Students at two universities say they were pressured to install a “Safe Student” mobile app, while the Ministry of Education and Science and the Prosecutor General’s Office say no one was instructed to force them.

Students at the International University of Turkic States in Tashkent’s Uchtepa district said that for a week they have been required to install the app on their phones at the university entrance. On Nov. 3, a group led by Abdurashid Ochilov, deputy head of the Uchtepa district internal affairs department, entered lecture halls during classes and checked students’ phones, they said. Those without the app were told to download it.

According to the complainant, one student did not refuse to install it but said he could not install an APK-format app on his iPhone. He asked whether personal data could leak through the app. Ochilov allegedly twisted the student’s arm, tried to take his phone and threatened him with 15 days in jail. The Interior Ministry’s press service did not respond to Kun.uz’s request for comment.

At the Uzbekistan State World Languages University, on Nov. 3 Ulugbek Yuldoshev, dean of the Faculty of Translation Studies, was relieved of his post following a dispute over the app. Students said they were required to install it at the entrance that day, that some who had not were barred from classes, and that those who arrived late as a result were marked absent. Some also said the dean, deputy dean and tutors entered lecture halls and demanded downloads, reprimanding those who refused.

“We have not given any educational institution such an instruction. A working group has now been set up to examine the situation. We will provide final information,” a ministry representative said.

The Prosecutor General’s Office said the platform is not its own information system, although it has been given related tasks, and that students’ connection to the app is not mandatory. Its promotional work is aimed at explaining the platform’s capabilities and generating interest in using it, the office said.

“The Prosecutor General’s Office and its subordinate bodies have not instructed any official or university representative to connect students to the platform by force or to bar students who are not connected from classes,” it said in information.

Background: The app was developed by Uzinfocom for Android smartphones. Its features include an electronic student ID, an SOS button and attendance tracking. It is part of a “Student Situation Center” set up as a pilot in Olmazor district, which has six higher education institutions and 41 student dormitories. The head of state was presented with the center and the platform during a Sept. 11 visit to the district and instructed that the system be piloted at all higher education institutions in Tashkent and later nationwide.