The President has sent congratulations to teachers and mentors

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has sent a congratulatory message to teachers and mentors. This was reported by the Presidential press service.

At the beginning of the message, the head of state congratulated the education and upbringing workers of the country on Teachers and Mentors Day, a nationwide holiday.

Esteemed teachers and mentors!

First of all, I sincerely congratulate you, dear workers of the education and upbringing sector of our country, on Teachers and Mentors Day, a nationwide holiday, and am happy to express my warmest wishes to you all.

Today, when our people, with their determination and creative potential, are laying the foundations of New Uzbekistan and the Third Renaissance, the essence of this great holiday and the role and importance of teachers and mentors in the life of our society are growing especially.

The fact that further raising the status and value of teachers and mentors, whom our people have cherished since ancient times, has become the most important and decisive direction of the state policy we are pursuing also testifies to this.

After all, as the wise have said, a country becomes prosperous and flourishing first of all through the efforts of farmers who draw sustenance from the land, soldiers who defend the people from enemies and all kinds of evil, and dedicated teachers who provide education and upbringing to the younger generation.

Dear compatriots!

In recent years, based on our National Development Strategy, truly historic work is being carried out in our country's education and upbringing system.

In a short time, many laws, decrees and resolutions in this field have been adopted, and the legal framework has been strengthened. The status of the teacher has been specifically defined in our updated Constitution.

Every year, new educational institutions are built in the republic, and their material and technical base and staff potential are strengthened. A new generation of textbooks and study guides that meet the demands of the times is being created.

In particular, the preschool education system has entered a completely new stage of development based on advanced world experience. This is confirmed by the fact that the number of kindergartens in our country has increased 8 times to almost 38 thousand, including non-state institutions from 250 to 29 thousand, and coverage from 27 percent to 76.4 percent.

The development of school education in our country has become a nationwide movement. Speaking of this, it should be noted that over the past seven years construction and renovation work has been carried out in more than 5 thousand schools, and in 608 schools in this year alone.

For the first time, inclusive education has been introduced in 530 schools. Free meals have been arranged for more than 288 thousand primary school students in the Republic of Karakalpakstan and Khorezm region.

As a result of the favorable opportunities created for the development of the private sector, the share of non-state schools has reached 5 percent, which is noteworthy.

Within our large-scale work aimed at honoring human dignity, we are paying special attention to properly valuing and encouraging the work of teachers and mentors.

Today, teachers' salaries have grown on average 2.5 times compared to 2016, and the monthly salaries of professors and lecturers 4.5 times, and from October the salaries of teaching staff will be increased by a further 15 percent; this is the result of our efforts in this direction.

To raise the quality of education, a unified vertical system for improving the qualifications of teachers has been created. This year, 142 teachers have so far returned after professional development in advanced foreign countries. The system of appointing school directors has been improved, and a procedure for awarding them a management certificate has been established.

It pleases us all that, thanks to the great attention paid to the education and upbringing sector, our young people are achieving high milestones in knowledge, science and technology, culture and art, and sports.

While our students won 73 medals at international science olympiads in 2010-2016, they won 349 in the past seven years, and 122 medals in 2024 alone, which is first of all the fruit of your hard work.

In this regard, the established system of rewarding the teachers of students who won international science olympiads, and the allocation of 6 billion soums from the state budget for this purpose, serve as an important incentive.

For the first time in the history of Uzbekistan, we have begun holding international science olympiads dedicated to our great scholars. This, along with a sense of pride in the hearts of our children and our entire people, also raises Uzbekistan's educational prestige in the world.

Important steps have also been taken in teaching a second foreign language and vocational skills at school. In the current academic year, two foreign languages are taught to more than 16 thousand students in 354 schools, and vocational skills to more than 40 thousand students in 289 schools.

Major reforms are also being carried out in higher education. This can be clearly seen from the fact that in a short time 135 new universities have been established in our country, bringing their total number to 211, and coverage in the system has grown more than fourfold, from 9 to 38 percent.

Dear friends!

Ancient history and the experience of today's life show that the solution to all problems and the answer to all questions lie only in education, and that the key to the doors of maturity and happiness lies in education and upbringing.

We all understand well that in achieving the great goals we have set for ourselves, in turning our beloved Uzbekistan into a free, prosperous and thoroughly developed country, raising the development of the sector to a new qualitative level is of decisive importance.

In our meaningful and sincere dialogue with you, we once again exchanged views on this and clearly defined our future plans.

I am confident that you, esteemed teachers and professors, by participating even more actively in our reforms in the field of education, will make a worthy contribution to realizing our noble idea of "New Uzbekistan - an enlightened society".

Without a doubt, we will continue to give priority to further advancing the education and upbringing system, creating decent working and living conditions for workers in the sector, and raising the teaching profession to the ranks of the most respected professions in our society.

Esteemed teachers!

On this magnificent holiday, I once again sincerely congratulate you, dear ones, and wish you all good health, family happiness, and great success in your noble and honorable work.

May you always be healthy and well, dear and kind teachers!