On June 16, under the chairmanship of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, a meeting of video selectors dedicated to the priority tasks of the higher education system was held.
The education system is being consistently developed in order to educate young people to be knowledgeable and competent, to train experts in line with world development. The initial reforms in the field of higher education focused primarily on increasing coverage, improving the financial condition of institutes and universities, and providing financial support to professors and teachers.
In particular, in the last 3 years, the number of higher education institutions has increased from 65 to 117, the number of admissions has increased from 66,000 to 181,000. Their material and technical base has been strengthened. Within the framework of joint education programs with foreign countries, training of specialists in 64 new professions was launched. The salaries of professors and teachers were increased by an average of 3.5 times.
But changes in quality are still not noticeable. The Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education and rectors are not paying attention to the issue of improving the quality of education and organizing educational activities based on the needs of the market.
For example, 55% of today's 815 directions do not meet the requirements of the labor market. Higher education institutions are not provided with textbooks on about 2,000 subjects, and educational programs are based on the subjects and directions of 40 years ago. In addition, there are many cases of corruption in the system.
In general, 65 percent of the population said that the results of reforms in higher education are not noticeable.
Therefore, at the meeting, the head of our state indicated 4 priority tasks in the field:
The first is to increase the role of management boards of higher education institutions and expand the powers of departments.
The second is to adapt the educational process to market requirements, ensure its integration with production, and create an environment for the student to work on himself.
The third is to increase the scientific potential of higher education institutions, to develop science and innovation.
The fourth is to reduce red tape for faculty and students, and drastically reduce bureaucracy and corruption by digitizing the industry.
In order to effectively fulfill these tasks, it was emphasized that higher education institutions should be empowered to make independent decisions on academic and organizational management.
That is, from now on, the management board of the university will decide the curriculum and literature, the introduction of science programs, the teaching load of professors and teachers, and the determination of educational forms. Now the activity of each department is evaluated based on its scientific potential and indicators of attracting young people to scientific activities based on selection.
For this purpose, up to 5 doctoral students and up to 3 independent researchers are given the right to scientific supervisors who regularly publish articles in prestigious foreign publications, as well as defend their students' scientific works in a timely and quality manner. Also, one young scientist from each department will be sent abroad for an internship.
Rectors of higher education institutions were assigned the task of establishing research centers at the departments and providing them with educational and laboratory equipment and necessary equipment. It was emphasized the need to establish cooperation of each department with network enterprises, to create conditions for teachers to conduct practical research in enterprises.
It has been criticized that the gap between the directions of higher education and modern needs is too great. Today, there are 40,000 vacancies in the service sector, 38,000 in industry, 12,000 in construction, 10,000 in agriculture, and 4,000 in communication and information technology. But the graduates cannot meet this requirement either in terms of number or qualification.
The educational process is conducted based on the standards approved in 2001. However, during this period, the international standards of education were adopted twice. Some courses are not adapted to the needs of the times and the market, but to the professors and teachers. Students are also engaged in subjects that are not related to their major.
Therefore, officials were instructed to adapt state education standards to international standards, to transfer educational processes in all higher education institutions to the credit-module system. It was emphasized that it is necessary to review the content of the taught subjects, reduce redundant repetitions, increase the number of specialized subjects instead of free class hours, and create an opportunity for students to conduct independent scientific research. The task of optimizing professions requiring higher education and filling them with new professions necessary for economic sectors was set.
Special attention was paid to the issue of the scientific potential of higher education institutions.
It is known that in international experience, if the scientific potential is less than 70 percent, such a university is considered prestigious. This indicator is very low in our country. For example, the scientific potential of 24 higher educational institutions does not even reach 25%, and 19 of them do not have a single professor or doctor of science. In the last 30 years, only 208 professors received degrees abroad.
Therefore, the President instructed to increase the number of quotas for doctoral studies by 2 times from next year, and to increase it by 50% every year from the following years.
For this purpose, an additional 100 billion soums will be allocated from the budget every year. In addition, each network allocates another 10 billion soums for doctoral student quotas to universities in their field.
It was noted that it is necessary to directly purchase educational and scientific literature from foreign countries, to transfer about 4 million literature in the fund of higher education institutions to a fully electronic form. The task was to connect all libraries to a single system, to create round-the-clock access for students and researchers, and to introduce information programs that eliminate plagiarism.
It was noted that there is a lot of risk of bureaucracy and corruption in higher education institutions, and in order to put an end to it, it is necessary to completely digitize the organization and management of the educational process.
One of the most important tasks in the system is the admission process. This year, the number of admission quotas for higher education has increased by 13% compared to last year, reaching 181,000. More than 1,500,000 young people are expected to apply. At the meeting, tasks were given to conduct this process at a high level, ensuring quarantine and security requirements.
The issue of increasing the number of dormitory beds was also discussed. Today, there is a need for additional 149,000 student accommodation. In order to establish dormitories on the basis of private partnership with entrepreneurs, it was decided to allocate land on the territory of the higher education institution or near it through an auction. The first and second floors of these buildings will be given to entrepreneurs for business, and the upper floors will be affordable housing. Students will receive 50% of the expenses in this regard from the budget.
At the meeting, tasks were given to the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education to approve the list of educational directions and professions, to prepare textbooks and study guides, to recruit qualified personnel for the management of higher educational institutions. .
