Uzbekistan Country Gender Assessment: Update

Gender and Education

the Constitution of Uzbekistan guarantees all citizens the right to education. Young girls and women have no legal impediments or barriers to accessing any level of the educational
system, which begins with pres-chool and includes mandatory primary and secondary general and special education. the higher education (tertiary-level) system includes institutions that implement academic and professional programs according to state standards.

Gender balance in student enrollment varies by subsector but is preserved in primary and secondary general education. In professional colleges, the sex ratio of students has had near gender parity since 2009. However, gender disparities in higher education are still significant. In 2017, several higher educational institutions relaunched diverse correspondence courses that permit remote access, except for examinations. the renewal of correspondence studies has good potential for achieving gender balance in higher education.

Executive Summary xxi

enrollment rates in higher education are 38.2% for females and 61.8% for males; but the number of females appears to be decreasing. Rural families with limited income might give preference

to higher education for boys, for economic reasons or because they are unwilling to send “their daughters far from home to study, given that two-thirds of higher-education institutions are
in three large cities. Women’s participation in higher education in comparison might become a major barrier to increasing their competitiveness in the labor market.

education and health are traditionally considered female domains. Gender stereotypes influence educational choices and are reproduced in the labor market. technical fields are generally associated with higher-paying jobs, and the study of humanities usually leads to lower- paying jobs.

the proposed strategy aims to mainstream gender in the education sector by

• 
  supporting analysis of the factors that underpin decreasing female enrollment in higher education, including those connected to economic status and infrastructure insufficiencies;
  
• 
  supporting gender analysis of the labor market corresponding to female employment opportunities in nontraditional sectors (e.g., industry, energy, transport, construction, information and communication technology, and finance);
  
• 
  supporting WCU outreach interventions to promote technical and vocational training for girls and women in nontraditional technical specialties; and
  
• 
  drawing on the lessons from the Basic education textbook development project in applying gender dimensions to textbooks, teaching and learning materials, and other publications covered by future projects.