avloni Research Institute for the Study of Problems and Prospects of Public Education. A. Avloni Research Institute for the Study of Problems and Prospects of Public Education;
• Plan-schedule of advanced training of the Institute's employees in leading scientific centres of foreign countries.

Two main normative documents have been adopted in the sphere of higher education in the republic.

Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan from 08.10.2019 №DP-5847 "On approval of the Concept of development of higher education system of the Republic of Uzbekistan until 2030"

The Concept for the Development of the Higher Education System of the Republic of Uzbekistan until 2030 defines the development of public-private partnerships in higher education, the creation of state and non-state higher education institutions in the regions, and the creation of a healthy competitive environment in the sector. Over the past short period of time, fundamental reforms to improve the quality of education in this area have been carried out in implementing this Concept.

The Resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated 03.07.2023 No. RP-200 "On measures on effective organisation of state management in the sphere of higher education, science and innovations within the framework of administrative reforms" decided that higher education programmes in Uzbekistan will be revised on the basis of programmes of leading foreign universities, to abolish attestation and state accreditation of educational organisations and to introduce a system of their comprehensive and special state accreditation, as well as to introduce international accreditation. )

Human capital and education in Uzbekistan

Human capital is the knowledge, skills and health that people invest in and accumulate during their lives, enabling them to fulfil their potential as contributing members of society. Investing in people through better nutrition, health care, quality education, job creation and skills training contributes to human capital development, which is key to eradicating extreme poverty and building more socially cohesive societies.

Education is central and plays a key role in the process of investment in human capital, as it is education that shapes the labour force to be skilled and productive.

The World Bank's Human Capital Index and the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Human Development Index are the main sources for studying and analysing the progress of human capital development.

Human capital indicator The World Bank measures the amount of human capital that a child born today can attain by age 18. It reflects the productivity of the next generation of workers compared to a benchmark of full education and full health.

The indicator includes three components: survival rate, school life expectancy adjusted for learning outcomes and health status. According to the latest report, Uzbekistan's Human Capital Index in 2020 is estimated at 62 per cent, contributing to a ranking of 57th among 174 countries in the world and 5th among CIS countries. This means that a child born in 2020 can develop his or her potential productivity as a future worker up to 62 per cent, provided he or she is fully educated and in good health.

(Source: The Human Capital Index 2020 Update : Human Capital in the Time of COVID-19,

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a comprehensive comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education and standard of living for countries around the world. The index is used to identify differences between developed, developing and underdeveloped countries, and to assess the impact of economic policies on quality of life.

A list of countries by Human Development Index is included in the Human Development Report from the United Nations Development Programme, based on estimated data. Countries are divided into four broad categories based on their HDI: very high, high, medium and low levels of human development. The Republic of Uzbekistan is in the group of countries with a high level of human capital.

According to the Human Development Index report for 2023, Uzbekistan ranked 106th among 191 countries in the world and 8th among CIS countries, with a value of 0.727, which allowed it to enter the group of countries with a high level of human development. Over the past 20 years, the country managed to increase its rating by 11 positions from 0.607 to 0.727.

Source: Human Development Report 2023/2024, Breaking the gridlock, Reimagining cooperation in a polarized world

Table 1: Human Development Index and its components for 2022

Source:Human Development Report 2023/2024, Breaking the gridlock, Reimagining cooperation in a polarized world 

Education index

The Education Index is a strand of the Human Development Index and assesses access to education as measured by the average expected duration of schooling for school-age children and the average duration of schooling for adults. Uzbekistan ranked 80th in the Education Index with values of 12.0 in the expected duration of schooling indicator and 11.9 in the average duration of schooling.

According to the Gender Inequality Index, Uzbekistan has 0.227 and is ranked 56th. In terms of gender, women with at least secondary education account for 99,9 %, while all men (100 %) have secondary education. Accordingly, this also affects the economic activity rate of the population - women account for 44,9 %, while men account for 70,9 %.

Table 2: Gender Inequality Index and Education, 2022

Source: (Human Development Report 2023/2024, Breaking the gridlock, Reimagining cooperation in a polarized world)

Everyone in Uzbekistan is guaranteed equal rights to education, irrespective of sex, race, ethnic background, language, religion, social origin, beliefs, or personal or social status. In terms of level of education, the majority of the population under 25 years of age and over have special secondary or vocational education - women 42,6 % and men 33,8 %. More men 19,9 % and women 13,1 % have higher education. The literacy rate in the country is 100 %.

Figure 1: Educational attainment of the population aged 25 and over (based on sample household survey results, 2021, %)

Source: Statistical Agency under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan, which has made significant progress in eliminating illiteracy and providing accessible education for all citizens, maintains the dominance of state funding in education, which is an undoubted plus.

