On December 1, Yuksalish headquarters in Tashkent hosted a public discussion of the results of corruption risks assessment in admission to school. The study was carried out within the framework of the project “Establishment of the first anti-corruption laboratories in Uzbekistan”, which is being implemented by the NWM “Yuksalish” in partnership with the international NGO “Regional Dialogue” (Slovenia) and the Anti-Corruption Agency of Uzbekistan.
 
The goal of the project, launched in December 2020, is to establish expert laboratories and conduct research on corruption risks in education throughout the country, engaging the public. The first phase of the study, including a questionnaire surveys and interviews, focused on identifying and assessing factors of corruption risks in admission to primary school.

The surveys covered parents of first graders, primary school teachers and principals in 114 schools in 14 regions of Uzbekistan. In April, pilot surveys were conducted among three groups of respondents in two schools in Tashkent. In May-June, large-scale surveys were held in 114 schools in 14 regions of Uzbekistan, covering 28 cities, 31 regional centers, 31 rural settlements. A total of 4,920 people participated in the study, including 114 school principals, 1,563 primary school teachers and 3,243 parents of first graders. The collected data was systematized and analyzed.

The key findings of surveys were presented at the public discussion, which was attended by representatives of international organizations, state agencies, national and international experts in the field of combating corruption, public education, and social research. As noted, a number of facts and factors of violation of integrity and corrupt behavior were identified among three groups of respondents, who are directly involved in the school admission process.
Based on respondents' answers, the project team identified key tendencies that are factors of dishonest or corrupt behavior. The factors affect the primary school admission process and the quality of education in general. They are mainly related to the problems of the micro-district quota system, the lack of school premises (overcrowded classrooms), the lack of specific criteria for language selection in primary school, the poor quality of education and inadequacies in the regulation of the admission process.
For example, every fifth parent who participated in the survey failed to have her child enrolled at school by the micro-district quota where the family lives, due to the fact that there were no places available. Namangan region (52 percent), Andijan (37.5 percent), Tashkent (29 percent), Khorezm regions (26 percent) are the regions showing the largest number of comments from teachers about overcrowded classrooms.

Most of the problems are rooted in insufficient budget funding, which, in turn, causes extra-budgetary payments from parents, unethical behavior among teachers and principals. Other trends include infrastructural problems, school supply, low wages, lack of qualified personnel, problems of psychological immaturity of children upon admission to school, as well as the influence and pressure on school principals from both parents and higher organizations.

The presentation reveals the reasons for this behavior, provides expert conclusions and recommendations. Heads and representatives of relevant agencies, experts from international organizations to combat and study corruption, specialists in the field of education, representatives of civil society, public councils, and journalists expressed their views and made proposals. The participants discussed the analyzed data, shared their experience and methodology of previous studies, recommendations for conducting such studies, international experience, proposals for improving the methodology of this kind of surveys.

The recommendations, including introduction of amendments and additions to the legislation, as well as the improvement of practices and procedures, are aimed at decreasing the corruption risks. The research methodology will be submitted for consideration to the Ministry of Public Education and the National Anti-Corruption Council of the Republic of Uzbekistan.