“The teacher shortage is so profound that in October 2021, the cabinet of ministers allowed third-year students at pedagogical universities to begin teaching their own classrooms at public schools”, – expert Niginahon Uralova writes about the teacher exodus in Uzbekistan, especially for CABAR.asia
The recent news about public school teachers being made to apologize for students not being able to qualify for colleges caused a nationwide outcry. Young teachers are reported to have been left with no choice but to beg for forgiveness from parents, despite the humiliation it caused. Some of them expressed their willingness to leave their jobs if given the chance, lamenting the potential departure of yet more teachers.
The problem
Uzbekistan’s brain drain has multi-generational consequences. Its best teachers, poorly paid and underappreciated, are leaving – ensuring the country’s future workforce will not have the same opportunities as the Soviet-educated generations. Some of these teachers are tempted by private “study centers” – private entities where school subjects and vocational skills are taught – which are proliferating in the cities. Others, especially men, depart for better money doing menial labor in Russia, Turkey and Kazakhstan. Given this scenario, it is not surprising that of 502,687 public school teachers nationwide, only 32% of them are male.
In my experience teaching for two years at a public school and academic lyceum in the Tashkent region, I saw this often. A former colleague who taught English now washes dishes in Russia. Two others are working as elderly caregivers in Turkey.
This is not a new problem. But despite reforms implemented by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev after he came to power in 2016, public schools are not a preferable choice for many. The latest data available shows that public schools are short of 3,400 teachers. One-third are needed in remote areas.
Russian speakers are in especially high demand. In Tashkent alone, 45% of primary school students study in Russian and the schools need 169 Russian speaking cadres. While there are 12.3 pupils for every teacher who teach in Uzbek across the country, the number is 25.6 for those who instruct in Russian. Parents believe that Russian schools – where not only Russian-language classes, but the whole curriculum is taught in the Russian language – provide a better education. They also see Russian fluency as critical to future job opportunities in Russia, where well around 2 million Uzbekistanis, 10% percent of the labor force, are working. While there are only 88 schools nationwide that teach in Russian, (this figure might seem smaller compared to 245 schools that teach in Karakalpak or 143 schools where the language of instruction is Kazakh), almost every school in cities has Russian groups designed for the Russian speaking population.
Figure 1: Number of secondary schools and students as per study language in Uzbekistan.
(Source: the Ministry of Public Education of Uzbekistan. Please note, the figures show only the number of schools that teach in those languages. Across the country, most schools have Russian classes where the curriculum is delivered only in Russian.)
Because of the scarcity of teachers, schools often hire those who are not fully qualified, especially in remote areas. Nationwide, 10 percent of the over half a million public school teachers do not have a university degree. The teacher shortage is so profound that in October 2021, the Cabinet of Ministers allowed third-year students at pedagogical universities to begin teaching their own classrooms at public schools. Previously only fourth-year students were allowed to run a classroom of their own. In 2018, to address the shortage of Russian-speaking teachers, the government increased the quota to ensure that at least 30 percent of trainees at pedagogical universities are studying in Russian groups.
Three problems contribute to the teacher exodus the most.
The Money
Officially, teachers earn around $200 per month, according to the state statistics committee, compared to about $615, on average, that labor migrants earn in Russia, as one survey last year found. The private outfits, on the other hand, offer salaries that start at twice the public-school wage. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some prestigious study centers and private schools in Tashkent pay between $600 – $1000 per month. It is a huge sum of money given the minimum wage in Uzbekistan is UZS 822 000,00 (approx. $75) a month.
Figure 2: Average monthly salary of employees in different industries including of those who work in education system in Uzbekistan for the last quarter of 2021. Source: The State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Statistics.
To compensate for the low salary, public school teachers offer paid private tutoring for students after official class hours and heavily rely on expensive presents from parents, especially in Tashkent where the gift-giving culture has almost gotten out of hand. Some teachers intentionally discriminate against the children who do not attend their private classes or whose parents do not give them presents. There are anecdotal cases where some teachers make those children sit alone, on the last row, or give low grades for very small mistakes they make in their homework.
The government has promised to address the problem. In 2019, the Ministry of Public Education announced that teachers will eventually earn up to $1,000 per month. This lofty figure is yet to be realized and is subject to a number of conditions. To encourage teachers to take up remote posts, it offered an up to 50 percent monthly bonus, depending on qualifications and availability. Anecdotal evidence suggests some of these sizable payments have begun, but that kind of figure is far from normal.
