The Anti-Corruption Laboratory has become a new trend for Uzbekistan in combating corruption. The value of the data obtained is that the anonymous surveys have documented the rumors and anecdotal evidence faced by participants in the admissions process. Among these are unequal opportunities for children subject to the main and additional admission quotas, the compulsion of school principals to resort to the help of parents due to a lack of budget funding, infrastructure and provision, pressure from parents and higher organizations in order to arrange a child in a good school, and other problems in the public education system.

In December 2021, the NWM ‘Yuksalish’ hosted a public discussion of the results of the surveys with the participation of core ministries and departments, specialists in the field of education and anti-corruption, and representatives of civil society institutions. Specifically, Deputy Minister of Public Education of Uzbekistan Rustam Karimjonov emphasized that the problems raised in the survey and the proposals and recommendations developed will be used in the development of the National Public Education Development Program for the next 5 years. The discussion, due to its relevance, had a response in the media - a total of 24 sources published news about the research in three languages - Uzbek, Russian, and English.

Based on the results of the public discussion, the developed recommendations, including both the introduction of amendments and additions to the legislation, and the improvement of practices and procedures, as well as the research methodology, were submitted for consideration to the Ministry of Public Education and the National Anti-Corruption Council of Uzbekistan, as well as to the Administration of the President.

On January 28, 2022, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a videoconference on the development of public education.
The head of state voiced a number of problems and relevant issues in the field, some of which were revealed in the course of surveys conducted by the Anti-Corruption Laboratory. They include as follows:

• construction of additional schools due to the construction of new housing areas, expansion of rural infrastructure and population growth;
• the need to revise existing educational standards and curricula;
• advanced training and retraining of teaching staff;
• the need to reduce excessive reporting and bureaucracy in schools.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev also identified key tasks for the comprehensive development of the public education sector, some of which are based on the recommendations developed by project experts:

• Establish councils for reformation of public education, which will work in line with the opinions of teachers, parents and specialists;
• Establish 1.2 million student places over the next five years through the construction of new schools and additional buildings in existing schools;
• Build and commission new schools under the supervision of social activists, parents and the public;
• Appoint school directors from among qualified managers;
• Establish a Minister of Public Education Fund to encourage teachers who apply advanced pedagogical technologies, and whose students achieve high results;
• Fundamentally improve the teacher training system. Students of pedagogical universities, starting from the first course, will undergo practical training at schools.
• Revise the teaching load and update textbooks in line with best practices.

In addition, the Presidential Decree "On the New Uzbekistan Development Strategy 2022-2026" of January 28, 2022 determined the creation of 141,000 new student places, bringing their number to 6.4 million by the end of 2026. Within five years, 605 billion soums will be allocated from the State Budget for the implementation of a school textbook renovation program. It is also planned to introduce a fair and transparent system for assessing qualifications of teaching staff in schools, increasing their wages by a differentiated method.

The report can be downloaded