Uzbekistan Quality Job Creation as a Cornerstone for Sustainable Economic Growth

Unlocking the Potential for Labor Productivity Growth
Through its reforms, the government is also attempting to address other 
urgent issues in secondary education. They include a lack of computer classes 
and modern laboratory equipment, and of access to high-speed internet in 
over 90% of schools (Government of Uzbekistan 2018c). The government 
pays special attention to investments in construction and modernization 
of secondary schools and has allocated SUM11,662 billion from the 2018 
state budget for refurbishing infrastructure and supplying schools with
modern equipment.
3.3.3. Vocational education
Uzbekistan adopted the National Program of Personnel Training in 1997, 
a principal objective of which was to provide skills needed to succeed in a 
market-based economy. This made 9 years of secondary schooling and 3 years 
of vocational technical education mandatory and free for all. Under this system, 
after completing the secondary level, young people aged 15–18 were required 
to choose between attending academic lyceums or professional colleges. 
Academic lyceums target young people aiming to enter higher education 
and therefore focus on academic subjects needed to enter universities. 
Professional colleges target young people who want to join the labor market 
with specific technical/professional skills and therefore specialize in technical 
and vocational training. College graduates are also able to later join the higher 
education track as the curriculum in professional colleges covers many of the 
subjects covered in academic lyceums. 
The Government of Uzbekistan invested heavily in building new colleges 
and lyceums, as well as providing them with new textbooks and equipment, 
including equipment for workshops. From only 47 academic lyceums and 301 
professional colleges operating in 2001, about 144 academic lyceums and 
1,423 professional colleges were operating as of the 2015/16 academic year. 
The number of students at the tertiary level has increased as the number 
of professional colleges and lyceums has more than quadrupled between 
2000 and 2015. The compulsory nature of secondary general education and 
professional college enrollment has also resulted in greater gender parity
since 2009.
The National Program of Personnel Training in Uzbekistan has been quite 
successful in serving its intended objectives (Maclean, Jagannathan, and Sarvi 
2013). Guided by coordination councils from professional colleges at regional 
and national levels, the system benefited from participation of employers’ 
associations and trade unions in its policymaking to ensure it addresses issues 

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