The Overwhelming Conditions
There are 10,130 public schools that work nationwide. These schools are designed to accommodate over 5 million students, however currently 6,2 million children attend them. This creates overcrowded classes, with some teachers working with up to 40-50 students per class (although the official regulations dictate that classroom size must not be over 35 schoolchildren per class).
The president set to build 40 more schools in 2022, a significant increase in comparison to other years (see figure 3), however, the number of schoolchildren has also been growing year by year. The Ministry of Public Education expects the number to go up to 7,5 million in the next five years.
Figure 3: Number of school and number of public-school students 2017-2021. Source: the Ministry of Public Education.
* The big difference in number of schools in 2020 and in 2021 is not due to the construction of new schools. In fact, only 23 new public schools were built in 2021. Vocational colleges and academic lyceums were closed in those years and their building were given to schools as public schools re-opened year 10-11 classes.
Under such strain, neither teachers nor parents with money see the public school system as the place to be and see better opportunities in the private teaching industry. Not only do private schools and study centers offer better salaries for teachers, but they also have better facilities and classrooms that are only one-fourth or one-third the size of those at public schools.
An online directory lists over 500 private study centers in Tashkent alone, whereas the number of public schools in the capital is 340. While some of these centers teach vocational skills, such as sewing or accounting, most focus on teaching different school subjects and languages and college exam preparation. Besides, there are 140 private schools nationwide (compared to 10,130 public schools), 52 of which operate in Tashkent.
Unlike public schools, study centers and private schools do not burden teachers with administrative duties or paperwork. Teachers are asked only to teach.
Lack of Self-Fulfillment and Respect
Teaching has become one of the least respected jobs in Uzbek society. One reason for that is the economic status of teachers, most of whom barely make a living. Until very recently, teachers were routinely made to clean streets. Before that, they were forced to pick cotton every autumn. Teachers no longer enjoy the respect they had under the Soviet education system – neither by students, nor by parents.
In this system, it’s no surprise that academic performance at school is of little value. High school students routinely bribe the administrators to make them exempt from school attendance in order to go to study centers or private tutors to prepare for university entrance exams.
Demand for higher education is high and annual nationwide university entrance exams are competitive. Last year, out of 948,000 applicants for public higher education institutions, only 171,000 were admitted. While the low salary leaves almost no incentive for teachers to do their best at public schools, teaching conditions take the last bits of it. Classes at public schools run for 45 minutes each with 5-10 minutes of break. In less than an hour teachers should discipline children, take an attendance report, check homework, and teach. Mind you, students are of mixed progress. This is especially problematic when teaching second or third languages (Russian and English). The result is low academic performance whereupon teachers are continuously blamed. In a recent event in Andijan, as mentioned above, a group of teachers were made to stay in front of parents and beg for forgiveness saying “we are to blame” as very few graduates of local schools could qualify to become university students. This type of practices force teachers away from public schools.
Study centers, on the other hand, facilitate things differently. As they focus on generating more money, the quality of education is important for these private entities. Not only do they recruit the most knowledgeable, talented, and experienced teachers, they also provide a relaxed atmosphere, encouraging interactive, non-traditional teaching methods. Students are grouped according to the level of their knowledge in one or another subject/language where everyone is on the same page. Classes there run for one and a half hours on average, letting teachers work in peace and with self-fulfillment.
Conclusion
Given all these conditions, many teachers are leaving public schools either for labor migration or private outfits. Young college graduates also try to avoid public schools for the same reasons. While it is too early to say if the government’s efforts to attract and retain teachers will work, the Education Ministry must also take steps to modernize the curriculum and make the subject matter taught in schools useful. Until that happens, there is no incentive for students to learn, only to study for exams. There are a few steps that can be done to reverse the trend and make public schools valued by teachers and students again:
- If the government wants to retain teachers at public schools, addressing the salary beyond just a promise or symbolic increase of it is to be the first step. A proper salary should not be bound to multiple conditions where some teachers can and others cannot live up to. The minimum wage for public school teachers should be enough to help with their socio-economic condition and reputation.
- The number of students per class should be limited at least to 25. Neither teacher nor students can succeed if there are over 35 schoolchildren in a room and classes rotate every 45 minutes.
- Enough school-buildings should be constructed in a timely manner.
- Public schools should be well-equipped to accommodate a modern, interactive teaching process.
- Administrative duties should be minimized further. Teachers should not be responsible for anything except quality teaching.
- Academic performance at school is to be made useful for university entrance applications. While GPA-based admission might increase bribery and corruption in the school system, if designed and monitored well, these negative consequences can be avoided or at least minimized. Under such incentive, both teachers and students try to perform well.