British Council in Uzbekistan to help improve teaching of English at schools

The Minister of Public Education of Uzbekistan Sherzod Shermatov and the Director of the Representative Office of the British Council in Uzbekistan Rachel Island signed a letter of agreement on a plan of action for a project aimed at further improving the teaching of English in the country, the press service of the MPE reported.

The “Future English” project supports the British Council’s global strategy to improve the quality of teaching and learning English in the educational system and to conduct research to develop further innovation in this area.

The overall goal of the program is to find the most effective ways to increase the level of English proficiency among school graduates who enter the labor market or apply for higher education institutions. Another important aspect is the lack of reliable, comparable with international standards data on the level of English proficiency in the country, necessary for the formation of national policies and strategies for teaching English.

As part of the project in Uzbekistan, it is planned to assess the knowledge of the English language of students in grades 9-10 based on the Aptis for Teens test. It is expected that testing will be conducted in at least 150 schools in Uzbekistan. Based on the data received, a report will be prepared that will become the basis for planning further steps of the project.

The Minister of Public Education Sherzod Shermatov noted: “The British Council in Uzbekistan is our important partner not only in improving the teaching of the English language, but also in the school system as a whole.” According to the Ministry, school graduates must be proficient in at least three languages – the state language, Russian and English. “Our new joint project will improve the teaching of English, which will open up new opportunities for our graduates,” Shermatov concluded.