The key facts

  • Turdimov: “From now on, no school director will be summoned to meetings”
  • The minister proposed abolishing the ministry's licensing of private kindergartens and schools if permits from the SES, construction and fire services are already in place
  • Two major projects (higher and preschool education) and an electronic platform for requests were announced; 522 problematic issues related to construction documentation were identified in Samarkand region, 5 of them concern private educational institutions

Ban on summoning directors to meetings

First Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan — Minister of Preschool and School Education Erkinjon Turdimov announced a ban on involving school directors in meetings. “From now on, no school director will be summoned to meetings,” the minister emphasized. This was reported by the Telegram channel “Samarqand live” with reference to the meeting held in Samarkand. It was attended by heads and vice-rectors of universities, as well as officials of regional and district education departments and the vocational education administration.

Reconsidering licensing of private institutions

Turdimov noted the need to reconsider the procedure for licensing private kindergartens and schools. In his opinion, if the specialized agencies — the sanitary-epidemiological service, construction authorities and fire safety services — have already issued permits, separate licensing by the ministry becomes redundant. “If the SES, architecture, fire and other services have all inspected and given permission, on what basis does the ministry issue a license? What exactly does it check? In general, the procedure for issuing a license by the ministry when opening a private kindergarten or school should be abolished,” the minister stated. In connection with plans to implement two major projects — in the fields of higher and preschool education — proposals from entrepreneurs working in private education were heard.

Criticism of officials and new initiatives

At the meeting, officials who failed to solve the problems of private educational institutions were criticized. The minister warned that ministry employees who fail to cope with their work may be dismissed. The work of the construction administration of Samarkand region was also critically assessed: its head clarified that 522 problematic issues related to construction documentation have been recorded in the region, 5 of which relate to private educational institutions. In addition, the launch of a separate electronic platform for receiving requests from educational institutions was announced.

The minister's earlier statements

Earlier, Erkinjon Turdimov noted that in the education system it is more important to ensure compliance with existing rules and requirements than to adopt new laws. He also emphasized the importance of parents' participation in improving the quality of education.