VZCZCXRO4839
RR RUEHDBU RUEHIK RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHNT #0331/01 0781310
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191310Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0631
INFO CIS COLLECTIVE
NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0142
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0200
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0160
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 0157
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 0160
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0191
RUEHNT/AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 0147
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 TASHKENT 000331 
 
SIPDIS SIPDIS 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD, DRL, AND INR 
ASTANA FOR ALMATY/USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM ECON ELAB KPAO OEXC PGOV PREL SCUL SOCI UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN'S SYSTEM OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION AT A 
GLANCE 
 
TASHKENT 00000331  001.2 OF 005 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: A contact recently provided a copy of a 
government document entitled "Index of the Ministry of Public 
Education for the 2007-2008 Academic Year," which provides a useful 
snapshot of the country's primary and secondary education system. 
The document shows that few students study at Russian-language 
schools; teachers are well-educated; and that the teacher to 
student ratio is relatively low.  It also hints at a declining 
birth rate since independence.  As the document is from last year, 
it does not reflect the transition from 9 to 12-year mandatory free 
secondary education, which is expected to be completed in 2009 
(septel).  Undoubtedly, the government has made primary and 
secondary education reform a major priority in recent years and has 
invested significant funds into refurbishing old schools and 
building new ones, particularly in rural regions.  Nevertheless, 
the quality of education still suffers due to low teacher salaries, 
the use of outdated teaching methodologies, and a lack of teaching 
resources.  Separately, contacts also have discussed the current 
state of Uzbekistan's system of higher education with Cultural 
Affairs Officer (septel).  End summary. 
 
 
 
FEW STUDENTS NOW STUDYING PRIMARILY IN RUSSIAN 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Interestingly, the document demonstrates that a wide 
variety of foreign languages are taught in Uzbek schools, including 
Russian, Karakalpak, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, and Turkmen.  However, 
the overall number of students studying at schools where the 
primary language of instruction is Russian has greatly declined 
since independence.  Last year, only 5.3 percent of students in 
Uzbekistan studied at Russian-language schools.  In contrast, 
nearly 89 percent of students studied at Uzbek-language schools 
(though an unknown percentage of those students continued to take 
Russian as a foreign language).  The statistics not only point to a 
general decline in the use of Russian in Uzbekistan since 
independence, but also suggests that Russian will continue to lose 
relevance over time. 
 
 
 
TEACHERS ARE RELATIVELY WELL-EDUCATED (BUT POORLY PAID) 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
 
 
¶3.  (U) The document also shows that teachers in Uzbekistan are 
relatively well-educated for a developing country.  Nearly 70 
percent of teachers at Uzbek primary and secondary schools have a 
university degree, while a majority of the remaining teachers 
either have some university education or received a teaching degree 
from a vocational school.  The document also shows a relatively low 
teacher to student ratio of approximately 12 students per each 
teacher. 
 
 
 
¶4.  (SBU) While teachers in Uzbekistan are relatively 
well-educated, they remain poorly paid.  In previous years, 
teachers could make as little as 40 dollars a month, and wages were 
not always paid on time.  Many teachers are forced to moonlight as 
private tutors, often for their own students, or in other jobs to 
make ends meet, which has a negative impact on the quality of 
education that Uzbek students receive.  Recently, teacher wages 
have increased, and most teachers now appear to make roughly 100 
dollars a month on average.  Nevertheless, the effect of this wage 
increase has been dulled by relatively high levels of inflation in 
recent years.  Corruption in the educational system, including 
grade-buying, remains endemic.  Another problem is that many 
teachers, who were either educated in the Soviet era or in the 
 
TASHKENT 00000331  002.2 OF 005 
 
 
early post-Soviet era, still employ outdated teaching 
methodologies.  There is also a dearth of quality Uzbek-language 
textbooks. 
 
 
 
TRYING TO DIVINE DEMOGRAPHIC DATA FROM LIMITED SOURCES 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Acquiring reliable demographic data is particularly 
challenging in Uzbekistan, where the government has refrained from 
carrying out an official census since independence (Note: Some 
observers contend the government fears a census because it would 
show that the ethnic Tajik portion of the population is much larger 
than officially reported or would reveal the true extent of labor 
outmigration from the country in recent years.  End note.) 
Interestingly, the Education Ministry document reports that there 
were approximately one million more students studying in grades 
five to nine in 2007-2008 than in grades one to four.  Along the 
same lines, the Ministry of Education recently reported that 
5,180,217 students are attending Uzbeks schools this academic year 
(septel), a decline from the 5,390,490 students who were reportedly 
attending Uzbek schools last year.  While it is difficult to draw 
reliable conclusions from such limited data, the document 
nevertheless hints at a gradually declining birth rate since 
independence (Note: Multiple other sources reported that the 
overall population of Uzbekistan grew last year and now stands at 
approximately 28.3 million, while 42 percent of the population is 
under 18 years old of age.  End note.)  The percentage of Uzbek 
children attending school is still believed to be almost 100 
percent. 
 
