Sector Assistance Program Evaluation on Education in Uzbekistan

 
Project/program-level assessment (bottom–up). 
A bottom–up (project-to-project 
level) evaluation is carried out following the standard criteria of: (i) relevance, (ii) effectiveness, 
(iii) efficiency, (iv) sustainability, and (v) impact. Ratings of the individual projects were pooled to 
come up with an overall bottom–up rating for all education projects in Uzbekistan. The 
combined overall rating of these projects is successful (para. 96).  
 
Overall assessment. 
On the whole, after combining the overall top–down and bottom–
up assessments, this SAPE rates the performance of ADB’s assistance to the education sector 
in Uzbekistan as successful (Appendix 7).
 Key 
findings 
(details are given in paras. 100–106). For the past 12 years, ADB has 
consistently assisted the government in designing the country's new education system. Items (i) 
to (v) below describe some examples of ADB assistance in Uzbekistan's education sector that 
worked. 
ADB supported interventions in education in Uzbekistan were generally inclusive as they 
targeted the entire school-going population, including girls. And through pupils, ADB’s 
interventions also reached a large proportion of the parents and families, including the poor in 
the rural areas. They also improved the working conditions of the public employees, including 
teachers and education sector administrators.
There were some specific features of ADB assistance such as the textbook rental 
scheme that made it particularly relevant to poor households. Reforms relating to the family-
mahalla
-school nexus promoted and encouraged greater participation on the part of the 
schoolchildren’s parents and households in the day-to-day management of the school and its 
activities. These participatory forums provided a platform for the stakeholders, civil society 
organizations and nongovernment organizations to contribute to the development of education 
in the country.

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School functionaries, especially teachers, constituted the bulk of public service employees. 
Many ADB supported interventions were directed at improving earnings, working conditions, 
and technical competencies. The interventions also created more opportunities for professional 
development and growth. Similarly, most of the educational administrators in the civil service 
benefited from the investments in the education sector, especially under the Education Sector 
Development Program. 
ADB also addressed specific thematic issues in the sector, laying the basis for the 
government’s aspirations on the vocational and technical side, and combining it with computer 
skills for pedagogic purposes. The investments that focused on information and communication 
technology (ICT) in basic education were provided by the ICT in Basic Education Project. It was 
followed by another loan addressing rural basic education in Uzbekistan that included support 
for ICT. The inclusion of ICT has helped modernize the teaching–learning approaches and
keep up with international developments, which teachers and students highly appreciated.
ADB has developed a good working relationship with the Ministry of Public Education. 
ADB's support, particularly for the Basic Education Textbook Development Project followed by 
the Second Textbook Development Project, has strengthened the core teaching–learning 
system by helping develop the Ministry of Public Education's new curriculum, instruction 
materials, guidelines, teacher training, textbooks, and by introducing the textbook rental 
scheme. Since then, improving pedagogy in Uzbekistan's school system has been a priority and 
this has enhanced the quality of the teaching–learning process.
Responding to the government’s keen interest in the senior secondary education (SSE) 
and the main thrust of the 1997 NPPT, ADB’s second loan focused on the SSE. The issues to 
be dealt with at the SSE level were more varied and complex. The project included establishing 
45 model senior high schools. ADB responded to the government’s priority but the Ministry of 
Higher and Secondary Specialized Education, as a new executing agency, faced some 
difficulties in implementation. 
On the downside, creating a separate system for grades 10–12, including separate 
premises for some high schools, has in some instances prevented uninterrupted transition from 
basic to SSE, with negative implications for some girl students in rural areas.
Development partners appreciate ADB's role in Uzbekistan's education sector. ADB has 
been acknowledged as the lead development partner in terms of the volume of assistance to the 
sector. Policymakers and implementing agencies in Uzbekistan are gaining confidence. The 
government will provide full support to the primary and secondary education, and has indicated 
that no foreign financial assistance (loan) is needed for these subsectors.
There is wide scope for PPP in the education sector. Partnerships or joint ventures with 
high-quality international universities are an option, as proven by the joint venture with 
Westminster University in the United Kingdom. The family-mahalla-school nexus is another 
example of PPP. Uzbekistan is now embarking on some significant reforms through greater 
autonomy, school-level committees and management of off-budget resources. 
Future opportunities for ADB will possibly be within the higher education and vocational 
training, i.e., skills that support new technologies in industries—the specific industries will have 
to be carefully explored further. The two levels of approaches could be: (i) for the public sector, 
supporting programs such as ICT; and (ii) for PPP, supporting partnerships and/or joint ventures 

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with high-quality international universities. However, these will require stronger and more 
conducive policy and regulatory environment.