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June 01, 2007

The cooperation of Uzbekistan with foreign countries is a most important component of education reforms provided in the Republic. A departmental head of the Uzbek Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education Yakubjon Ergashev tells about this activity:

"From the first days of its independence Uzbekistan has chosen educational system as its priority task. In recent years our country has provided fundamental reforms in the structure of educational system that is mainly based on the Law "On education" and National Program on Personnel Training, adopted in August of 1997. Today we have a developed educational system consisting of infant, secondary, secondary special and professional education. It would be noted that these years Uzbekistan has established "from nothing" a network of academic lyceums and professional colleges having necessary normative, resource and methodical bases. By 2009 the country will transmit to multi-step educational system completely.

The Uzbek higher education includes bachelor and master's departments now. As for the international cooperation, Uzbekistan has a number of educational agreements and memorandums with various countries of the world. Within these documents the country exchanges its students and teaching staff, and holds different seminars and meetings of working groups on cultural and humanitarian cooperation for further development of international relations. Today Uzbekistan's cooperation with the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) member states is very progressive. The SCO Secretariat offered four places for Uzbek students at the Korean higher educational establishments.

There are branches of two Russia's higher educational institutions in Tashkent: Moscow State University that admitted 80 students last year and Russian Economic Academy named after G. V. Plekhanov. Recently President Islam Karimov has adopted the Resolution "On establishing a branch of Russian State Oil and Gas University named after I. M. Gubkin". Over 50 students and 12 young post-graduates from Uzbekistan study at leading higher education establishments of Russia.

According to an agreement between the Uzbek Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education and South Korea Ministry of Education, the two countries exchange 20 students, teachers, re-trainers and researchers every year. On the quota of academic year of 2006-2007 another group of Uzbek students is sent to China this August to study in its higher educational establishments. In 2004 China sent 17 students to our country to study Russian. Since September 2005 they have studied at the Uzbek State World Languages University, Tashkent Institute of Oriental Studies and Tashkent University of Information Technologies.

Uzbekistan is intensively cooperating with the European Union under the Tempus that is financing joint projects among the European and Uzbek universities. Since 1994 the program has sponsored 65 projects which involved 75 organizations including 53 higher educational establishments of Uzbekistan. The Republic developed new programs on priority scientific disciplines and established information resource centers and computer laboratories. Undoubtedly, the Tempus makes a weighty contribution to the implementation of National Program on Personnel Training. I am sure that our cooperation will continue, being very successful and profitable".

"The Westminster International University in Tashkent (WIUT) was established in 2002 with the initiative of President Islam Karimov", says Nizom Kadirov, Social Deputy Rector of WIUT. "Today it is the only international university that provides higher education, meeting the international standards and awarding its graduates bachelor and master's diplomas in Central Asia. Our students can choose one of four courses: business administration, economics and business computing and law. More talented students study on state grants but we have contract basis studies as well. An obligatory term for entering the WUIT is to know English because the whole teaching process is in English".