Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Specialists from the Institute of Macroeconomic and Regional Research (IMRI) analyzed how Uzbekistan achieved one of the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs) for 2017-2022 - “Ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.”

According to the ranking of the UN Sustainable Development Goals in 2023, Uzbekistan took 69th place out of 166 countries and improved its position by 8 positions compared to 2022.

The improvement in the ranking was achieved due to an increase in the indicators of the 10 sustainable development goals. One of them is the goal “Ensure quality education” (goal 4), which includes 9 objectives, as well as 6 indicators. Positive changes were observed as a result of the growth of the following indicators of Goal 4:

A study conducted by the International Household Survey (MICS) found that the proportion of children aged 3 to 5 years who are doing well in terms of health, education and psychological social well-being is 82.6 percent. This indicator corresponds to the average for UN member countries.

In 2018-2022, the participation of children in preparation for primary education improved by 2 times and amounted to 84.2 percent in 2022, including the participation of girls was 83.4 percent, and the participation of boys was 85.0 percent.

In 2018-2022 The proportion of youth and older people qualified in the use of information and communication technologies has increased significantly. In particular:

- from 10.5 to 14.7 percent when using basic arithmetic formulas in a spreadsheet;

- when creating electronic presentations (including graphics, audio, video or diagrams) using presentation software from 6.7 to 7.8 percent.

When calculating the parity index, which examines well-being in the education system, there was an increase in the index from 0.92 to 1.03 among households with the lowest income (per quintile 1).

In 2018-2022, the proportion of schools provided with the necessary conditions for the educational process also increased. For example:
- the share of schools using the Internet for educational purposes increased from 86.3 to 94.6 percent;

- the share of schools with computers increased from 87.3 to 97.7 percent;

- the share of schools with infrastructure and materials adapted for students with disabilities increased from 26.5 to 49.8 percent;

- the share of teachers with the necessary qualifications according to the level of education in preschool institutions increased from 95.6 to 96.1 percent.

The implementation of the 4th goal is inextricably linked with the goals of the “Uzbekistan-2030” strategy, according to which serious attention is paid to improving the quality of education in the country and the following tasks are identified:

- developing basic computer literacy skills in students by 100 percent providing state preschool educational organizations with computer classes;

- creation of 1000 multimedia applications for tablets based on new generation textbooks;

- introduction of vocational training courses in all secondary educational institutions;

- bringing the number of non-state educational organizations to 1,000;

- creation of 14 regional centers for professional training, increasing the share of teaching staff with a qualification category to 50 percent, the share of advanced training courses organized remotely or in a mixed form to 30 percent, and implementing other important measures to achieve quality education.