Today, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) distributed 385,000 student textbooks and teacher guides to 208 public schools in the Namangan and Syrdarya regions as part of a pilot program conducted in partnership with the Ministry of Public Education of Uzbekistan to improve student learning outcomes in the country. 

The delivery, valued at $10 million and developed by Cambridge University Press, will support the teaching of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for Grades 5-11, and English as a Foreign Language for Grades 1-11. After the initial pilot is completed this academic year, the books will be revised based on teacher feedback and printed by the Ministry of Public Education for nation-wide distribution beginning in the 2022-2023 academic year. This will ensure over 6.5 million students in Uzbekistan will have access to high quality textbooks, and tens of thousands of teachers will use high quality teacher guides.

“These high-quality teacher guides and student books will help Uzbekistan’s education system develop knowledgeable and talented graduates with the critical thinking, problem solving, and practical skills that will enable them to succeed in learning and life,” said Shukhrat Sattorov, Director of the Ministry of Public Education’s Republican Education Center. “We are enthusiastic to partner with USAID on this pilot program, which will allow us to assess the impact of these enhanced materials in preparation for our national roll out.”

Through USAID’s Uzbekistan Education for Excellence Program, USAID worked in close collaboration with the Republican Education Center to assess, review and customize the new materials to the Uzbek context. USAID is also training and mentoring over 1,000 English Language and ICT teachers on the use of the new student textbooks and teacher guides and on learner-centered teaching strategies.