Demand for public tertiary training 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.
“Larger training 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 complete scholarship he had been awarded. He defined his choice by citing the low high quality of training and an absence 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, increased training establishments have grow to be a retailer that points diplomas. The standard of training has decreased and curiosity in increased training amongst younger folks 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 grow to be a pupil. Entrance exams are organized as soon as in a 12 months solely and college students are chosen based mostly on the very best scores earned by abiturients.
On July 14, entrance exams for state universities started. This 12 months, there was a document low variety of candidates – 894,279 and 10 % of them have been denied seats within the examination for varied 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 12 months.
Reducing curiosity in conventional public tertiary training will be defined by a few components.
After the federal government change in 2016, the brand new administration’s reforms considerably impacted the training system. The variety of increased training establishments in Uzbekistan surged dramatically inside a couple of years. In 2016, there have been solely 77 increased training 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 current 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 increased training has decreased as a result of it’s straightforward to enroll. The big variety of non-public universities results in the concept that a college diploma is well 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 introduced. 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 needed 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 recognized as one of many high regional universities in Central Asia. “I believe it’s higher to work on myself now and grow to be a high specialist in my subject in 4 years than to wrestle discovering a job after college.”
“I bought 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 extremely tough to get a job.”
She additionally famous issues along 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 fairly than their information.”
Corruption within the increased training system causes widespread frustration, too. Dr. Azamat Akbarov, CEO of the Silk Highway Analysis Academy, categorized this corruption into two ranges. On the decrease degree, corruption permeates the tutorial course of, together with admissions, entrance exams, and research exams. As an illustration, native information shops ceaselessly report on folks being arrested for accepting bribes to confess candidates into state universities. On the increased degree, corruption entails inspections, accreditation, allocation of quotas for universities, and funding of instructional establishments.
Witnessing injustice on many ranges cheapens the worth of training within the eyes of unusual college students.
“After faculty, I used to be admitted to probably the most prestigious school (a pre-university training establishment) in my subject of curiosity,” stated Sardor Soib, 24, who at the moment works within the IT division of an area cellular operator firm in Tashkent. The faculty’s principal, he famous to exhibit the obvious status of the varsity, was additionally a senator within the Oliy Majlis, Uzbekistan’s parliament.
“However in observe all this meant nothing. We witnessed corruption, paper pushing, and completely different remedy for the wealthy and for unusual college students at an ‘elite’ establishment. After that, I made a decision to not proceed with conventional training and didn’t even apply to a college.”
Research and residing bills current one other impediment for a lot of who desire a school diploma. From 2019, college students pay both a research payment solely, or pay a better payment however obtain a month-to-month allowance. The bottom tuition payment nationwide is about at public universities for pedagogy, arithmetic, and science majors – at 6.3 million Uzbek soms ($500) a 12 months.
Personal universities, nonetheless, are accessible solely to these from households with substantial incomes. Whereas the typical annual tuition ranges from $3,000 to $5,000, learning medication at Central Asian College, for instance, prices $8,000 per 12 months.
“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 should pay $3,000-$4,000 per 12 months, will not be justified. For Uzbekistan, given how a lot common households earn, there ought 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 percent of latest college students with scholarships. College students didn’t pay a tuition payment and got a month-to-month allowance. Final 12 months, solely 18.4 percent of freshmen began their research with no fear of paying the payments.
Correspondence and night research college students don’t obtain any scholarships. They aren’t provided a spot at pupil dormitories nor can they get a study loan from the 2024-2025 educational 12 months onwards. Tashkent is more and more filled with college students as nearly all of universities (a minimum of 40 %) are situated within the capital metropolis. When newcomers can not discover an reasonably priced place to remain, many drop their studies 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 study 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 a million college students countrywide. As of 2024, their quantity has reached to over 1.3 million. That is the results of fast modifications with a concentrate on amount fairly than high quality of training.
“Larger training is already devalued amongst younger folks,” concludes Eldor. “Within the subject of economics, accounting, [and] data communication applied sciences, for instance, a university diploma will not be required. An individual with 2-6 months after all 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 non-public universities from 2023. Minister of Larger 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 school alumni. 5 non-public universities have already had their licenses taken away. Sharipov additionally mentioned 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, notably 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 Legislation Faculty at Tallinn College of Expertise for offering the chance to take part as a fellow in Caucasus and Central Asia Analysis Social Innovation: Improvement Help, Innovation and Societal Transformation venture that allowed her to work on this piece.
