Teachers turned into unpaid laborers ahead of the school year

In recent days, Kun.uz has received dozens of appeals proving that teachers are being relentlessly forced into unpaid labor. In almost every region, ahead of the new academic year, teachers have effectively become free laborers for local authorities. Some are even being made to clean mud, lay cement, and paint walls.

As noted in conversations with Kun.uz, unless the status of teachers is elevated, the education system will remain bogged down in stagnation.

The appeals show that teachers have indeed been reduced to the role of highly educated laborers. Elderly women are sweeping streets and planting flowers in gardens. At a school in Angor district, Surkhandarya region, men are laying cement in the yard. Newly hired staff have been assigned to clear mud and weed thorn bushes.

Audio recordings of school principals in the possession of Kun.uz reveal that “the order came from above, and not a single task should remain unfinished by the 20th.” Principals have asked teachers “not to avoid the work and to divide tasks knowingly and cooperatively.”

When Kun.uz invited teachers for interviews to assess the situation, they refused out of fear of losing their jobs.

According to Umida Yakubova, a women’s affairs activist who is in constant contact with teachers, almost all educators are stressed and unhappy about being called to work even during their holidays.

“Our students are on vacation and enjoying their break, but we are busy with school repairs and classroom maintenance,” they told her. “Whichever school you go to, it’s the same situation. According to teachers, almost every school has staff engaged in such labor. If you drop by, you will see them working,” Yakubova said.

Speaking at the discussion, Sardor Rahimboyev, a representative of the Ministry of Preschool and School Education, stated that the ministry’s stance is firm – it is 100 percent against forced labor. He noted that forcing teachers into such work reflects an attitude towards them.

“Who is forcing teachers into labor? The principals. And the principals have received orders from local authorities. You said the teachers didn’t come because they were afraid, but if they had come, it would have been better for us. Let me be clear – it is the ministry, not local authorities, that assigns work to teachers. Our biggest problem right now is getting teachers to acknowledge that we have freed them from forced labor. If everyone simply did their job and knew their rights, there would be no cases of coercion,” Rahimboyev said.

Audio recordings also suggest that teachers who refuse to work may be fired. Those who express dissatisfaction may receive reprimands, have their salaries docked, or even lose their teaching hours. With their family needs and expenses dependent on their jobs, many teachers choose to work silently, seeing no other option.

Sociologist Mahmud Yuldoshev believes that teachers’ status must be raised and their rights protected.

“Save the teachers, and you will save society. In most countries, teachers are respected and retire earlier than others. Here, the remnants of communist-era thinking still persist – if an order comes from above, we obey without question. Principals today fear losing their positions, so they blame the teachers. Teachers should have rights and be free from any duties other than teaching their subject according to the curriculum,” said Yuldoshev, who has 45 years of teaching experience.

Under the constitution, forced labor is completely prohibited except by court ruling. It is absolutely unacceptable for principals to coerce their staff into such work.