Reforms in Higher Education System of Uzbekistan Aimed at Preparing Competitive Personnel

At the current stage of development, the higher education system of Uzbekistan is undergoing significant institutional changes. As part of the administrative reform and with the aim of integrating higher education and scientific-innovative activities, the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education has been transformed into the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Innovation. The Ministry operates the Center for Higher Education Development Research, which analyzes qualification requirements and educational programs and studies advanced foreign experiences in higher education development.

In 2019, the Concept for the Development of the Higher Education System of the Republic of Uzbekistan until 2030 was adopted, laying the foundation for the development of public-private partnerships in higher education, promoting the republic's universities in international rankings of internationally recognized organizations (QS, THE, Academic Ranking of World Universities). This document has become a strategic program for the development of the university system and has defined key development indicators. Thanks to systemic measures, two universities in the country – the National Research University "Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers" and the National University of Uzbekistan named after Mirzo Ulugbek – were included for the first time in the TOP-1000 best universities in the world (QS World University Rankings-2025).

Special attention within the ongoing reforms is paid to the implementation of advanced standards. Since 2020, all universities in the country have been gradually transitioning to a credit-modular system based on the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS). This has ensured the flexibility of educational programs and created the possibility for students to choose their courses. In turn, the implementation of the credit-modular system promotes the active expansion of the practice of double degree programs, allowing students to receive diplomas from both a university in Uzbekistan and a partner university in another country.

The most important achievement in higher education is the increase in coverage of higher education. In 2023, the level of higher education coverage reached 42%, which is almost five times higher than the comparable figure in 2016 (9%). Today, the number of students in universities is 1.3 million. The number of universities in the country has increased from 77 in 2016 to 213 in 2023 (97 of which are non-state or foreign universities). To support gifted youth, since 2021, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan has introduced a grant for 200 applicants who scored the highest marks in entrance exams for full-time bachelor's programs at state universities. From the 2022/2023 academic year, 1,000 grant places have been allocated in foreign universities and their branches, as well as non-state universities in the republic. Additionally, from this academic year, 2,000 state grants are being allocated for women without higher education who received recommendations from the Family and Women's Committee, in addition to the general parameters.

One of the important innovations is the provision of academic and financial autonomy. The right of universities to academic freedom, self-governance, and freedom of research and teaching was enshrined at the level of constitutional guarantee (Article 51). Today, academic and financial autonomy has been granted to 40 universities. At the same time, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Innovation is given the right to expand the list in agreement with the Republican Council for Higher Education and the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Providing academic and financial autonomy allows universities to independently decide on issues such as the approval of curricula and programs, qualification requirements, determining the duration and cost of education, introducing part-time, distance, and evening forms of education, implementing academic mobility, opening new and closing existing educational directions and specialties, etc. These measures have expanded autonomy and drastically reduced state administrative management.

Ensuring the integration of higher education, science, and innovation is also a key task of modern reforms. The concept of "University 3.0" which involves a close connection between education, science, innovation, and the commercialization of research results in higher educational institutions, is being implemented in the country's universities. As a result, the scientific potential of universities has reached 40%, and the number of articles in the Scopus and Web of Science databases has reached 3,574. By the end of 2023, the volume of commercialization of research results by universities and scientific organizations amounted to 270.6 billion soums, and 17 spin-off companies specializing in scientific-intensive products were created.

Significant attention is paid to improving the infrastructure and material-technical base of universities. The capacity of university buildings increased from 274,072 in 2016 to 395,433 in 2023. The level of dormitory coverage for students wishing to live there reached 52% in 2023 (28% in 2019). Conditions are also being created for the construction of new dormitory capacities based on public-private partnerships.

At the same time, the work on improving the higher education sector continues today. Among the main implemented measures, the following directions should be noted:

Firstly, measures are being taken to improve the quality of training specialists with higher education. During the first half of 2024, the authorized body in the field of higher education developed and approved 183 qualification requirements for bachelor's degree programs, taking into account the programs of universities included in the TOP-300. Thirty-eight educational programs from six universities underwent international accreditation. Additionally, to deepen the ongoing reforms in the education sector and organize the activities of educational institutions based on advanced foreign practices, the Project Office "Center for Projects in the Field of Education" was created. This project office is tasked with enhancing the personnel potential in the education sector and raising the quality of educational services to international standards. As part of improving the quality of education, the Project Office is conducting systematic measures. In particular, this year, bachelor's degree programs have been optimized by 40% (from 306 to 183), and master's degree specialties by 15% (from 625 to 528). The issue of optimizing deans' offices and other administrative structures through the digitization of the educational process in universities is being worked on.

Secondly, the relationship between higher and professional educational institutions is being strengthened, which contributes to the continuity of education. The subjects of the first and second years of university will be integrated with technical schools. Within the framework of educational reforms, it is planned to bring technical school diplomas in line with international standards. In particular, it is planned to issue diplomas corresponding to the international classifier to those who graduated from technical schools with good grades. Additionally, it is planned for students in technical schools to acquire sufficient professional qualifications for continuing their education at universities. Consequently, technical school graduates will have the opportunity to continue their education at the university from the second or third year.

Thirdly, employers are actively involved in the process of training highly qualified specialists. To this end, qualification standards for more than 5,000 professions are being developed. On the initiative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the National Qualifications Development Institute will be created to develop the necessary qualification requirements in cooperation with employers.

In some applied areas of higher education, employers actively join the educational process. For example, in engineering education, based on the "industry – enterprise – university" chain, each university will be assigned an industrial partner. Engineering universities plan to open departments at corresponding partner enterprises and implement dual education. These departments will be an excellent place for combining theory with practice. In turn, partner enterprises will directly participate in training future personnel.

Reforms in the higher education sector will create a healthy competitive atmosphere in the educational services market, implement advanced higher education standards, raise the content of higher education to a qualitatively new level, and establish a system for training highly qualified personnel.