The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has decided to allocate a grant in the amount of $19.5 million to support reforms in the field of public education in Uzbekistan, the press service of the Ministry of Public Education (MPE) reported.

The funds will be used to transform approaches to school management, teacher training, teaching, development and use of teaching materials (traditional and ICT), which will lead to an improvement in student achievement.

The program will also develop methods and strategies to increase transparency and accountability in schools, as well as improve school administration and service delivery.

In particular, within the framework of the project, the MPE will receive a scientifically based strategy for implementing the IT Nation initiative, which is aimed at increasing the knowledge and skills of pupils in the field of information technology. It is planned to integrate modern information technologies into the educational process.

One of the problems in the field of education is the lack of tools for an objective assessment of children's knowledge and skills. With the support of USAID, reading and math skills of school children (EGRA and EGMA) will be assessed. It will help identify gaps in children's learning and take measures to address them.

As part of the project, USAID will assist the Ministry of Public Education in implementing the English Speaking Nation project, aimed at improving the teaching of English at schools through introduction of modern teaching methods.

This grant is one of the first projects implemented under a memorandum of understanding between the MPE of Uzbekistan and the US government for cooperation to support the education sector in Uzbekistan.