 
 
STATISTICS FROM MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DOCUMENT 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
 
 
¶6.  (U) Some of the more interesting statistics from the Ministry 
of Education document include: 
 
 
 
Number of Schools: 9,765 
 
 
 
Number of Students at Primary and Secondary Schools: 5,390,490 
 
- Students in grades 1 to 4: 2,071,785 
 
- Students in grades 5 to 9: 3,024,196 
 
- Students in grades 10 to 11: 294,509 
 
 
 
Number of Teachers at Primary and Secondary Schools: 450,327 (68 
percent of whom are women) 
 
 
 
Educational Background of School Teachers: 
 
- Number of teachers with university degrees: 308,560 (68.5 
percent) 
 
- Number of teachers who attended but did not complete university: 
20,847 (4.6 percent) 
 
TASHKENT 00000331  003.2 OF 005 
 
 
- Number of teachers who completed vocational school: 120,920 (26.9 
percent) 
 
 
 
Number of Pedagogical Institutes: 5 
 
- Number of pedagogical institute instructors: 2,683 
 
- Number of pedagogical institute students: 35,638 
 
 
 
Number of Teacher Training Colleges: 16 
 
 
 
Number of Schools by language of instruction: 
 
- Uzbek:      8,867 
 
- Russian:    739 
 
- Kazakh:     505 
 
- Karakalpak:  383 
 
- Tajik:      267 
 
- Kyrgyz:     62 
 
- Turkmen:    50 
 
 
 
(Note: As the number of schools by language listed above exceeds 
the total number of schools reported in the first line, it is most 
likely that schools with two primary languages of instruction are 
counted twice.  Contacts in Bukhara and Samarkand also have 
reported the closing of virtually all Tajik-language schools in 
those cities, though Tajik-language schools may operate elsewhere, 
and some Uzbek-language schools in Bukhara and Samarkand with a 
majority of Tajik-speaking students and teachers might still be 
officially counted as Tajik-language, even if the instruction is 
now mainly in Uzbek.  End note.) 
 
 
 
Number of Students by language of instruction 
 
- Uzbek: 4,792,685 (88.9 percent) 
 
- Russian: 287,414 (5.3 percent) 
 
- Karakalpak: 106,252 (1.9 percent) 
 
- Kazakh: 89,040 (1.65 percent) 
 
- Tajik: 92,523 (1.7 percent) 
 
- Kyrgyz: 12,637 (.23 percent) 
 
- Turkmen: 9,939 (.18 percent) 
 
 
 
Number of Specialized Schools for Disabled Children: 89 
 
- Schools for the blind: 13 
 
- Schools for the deaf: 18 
 
- Schools for the mentally handicapped: 53 
 
TASHKENT 00000331  004.2 OF 005 
 
 
- Schools for children with orthopedic problems: 1 
 
- Schools for children with severe speech problems: 1 
 
- Schools for "difficult children": 3 
 
- Total number of students at such schools: 18,923 
 
 
 
Number of Orphanages: 28 
 
- Number of children at orphanages: 2,790 
 
- Number of "family type" orphanages (where children live with 
foster parents): 5 
 
- Number of children at "family type" orphanages: 50 
 
 
Number of preschool organizations: 6,232 
 
- Number of preschool teachers: 57,737 
 
- Number preschool students: 554,171 
 
- Number of private daycare facilities: 60 
 
 
 
TRANSITION TO 12-YEAR FREE SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
 
 
¶7.  (U) The Ministry of Public Education reported that Uzbekistan's 
transition from 9-year to 12-year mandatory free secondary 
education would be fully implemented two years ahead of schedule in 
¶2009.  Students will now attend primary and secondary schools to 
grade 9, and then colleges (vocational schools) or lyceums 
(academic-focused high schools) for grades 10 through 12.  To 
accommodate the switch to a 12-year system, the government has 
invested enormous sums over the last decade to build approximately 
1,100 new colleges and lyceums, which are clearly visible to anyone 
who travels around the country.  The government also has spent 
large sums in recent years to refurbish old primary and secondary 
schools and to open new ones.  However, some residents complain 
that the government is pouring money into primary and secondary 
schools, whose graduates will not be able to find jobs or study at 
university upon graduation (septel). 
 
 
 
UZBEKISTAN'S SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶8.  (U) Contacts also have described the current state of higher 
education in discussions with Emboffs over the past year.  One of 
the major complaints reported by contacts is that the growth of the 
higher education system has not kept pace with population growth. 
Uzbekistan currently lags behind almost all of its Central Asian 
neighbors in university enrollment.  The World Bank recently 
reported that only 8 percent of Uzbek students who completed 
secondary school were accepted into Uzbek universities. 
 
 
 
COMMENT 
 
TASHKENT 00000331  005.2 OF 005 
 
 
------- 
 
 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Undoubtedly, the government has made primary and 
secondary education reform a major priority in recent years.  The 
expansion of mandatory free secondary education to 12 years is a 
positive development.  In recent years, the government also has 
poured significant funds into refurbishing old schools and building 
new ones, particularly in rural areas, where the need for new 
schools is greatest.  However, the quality of education in 
Uzbekistan still suffers due to the poor wages paid to teachers, 
which encourages corruption and forces many teachers to work second 
jobs.  Instead of devoting nearly all of the funds earmarked for 
education into constructing new schools, a more effective approach 
would be to use some of the money to raise teacher salaries, 
purchase resources (including books and computers), develop quality 
Uzbek-language textbooks, and promote more modern teaching 
methodologies. 
NORLAND