Mirziyoyev: only 4% of teachers have national and international language certificates

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev during his regular session on Friday outlined the education of foreign languages as a foundation for a better future.

Some 25 universities of the country are currently engaged in teaching foreign languages. In 2016, there were only seven such universities. Over the past three years, the number of people who have received an international language certificate has increased tenfold.

This year, 350 students received grants to study at prestigious foreign universities through the El-Yurt Umidi Foundation, which is five times more than in previous years.

However, according to Mirziyoyev, the situation of the system is still lagging behind. The quality of language teaching is estimated as extremely low, with only 4% of teachers having national and international language certificates. Not a single teacher can be seen in dozens of cities.

- It is time to create a new system of teaching foreign languages. This system must become a solid foundation for the future. Since we set ourselves the goal of building a competitive state, from now on, graduates of schools, lyceums, colleges and universities must be fluent in at least two foreign languages. This strict requirement should become the main criterion for the work of the head of each educational institution, Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.

He urged the creation of a new agency to promote the study of foreign languages under the Cabinet of Ministers.

The new organization is to be engaged in the implementation of proven methods, programs and textbooks in the education system, organize the training of at least 10 foreign languages based on the needs of educational institutions, industries and regions.

One of the main tasks of the structure is set to be the creation of methods of professional translation from the state language into foreign languages and vice versa.

It would also conduct a foreign language proficiency rating, develop qualification requirements and evaluation criteria for foreign language teachers and assign them qualification categories.

Mirziyoyev also promised wage allowances of 40% for teachers who have received an international certificate at the primary and secondary levels, and 50% for those who have achieved a high level.

In addition, teachers with high scores are to be reimbursed for the cost of passing the test to obtain an international certificate. A new requirement is to be applied, according to which that from next year only foreign language teachers with a national or international certificate could be hired.

The regional administrations were instructed to allocate funds to improve the quality of teaching foreign languages in schools.

A task was put forward to use English textbooks from the Cambridge University Press in schools from next year. Similar work is to be carried out in relation to textbooks in Russian, German, Korean, Chinese and French.

Each teacher of a foreign language would be allocated a sum amounting to $100 from the budget for the purchase of new literature and manuals to stay aware of the latest changes in their field.

The Ministry of Pre-school Education was instructed to develop and implement guidelines for teaching foreign languages to children under the age of 7 in cooperation with UNICEF.

The meeting also indicated that 78% of university teachers have an unsatisfactory level of foreign language proficiency.

The number of admission quotas for the study and teaching of foreign languages is set to be doubled from the next academic year, quotas for the state grant are to be tripled.