OREANDA-NEWS. November 01, 2012. Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Center of secondary special and professional education held a press conference on the reform of the educational system and objectives for the future at the National Press Center of Uzbekistan.

First Deputy Minister of Higher and Secondary Special Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan, director of the centre for secondary special and professional education J.Ismailov and others noted that under the leadership of President Islam Karimov a priority attention is given to  educating young individuals, who are in no way inferior to their fellows, training professionals for all spheres of economy and society.

Initiated by the head of state,  the reforms in education contribute to the achievement of such goals as the construction of schools in accordance with international standards, supporting young people to get specialisation based on their interests and aspirations, training young men and women in the patriotic spirit, protecting them fr om the negative impact of "mass culture. "

In the years of independence 1573 new educational institutions, in particular, 143 academic lyceums and 1430 professional colleges have been erected. At present young people in academic high schools are educated in 5 directions, and professional colleges train on 228 professions and 590 occupational specialties.

Curricula and educationak programs programs are developed and improved by expert groups, consisting of representatives of higher and specialized secondary and vocational educational institutions, organizations, employers.

Interaction between employers and professional colleges has been improving. This year the third-year students of the professional colleges were assigned to 116,1 thousand enterprises, wh ere 501,5 thousand students has had internships.  Almost all graduates enter into a tripartite agreement on practical training to further employment. However, 3051 graduates with plans to organize their own entrepreneurial business, received preferential loans. 854 specialized job fairs were held in all regions of the country, in which 400,000 graduates were provided employed.

The need to strengthen the system of interaction between the business and colleges, improving the quality of teaching staff, a broad introduction of advanced information and communication technologies to the educational process was underlined at the press-conference.