Preschool education in Uzbekistan

As a rule, investment in children's education starts from preschool age. In this regard, starting from 2017, the Government of Uzbekistan started to pay special attention to expanding preschool enrolment.

In 2017, only 25,7 % of children aged 3-6 years were enrolled in preschool educational institutions, compared to 60 % in Kazakhstan and 85 % in Russia.

As a result of sustained education reforms, the preschool enrolment rate increased from 25,7 % to 68,3 % in 2022. The education sector in the SDGs is reflected in SDG Target 4, "Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all". For SDG Indicator 4.2.2: Participation rate of children in organised learning (one year before the official primary school entry age) increased from 30,8 % in 2017 to 84,2 % in 2022, including a slightly lower rate of 83,4 % for girls and 85 % for boys.

Table 3: Preschool education in Uzbekistan

Source: Statistical Agency under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan

In order to consistently continue reforms in this area, it is planned to increase the coverage rate of preschool education to 80 %, create more than 7,000 new non-State preschools and create an additional 1.2 million pupil places in the public education system as part of the development strategy to 2026. The positive experience of the Republic of Karakalpakstan and Khorezm province in providing free meals for primary school pupils in schools in all other provinces and the city of Tashkent is also being implemented from the 2023/2024 school year.

General secondary education in Uzbekistan

According to UNICEF data, school enrolment rates in Uzbekistan are relatively high. In particular, as of 2021, total primary education coverage (grades 1-4) was 98,1 %. The total enrolment rate for secondary education (grades 5-11) in 2021 was 88,2 %.

According to the data of the Statistics Agency, at the beginning of the 2023/2024 school year there are 117 primary schools, 10,546 general secondary schools and more than 87 other educational organisations. The number of students in general secondary educational organisations at the beginning of the 2023/2024 school year was 6,645.1.

Public spending on education in Uzbekistan reached 4,6% of GDP in 2019, which is above the average of countries with per capita incomes at the bottom of the middle-income group. About 75 % of these resources are allocated to secondary education alone. (Source: Towards a Prosperous and Inclusive Future Uzbekistan: Second Systematic Country Diagnostic, World Bank)

Higher education

The trend of growth in the number of higher education institutions, including branches of foreign and private universities, the increase in state quotas for higher education, as well as the allocation of separate quotas for girls from low-income families and secondary education graduates with physical disabilities has a positive impact on increasing the coverage of young people with higher education.

The number of higher education institutions for the 2022-2023 academic year reached 132, including over 41 non-state foreign higher education institutions. Thus, in the 2022/2023 academic year, compared to the 2018/2019 academic year, their number has almost doubled.

Non-state higher education organisations carry out educational activities in accordance with state standards and requirements. In 2022 alone, their number increased by 24 units, and, compared to the 2018/2019 academic year, their number increased by 40 units (41 times).

Table 4: Number of state, non-state and foreign universities

Source: Statistical Agency under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan

According to the Human Capital Index, the overall tertiary enrolment rate is 16 %, lower than the regional average (69 %) and the income group average (24 %). A World Bank report estimates tertiary enrolment in Uzbekistan as the lowest in the Europe and Central Asia region. (Source: Towards a Prosperous and Inclusive Future Uzbekistan: Second Systematic Country Diagnostic, World Bank)

It should be noted that additional opportunities have been created for the education of young women and girls. Since 2021, individual grants have been allocated annually for more than 3,000 girls. A new system of allocating funds from the State budget to banks to finance educational loans on favourable terms for women's education on a paid-contract basis in higher education institutions has been introduced. All of the above measures have contributed to the development of the country's education system (SDG 4). The Development Strategy 2026 also aims to increase the enrolment rate in higher education to 50 % and the number of non-state higher education institutions to at least 50.

Thus, Uzbekistan has every chance to support its own competitiveness by modernising its education and professional retraining systems. While working to improve the educational infrastructure, it is also necessary to create opportunities for self-fulfilment of highly qualified specialists in Uzbekistan.

Maintaining such a basic component of human potential as the level of education and implementing policies to develop the education system is aimed at significantly reducing the risk of losing human capital. Increasing the share of people with high intellectual potential in the society allows increasing labour productivity in the economy, significantly reducing the risk of lower incomes of the next generation, determining the possibilities for increasing the competitiveness of the economy, increasing the productivity of the labour force and overcoming "poverty traps". Human capital is an important asset for companies and the economy as a whole, and its development and effective utilisation are key tasks for achieving success and sustainable development.