Demand for public tertiary schooling in Uzbekistan is slowly declining. This development is partly as a result of rising variety of native and worldwide non-public universities together with alternatives to review overseas, and partly as a result of diminishing status of a college diploma among the many youth.
“Increased schooling in Uzbekistan was higher ten years in the past,” stated 26-year-old Eldor from Samarkand, who determined to drop out of his grasp’s program at a public college regardless of the total scholarship he had been awarded. He defined his choice by citing the low high quality of schooling and a scarcity of job prospects for graduates.
“Demand for college graduates was excessive so 90-95 % of scholars knew what to do after commencement. Now, many don’t perceive what they need from their diploma or what to do after college,” Eldor stated. “For them, larger schooling establishments have change into a retailer that points diplomas. The standard of schooling has decreased and curiosity in larger schooling amongst younger individuals can also be reducing.”
The time period abiturient refers to people who’ve utilized or are about to use for college admission however haven’t but change into a scholar. Entrance exams are organized as soon as in a yr solely and college students are chosen primarily based on the best scores earned by abiturients.
On July 14, entrance exams for state universities started. This yr, there was a document low variety of candidates – 894,279 and 10 % of them have been denied seats within the examination for numerous causes. To match, in 2020, over 1.4 million candidates have been registered. Over the previous decade, the admission price has elevated from 9.6 % in 2015 to 18.7 % final yr.
Lowering curiosity in conventional public tertiary schooling may be defined by a few components.
After the federal government change in 2016, the brand new administration’s reforms considerably impacted the schooling system. The variety of larger schooling establishments in Uzbekistan surged dramatically inside a couple of years. In 2016, there have been solely 77 larger schooling establishments. Over the subsequent seven years, this quantity soared to 213 – a whopping 176.6 % enhance. This development was achieved by establishing new public universities and branches of present universities in new cities. Moreover, non-public universities have been permitted, and lots of worldwide universities opened campuses in Uzbekistan. At present, there are 116 public universities, 67 non-public establishments, and 30 campuses of overseas universities.
“Curiosity in larger schooling has decreased as a result of it’s straightforward to enroll. The big variety of non-public universities results in the concept a college diploma is definitely attainable,” stated Oybek Omonov, a 20-year-old graphic designer from Tashkent.
Not solely has the variety of universities elevated, however in 2017 correspondence research and night courses have been additionally launched. In correspondence research (sirtqi ta’lim), college students attend courses for a few weeks per semester solely and are anticipated to self-study for the remainder of the time. The reputations of each, in addition to demand for his or her graduates, are low.
“I didn’t get what I wished from college research,” continued Oybek, explaining why he dropped out of his correspondence research at Tashkent State College of Economics, which was as soon as acknowledged as one of many high regional universities in Central Asia. “I feel it’s higher to work on myself now and change into a high specialist in my discipline in 4 years than to wrestle discovering a job after college.”
“I received into Signal Language’s Pedagogy program at Tashkent State Pedagogical College for night research,” recounted Shahzoda Azizova from Kashkadarya, who additionally determined towards ending her research. “The research payment was unjustifiably excessive and the prospect of discovering a well-paying job after commencement was low. Within the areas, deaf colleges function solely within the facilities, and even there it is vitally troublesome to get a job.”
She additionally famous issues together with her program. “As a result of it was night research, courses have been typically not held,” Azizova stated. “Furthermore, they have been extra involved about college students’ uniforms and notes taken in lectures reasonably than their information.”
Corruption within the larger schooling system causes widespread frustration, too. Dr. Azamat Akbarov, CEO of the Silk Street Analysis Academy, categorized this corruption into two ranges. On the decrease stage, corruption permeates the academic course of, together with admissions, entrance exams, and research exams. As an example, native information shops incessantly report on individuals being arrested for accepting bribes to confess candidates into state universities. On the larger stage, corruption includes inspections, accreditation, allocation of quotas for universities, and funding of academic establishments.
Witnessing injustice on many ranges cheapens the worth of schooling within the eyes of unusual college students.
