USAID to implement educational projects in Uzbekistan (photo)

On February 27, the Ministry of Public Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the US Government signed a Memorandum of cooperation on supporting the education sector, the press service of the Ministry of Public Education reports.

The document was signed by the Minister of Public Education Sherzod Shermatov and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary (PDAS) for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Ambassador Alice Wells, as well as Deputy Assistant Administrator for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Javier Piedra.

Within the framework of the memorandum, the US government has highlighted the support for reforming the education sector in Uzbekistan. In particular, the USAID provides advice to the Ministry of Public Education on strategic planning, resource mobilization, teaching methodologies and curriculum development. At the same time, the agency will share the best world experience of data collection and use in the education field.

USAID will assist Uzbekistan in the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) and Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA). This, in turn, contributes to the development of educational programs and analytical thinking of pupils.

Besides, the US Department of State provides technical specialists to the Ministry of Public Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan for creating school counseling services and new training standards, including textbooks. American experts provide guidance to the Ministry on administration and school management. In addition, MPE and the US Department of State will cooperate on organizing English language trainings for teachers and schoolchildren in Uzbekistan.

According to the report, sports were selected as one of the types of cooperation. In this regard, pupils are involved in sports and out-of-school activities to reduce violence at schools and promote a healthy lifestyle. American experts support the efforts to improve the quality of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) teaching at schools in Uzbekistan. In addition, American experts will assist in the implementation of projects IT-nation and English speaking nation, aimed at improving the knowledge of pupils in learning information technology and English.

During the meeting, Sherzod Shermatov and PDAS Alice Wells discussed prospective directions of cooperation between two countries in the field of education.