On January 22, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev got acquainted with a presentation on priorities in the field of higher education and science.

As a pillar of our country’s development, special attention is being paid to this area. New universities have been opened, and the coverage of higher education has expanded significantly. Along with this, qualitative changes are being made in the educational process.

Last year, bachelor’s degree programs were optimized, and over 1,2 thousand educational programs aligned with foreign standards. In particular, the qualification requirements for graduates have been completely updated, and modern areas such as renewable energy sources, environmental engineering, and biosystems engineering have been opened.

A number of important measures are planned for the current year. In particular, more than a thousand educational programs will be improved based on university programs from the top 300 universities. 45 educational programs will be internationally accredited. The entire student body will be covered by the registrar’s offices, and 50,000 more students will be involved in dual education.

It is planned to increase the scientific potential in higher education to 55 percent and improve the qualifications of 5,000 teachers abroad. It is also planned to increase the number of advanced engineering schools to 25 and increase the cost of joint projects with industrial enterprises by 10 times.

At the presentation, the responsible persons reported on their plans for the future.

As you know, the principle of “test first, then choice” has been introduced when applying to universities, and state grants are now distributed based on students’ abilities. Registrar’s offices have been established in 40 universities that have become financially independent. As a result, the staff of deans and departments was reduced by 20 percent, and 30 types of services were digitized.

Based on this experience, instructions were given to create similar offices in other universities and implement a single digital system covering educational and scientific services.

To deepen the integration of learning and practice, dual education is being introduced. Currently, 15,000 students are attached to 957 enterprises. However, the interest of enterprises in this form of cooperation is still low. In this regard, it is proposed to stimulate enterprises involved in dual training.

At a video conference on June 20, 2024, the head of state instructed to create a technical university and advanced engineering schools in each region. To date, technical universities have been opened in Termez, Andijan and Karshi, as well as 8 engineering schools.

Projects for the establishment of technical universities in Nukus, Bukhara, Ferghana and Namangan were presented at the meeting. These projects include the opening of new areas, the introduction of foreign programs, the expansion of student participation in scientific and innovative work and the involvement of industrial partners in universities.

In general, due to the consolidation of 35 educational institutions, it is planned to create 22 technical universities, open 17 more engineering schools by the end of the year.

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