Uzbekistan Country Gender Assessment: Update

Review of the State Policy of Financing of Early Childhood Education.
tashkent. Uzbekistan.

---

Mainstreaming Gender in ADB Operations, by Sector
69
Government pres-chool education is fee-based.
219
However, the cost of full-day government 
pres-chool facilities decreased in 2017, and the cost was indexed according to urban, rural, and 
regional specificities. this will produce further positive implications on children’s access to early 
learning opportunities. the latest reforms established alternative pres-chool facilities, increased 
free school readiness groups under secondary general schools, and raised awareness of the 
value of early learning.
5. Secondary Education
In 2001–2013, the coverage of school-age children by secondary general education was 
consistently high (98%–99.8%) due to Uzbekistan’s migration to mandatory, universal, and 
free education.
220
the Commission on Juvenile affairs under the Ministry of Justice and the 
Ministry of public education strictly monitors the school enrollment, especially in the7–9 year 
age group.
221
enrollment in primary education (grades 1–4) was near gender parity in 2016–2017, at 1,152,285 
girls (48.4%) and 1,230,174 boys (51.6%). additionally, the cumulative number of students in 
grades 1–9 (secondary general education) achieved near gender parity (48.4% girls vs. 51.6% 
boys.
222
at the institutional level, females dominate the staff of secondary general education 
and the gender imbalance remained almost the same (71.2% in 2014 vs. 70.7%) in 2016).
223
the specificity of gender representation in the sub-sector relates to certain categories where 
female teachers constitute 71% of the teaching staff.
224
this is consistent with findings that 
many women work in education, indicating a stable trend and bias that schoolteachers should 
be women.
Figure 4 shows the gender balance in teaching staff in secondary general, secondary special and 
tertiary education.
225
219 
the press Service of the Ministry of preschool education reported that in 2018, the size of the payment for the 
maintenance of children in public kindergartens and separate rates have been established for 9-hour pre-school groups 
for the city of tashkent, regional centers and cities subordinate to the region. Review.uz. Online edition. 
In Uzbekistan the 
Fee for Pre-school Education Reduced 
http://www.review.uz/novosti-main/item/12887-v-uzbekistane-snizhena-plata-za-
detskij-sad-v-selskoj-mestnosti
220 
United Nations development programme and Center for economic Research under the CoM of Uzbekistan. 2015. 
The 
National Report on Millennium Development Goals. 
Uzbekistan
. 
http://www.cer.uz/upload/iblock/ad0/mdg_ru_13_04.pdf
221 
UNICeF. Uzbekistan. 2015. 
Overview of the Situation in Children. 
http://www.unicef.uz/ru/overview/children-situation.
php tashkent. Uzbekistan.
222 
Ministry of public education of Uzbekistan. 2018. the data presented by UNICeF. Uzbekistan
223 
data provided by the State Committee on Statistics to adB in april 2018 for this CGa update.
224 
there is a positive trend of engaging female teachers in physical training: 8,725 women work as physical education 
teachers, trainers, and instructors for various sports in secondary schools, vocational colleges, institutions of higher 
learning, and sports societies. UN Committee on the elimination of all Forms of discrimination against Women
. 2014. 
The Fifth Periodic Report of States parties
. 
Uzbekistan. 
paras. 2, 3, 29, 40.
225 
among 117,600 instructors, 57,501 (48.8%) are women, including 933 doctors of science or doctoral candidates.
thus 
far, there are no sex-disaggregated statistics on specific areas of instruction. However, anecdotal data and observation 
of the general trends in education, particularly secondary special education, suggests that female teaching staff are 
concentrated mainly in the humanities, while male staff are concentrated in technical subjects and information 
technology.

---

70
Uzbekistan Country Gender Assessment Update
Figure 4: Teachers (Core Staff), Academic year 2015–2016
(%)
Higher education
Secondary special 
education
Secondary general 
education
0%
10%
30%
50%
70%
90%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Women
Men
Source: Gender Statistics of Uzbekistan. https://gender.stat.uz/ru/.
the management hierarchy in secondary general education reflects the common trend of 
vertical segregation of women in decision making: the higher the segment, position, and 
decision-making power in the sector, the lower the female representation.
226
Overall, about 
55% of females in primary schools are “directors,” and 96.6% of school directors in government-
sponsored pre-schools are females. In secondary general schools, the ratio is over 20% lower 
and male directors dominate. table 10 shows the dynamics of gender breakdown in the 
management of secondary general schools.
employment in the education, particularly secondary education, offers considerably lower 
salaries than other segments of the economy, ranking 7th after finance, information and 
technology, construction, industry, transport, and art and culture (Figure 1). In 2016, the average 
wage in education was SUM1,038,161. 
227
6. Secondary Special Education
Upon finishing the 9th grade, boys and girls should select the type of free educational facility 
they wish to attend—grade 10 of the secondary general school, a vocational college, or an 
academic lyceum. academic lyceums provide more in-depth and vocationally oriented training.
226 
For instance, there is no female head of a regional (
viloyat
) department of public education. the sex-disaggregated 
statistics on the number of heads of educational departments on district level are not yet available.
227 
data provided by the State Committee on Statistics to adB in april 2018 for this CGa update.

---

Mainstreaming Gender in ADB Operations, by Sector
71
Table 10: Sex-Disaggregation of Management in Secondary General Education
Category
Sex-disaggregation (%)
2014
2015
2016
Women
Men
Women
Men
Women
Men
directors
primary schools
51.9
48.1
55.6
44.4
62.1
37.9
Secondary general schools
35.1
64.9
35.6
64.4
35.0
65.0
deputy directors
(academic work)
49.0
51.0
49.3
50.7
48.6
51.4
deputy directors 
(enlightening and spirituality)
41.1
58.9
41.3
58.7
39.7
60.3
Total
42.2
57.8
42.4
57.6
41.5
58.5
Source: data provided by the State Committee on Statistics to adB in September–October 2017 for this CGa update. 
enrollment during the 2016–2017 academic year was 49% females vs. 51% males in vocational 
colleges and 44.1% females vs. 55.9% males in academic lyceums (footnote 232). Similar to 
gender issues in higher education (e.g., location, academic focus, etc.), higher male enrollment 
in academic lyceums might be also conditioned by a stronger focus on continuing education.
along with outreach interventions designed by WCU, the general prosecutor’s office, and 
other government and nongovernment players, the mandatory character of secondary special 
education for students aged about 15–18 years has positively affected the increasing average age 
of first marriage. 
228
In 2016, that age was 22.6 vs. 26 years for women and men, respectively.
229
7. Higher Education
there are no legal barriers to higher education, but gender disparities are still significant. Female 
enrollment at the postsecondary and tertiary levels is lower than compared to men (38.2% vs. 
61.8%, respectively), and it appears to be decreasing.
230
this imbalance might become a major 
obstacle to competitiveness in the labor market.
In rural areas, boys usually receive preference for higher education due to parents’ unwillingness 
to send their daughters too far from home; two-thirds of higher education institutions are in 
228 
the legal age of marriage is 18 years for men and 17 years for women. http://www.lex.uz/pages/getpage.aspx?lact_
id=104723
229 
the State Committee on Statistics of the Republic of Uzbekistan. 2017.