Uzbekistan transfers 17 higher education institutions to the Ministry of Higher Education

The President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, announced plans to increase support for private school education during a meeting with teachers and mentors before their professional holiday. These new initiatives were presented by the presidential press secretary, Sherzodom Asadov.

The need to expand school infrastructure is driven by the increasing number of students. This year, about 800,000 children entered the first grade, which is 10% more than the previous year. It is projected that the number of first-graders will reach one million by 2030.

To increase the number of places in educational institutions, it is planned to create an additional 180,000–200,000 places annually under investment programs. Special support measures will be provided to entrepreneurs willing to open private schools in 52 districts where existing schools experience particularly high demand.

Entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to take out loans to establish non-state schools at an annual interest rate of 10% for a term of seven years. Furthermore, founders of private educational institutions will receive compensation of 15% of equipment costs, up to a maximum of 1.5 billion soms. The state will also cover half of the costs associated with obtaining international accreditation.

Additional incentives will be introduced for property owners who provide their premises to schools; they will receive tax benefits on land and property. It is also planned to provide free leases of state buildings in all districts for school needs for up to 10 years.

Changes will also affect families paying for private school tuition. The tax deduction for parents will be doubled from 3 million to 6 million soms. Tax authorities will be obliged to organize the automatic refund of part of the income tax at the end of each month. According to the president, these measures will allow families to save from 6 to 7 million soms annually.

All these steps are aimed at expanding the private sector's participation in the field of school education amid the expected growth in the number of school-age children and the increased demand for new school places.

It is planned that citizens' accumulated pension savings will be transferred to investment companies for management after being moved from the National Bank to the Pension Fund.

Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Murodbek Atajanov, executive director of the extra-budgetary Pension Fund under the Ministry of Economy and Finance, announced this on September 25 at a press conference dedicated to the pension reform project.

According to Atajanov, in the initial stage, savings will be transferred to the Pension Fund. Furthermore, the system of funded pensions and the Pension Fund itself will retain the status of separate legal entities. They will have independent governing councils and management bodies, as well as separate strategic and institutional policies.

It is planned that representatives of local authorities, businesses, and foreign experts will join the management council. This body, not the Ministry of Economy and Finance, will make decisions regarding the management of pension funds and investment policy, Atajanov specified.

Simultaneously, a competition among investment managers is planned, who will subsequently be entrusted with managing the accumulated funds. The head of the Pension Fund noted that initially, the funds need to be consolidated in one place.

The pension reform project provides for the transition of the funded pension system from the National Bank to the Pension Fund, which will begin in 2027.

According to the project, funds in citizens' accounts within the funded pension system, including additional payments from the state budget and social tax, as well as income from investing savings in financial and investment instruments, are proposed to be considered the personal property of citizens. The right of inheritance of these funds is also planned to be preserved.

Public discussions on the draft presidential decree on pension reform will continue until September 30.

There is a significant increase in the number of students in Uzbekistan whose age exceeds 40. Over the past fifteen years, this number has increased by almost 87 times, reaching more than 53 thousand today. Universities are gradually transforming, ceasing to be exclusively a place for youth and becoming a platform for people who have decided to gain knowledge at an adult age.

According to information from the National Committee on Statistics, in the 2010/2011 academic year, there were only 616 such students. However, by the 2025/2026 academic year, their number grew to 53.5 thousand. A sharp jump in growth occurred in recent years: if there were about 10 thousand in 2020/2021, there were over 44 thousand in 2024/2025.

Thus, over the 15-year period, the total increase in the number of students over 40 amounted to over 52.8 thousand people, which is equivalent to a growth of almost 87 times. This trend reflects a change in the public perception of the need for higher education.

Access to higher education has expanded not only for school graduates due to increased quotas and the development of private university networks but also for various age groups, aided by new opportunities for women.

This dynamic aligns with the goals set within the 'Uzbekistan - 2030' strategy. This strategy includes plans for international accreditation of educational programs in 30 universities and the launch of at least 50 joint programs based on the 'double degree' model with universities in the world's top 500.

Furthermore, students have been given more time for financial arrangements for their studies. In Uzbekistan, the deadline for contract payment and registration at universities has been extended until the 2026/2027 academic year, setting the final deadline as October 15 inclusive.