Sector Assistance Program Evaluation on Education in Uzbekistan

Table 1: Literacy Rate of 15–24 Year-Olds in Central and West Asia 
(%) 
Total Female Male 
Country 
1999
(or Year) 
2007 
1999
(or Year) 
2007 
1999
(or Year) 
2007 
Afghanistan 
34.3 (2000) … 
18.4 (2000) … 
50.8 (2000) … 
Armenia 
99.8 (2001) 99.8 
99.9 (2001) 99.8 
99.8 (2001) 99.7 
Azerbaijan 99.9 99.9 99.9 
100 99.9 99.9 
Georgia … 
… 
… 
… … 
… 
Kazakhstan
99.8 
99.8 
99.9 
99.9 
99.8 
99.8 
Kyrgyz Republic 
99.7 
99.6 
99.7 
99.7 
99.7 
99.5 
Pakistan 
55.3 (1998) 69.2 (2006) 43.1 (1998) 58.4 (2006) 
67.1 (1998) 79.1 (2006) 
Tajikistan 
99.8 (2000) 99.9 
99.8 (2000) 99.9 
99.8 (2000) 99.9 
Turkmenistan 
99.8 (1995) 99.8 
99.8 (1995) 99.9 
99.8 (1995) 99.8 
Uzbekistan 99.3 
(2000) 
99.4
a
99.3 (2000) … 
99.4 (2000) … 
… = not available. 
a
Literacy rate of 15 year-olds and over. 
Sources: Asian Development Bank. 2009. Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific. Manila, and United Nations 
Development Programme (UNDP) Uzbekistan in Figures. 
http://www.statistics.uz
. 
B. Key 
Development 
Challenges 
9. 
While Uzbekistan has immense potential for economic development, it faces 
tremendous challenges in translating these opportunities into reality. The country is strategically 
located at the heart of Central Asia and is endowed with precious natural resources: copper, 
gold (of which it was the 10th largest producer in the world in 2009),
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natural gas, oil, and 
uranium. It has most of the essential infrastructure in place and, since independence, has been 
engaged in transforming its economy into a market-based economy. The challenge, however, 
goes beyond a simple “economic transition.” It also involves reorienting and reconfiguring the 
institutions and infrastructure into internationally competitive structures suited to the national 
development in a rapidly globalizing world.
4
ADB. 2007. Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors: Proposed Loan to the 
Republic of Uzbekistan for the Rural Basic Education Project. 
Manila. Details of grants, loans and TA projects are 
found in Appendix 1. They are not footnoted when they are referred to in the text. 
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The target under Goal 2 is to ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to 
complete a full course of primary schooling.
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The target under Goal 3 is to obtain equality of males and females in primary, secondary, and tertiary education by 
2015.
7
In 2008, public expenditures on education as a percent of GDP for other Central Asia republics (CARs) were as 
follows: (i) Armenia, 2.7%; (ii) Azerbaijan, 2.6%; (iii) Georgia, 2.9%; (iv) Kazakhstan, 2.5% (2005); (v) Kyrgyz 
Republic, 5.2%; and (vi) Tajikistan, 4.1%. Source: ADB. 2009. Key Indicators. Manila, and United Nations 
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
8
The Economist. 23–29 January 2010, p. 90. 

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10. 
In the 1990s, in the wake of independence, Uzbekistan’s economy suffered a series of 
economic shocks. Government revenues fell, agricultural production shrank, the share of 
industrial value added declined, and unemployment rose. The population was exposed to 
socioeconomic distress as the provision of employment and welfare services was disrupted. 
The government took a pragmatic and "gradualist” approach to transformation. It deployed 
state-led controls to regulate the economy. It monitored and closely directed financial 
management, credit expansion, and trade sectors. It prioritized and pursued import substitution 
and self-sufficiency in energy and food. During the last few years, the government’s prudent 
policies managed to secure significant macroeconomic achievements, especially compared with 
other Central Asian economies.
11. 
The development challenges implied generating human and systemic capabilities across 
a range of institutions to enable them to operate in the global commercial environment. This 
meant providing the population with skills, information, knowledge, and expertise compatible 
with the international competitive standards. A major challenge is to absorb newer technologies 
rapidly enough to boost the productivity of economic operations
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and make the investment 
climate more transparent, stable, and predictable, thus stimulating global investor confidence.
12. 
Given that about two-thirds of the total population resides in rural areas, agriculture can 
play an important role in absorbing the slack in the labor market and generating productive 
employment opportunities.
10
It can contribute to food self-sufficiency and has the potential of 
reducing poverty in rural areas.
11
13. 
Thus, Uzbekistan’s development needs can be summarized as follows: (i) overcoming 
the challenge of a doubly landlocked
12
country; (ii) completing the transition from a centrally 
planned economy to a competitive market economy; (iii) changing the orientation of 
infrastructure and institutions to one focused on the development of a national economy and 
regional economic cooperation; (iv) using the potential of the agricultural sector to absorb labor, 
generate employment, and reduce poverty; (v) managing macroeconomic policy in a 
transparent, stable, and predictable manner; and (vi) attracting investments by providing a 
conducive business environment. A high level of skills, knowledge, and expertise among 
Uzbekistan's population is critical in effecting this transformation.
14. 
The government has made substantial progress in some of the above areas. The 
country’s economic performance has gradually improved, and a key challenge is to stay the 
course and keep removing the impediments to even better economic performance. Uzbekistan’s 
economy has withstood the 2008–2009 global financial and economic crises quite well. In a 
recent statement,
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the International Monetary Fund (IMF) summarized the Uzbekistan position 
as follows:
"Uzbekistan has remained mostly resilient to the global economic crisis as a result of the 
authorities’ prudent policies that enabled them to accumulate considerable resources to 
9
World Bank. 2005. Enhancing Job Opportunities in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. Washington, 
D.C. 
10
Beginning with its first loan in 1996, ADB has invested $345 million, the highest assistance to any sector, in 
agriculture and natural resources in Uzbekistan. 
11
ADB. 2006. Country Strategy and Program: Uzbekistan, 2006–2010. Manila (p. 4, para. 9; and p 13. para. 51). 
12
Also means land-linked country. 
13
Statement by International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Director at the Conclusion of their Visit to Uzbekistan. 
IMF Press Release No. 09/344, 14 October 2009.

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support growth in this period and withstand the impact of the crisis and due to its 
cautious approach to participation in global financial markets."