The President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, announced plans to increase support for private school education during a meeting with teachers and mentors before their professional holiday. These new initiatives were presented by the presidential press secretary, Sherzodom Asadov.
The need to expand school infrastructure is driven by the increasing number of students. This year, about 800,000 children entered the first grade, which is 10% more than the previous year. It is projected that the number of first-graders will reach one million by 2030.
To increase the number of places in educational institutions, it is planned to create an additional 180,000–200,000 places annually under investment programs. Special support measures will be provided to entrepreneurs willing to open private schools in 52 districts where existing schools experience particularly high demand.
Entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to take out loans to establish non-state schools at an annual interest rate of 10% for a term of seven years. Furthermore, founders of private educational institutions will receive compensation of 15% of equipment costs, up to a maximum of 1.5 billion soms. The state will also cover half of the costs associated with obtaining international accreditation.
Additional incentives will be introduced for property owners who provide their premises to schools; they will receive tax benefits on land and property. It is also planned to provide free leases of state buildings in all districts for school needs for up to 10 years.
Changes will also affect families paying for private school tuition. The tax deduction for parents will be doubled from 3 million to 6 million soms. Tax authorities will be obliged to organize the automatic refund of part of the income tax at the end of each month. According to the president, these measures will allow families to save from 6 to 7 million soms annually.
All these steps are aimed at expanding the private sector's participation in the field of school education amid the expected growth in the number of school-age children and the increased demand for new school places.