On February 5, the embassy of Uzbekistan in the United States held a ceremony of signing a general agreement on provision of educational services and contract on using premises between the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education of Uzbekistan and Webster University.
Signing the agreements symbolizes opening the first permanent branch of an American university in Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan notes.
The ceremony was also attended by the Deputy Prime Minister Tanzila Narbayeva, Minister of Employment and Labor Relations Sherzod Kudbiyev and Chairman of the Association “Uztukimachiliksanoat” Ilkhom Khaydarov, who were on a working visit to the USA.
In his speech, the Ambassador Javlon Vakhabov stressed that investing in human capital, raising standards and the quality of education in Uzbekistan is the most priority aspect of the republican leadership policy. He also separately noted the favorable conditions created in the country for activities of foreign universities and urged the attendees to take advantage of opening opportunities of the educational market of the republic.
The President of Webster University Elizabeth Stroble expressed her gratitude for the great honor shown to the educational institution to be the first American university providing academic programs in Uzbekistan. “We are all indebted to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev for his leadership in promoting landmark reforms in education, science and healthcare – they have created the basis for promoting our partnership,” head of the American university said.
In her opinion, Webster’s desire to become a part of the educational process in Uzbekistan based on recognition of the country's historical-cultural significance in the world community. As she stressed, the launch of Master's program in teaching English has exceeded all expectations of the American university, and now they intend to expand.
In accordance with the previously reached agreements, in September 2018, Webster University launched the Master's Program TESL (teaching English as a second language) on the basis of the Uzbek State University of World Languages, which currently trains over 120 students of Uzbekistan.
Webster University will now provide a full range of academic programs for both undergraduate and graduate programs, particularly in business administration, marketing and entrepreneurship, computer science, journalism and media industry, health management, STEM education and innovation and other directions of training.
Upon delivering a speech at the ceremony, Assistant Secretary of the United State for Education and Culture Mary Royce emphasized that the Bureau of Education and Culture headed by her would fully support the “new era of strategic partnership” achieved during the historic visit of President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to the US in May 2018. Last year, 570 students from Uzbekistan studied in the United States and this indicates a 30% increase in comparison to the previous year.