“After college, I used to be admitted to probably the most prestigious faculty (a pre-university schooling establishment) in my discipline of curiosity,” stated Sardor Soib, 24, who at the moment works within the IT division of an area cell operator firm in Tashkent. The school’s principal, he famous to display the obvious status of the college, was additionally a senator within the Oliy Majlis, Uzbekistan’s parliament.
“However in apply all this meant nothing. We witnessed corruption, paper pushing, and totally different therapy for the wealthy and for unusual college students at an ‘elite’ establishment. After that, I made a decision to not proceed with conventional schooling and didn’t even apply to a college.”
Examine and residing bills current one other impediment for a lot of who desire a faculty diploma. From 2019, college students pay both a research payment solely, or pay the next payment however obtain a month-to-month allowance. The bottom tuition payment nationwide is ready at public universities for pedagogy, arithmetic, and science majors – at 6.3 million Uzbek soms ($500) a yr.
Non-public universities, nevertheless, are accessible solely to these from households with substantial incomes. Whereas the common annual tuition ranges from $3,000 to $5,000, learning medication at Central Asian College, for instance, prices $8,000 per yr.
“The research payment at public universities is affordable, particularly given it’s not flat for all majors,” stated Eldor. “Nonetheless, the charges at campuses of worldwide universities, the place college students need to pay $3,000-$4,000 per yr, shouldn’t be justified. For Uzbekistan, given how a lot common households earn, there needs to be a $1,500 cap.” Something greater than that, he stated, was profiteering.
On the similar time, authorities scholarships have considerably decreased. A decade in the past, in 2015, the federal government supported 33 % of latest college students with scholarships. College students didn’t pay a tuition payment and got a month-to-month allowance. Final yr, solely 18.4 % of freshmen began their research with no fear of paying the payments.
Correspondence and night research college students don’t obtain any scholarships. They don’t seem to be supplied a spot at scholar dormitories nor can they get a research mortgage from the 2024-2025 tutorial yr onwards. Tashkent is more and more filled with college students as the vast majority of universities (no less than 40 %) are positioned within the capital metropolis. When newcomers can not discover an inexpensive place to remain, many drop their research and return to their residence areas.
One other wave of diversion from public universities is because of research overseas alternatives. The variety of youth who select this path has drastically elevated – from 28,100 in 2015 to 109,945 in 2021. Most of them research in neighboring Kyrgyzstan (38,857 in 2022), Kazakhstan (9,571 in 2022), Tajikistan (over 5,000 in 2023) and in Russia (48,700 in 2023) or South Korea (12,000 in 2023).
The sudden enhance within the variety of college graduates has decreased demand for them within the job market. Simply three years in the past, in 2021, there have been barely over half 1,000,000 college students countrywide. As of 2024, their quantity has reached to over 1.3 million. That is the results of fast modifications with a give attention to amount reasonably than high quality of schooling.
“Increased schooling is already devalued amongst younger individuals,” concludes Eldor. “Within the discipline of economics, accounting, [and] info communication applied sciences, for instance, a university diploma shouldn’t be required. An individual with 2-6 months in fact research and work expertise is extra valued within the labor market than a college graduate with no expertise and no stable information.”
Tashkent stopped issuing licenses to personal universities from 2023. Minister of Increased Training, Science, and Innovation Kungirotboy Sharipov defined that this measure was taken to forestall the proliferation of low-quality graduates and scale back the variety of unemployed faculty alumni. 5 non-public universities have already had their licenses taken away. Sharipov additionally talked about that 20 public universities are set to be closed as a result of solely 5-10 % of their graduates have been capable of finding employment.
College levels haven’t misplaced all their worth but. For a lot of, significantly these from rural areas, a university diploma continues to be one of many few avenues to enhance their lives. Nonetheless, not like a decade in the past when demand was excessive and provide restricted, a university diploma not ensures employment and the youth are skeptical of its necessity.
The creator thanks the TalTech Regulation Faculty at Tallinn College of Expertise for offering the chance to take part as a fellow in Caucasus and Central Asia Analysis Social Innovation: Growth Help, Innovation and Societal Transformation undertaking that allowed her to work on this piece.
