Has the weekly workload of school teachers been reduced?

Reports are circulating on social media that the president has instructed to reduce the weekly workload of primary school teachers from 18 to 16 hours, and the workload of upper-grade teachers from 20 to 18 hours.

So, how close is this news to the truth?

The news recently circulating on social media is actually information spoken during President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's meeting with Bukhara voters in 2023.

At that time, it was planned to reduce the weekly workload of primary school teachers from 18 to 16 hours, and upper-grade teachers from 20 to 18 hours, thereby increasing the salaries of a total of 150,000 full-time teachers by an average of 30 percent.

Is this mentioned in the regulatory documents?

The weekly workload of teaching staff is regulated by the Instruction "On the Procedure for the Formation of a Standard Annual Work Plan for Pedagogical Specialties of General Secondary Educational Institutions" (reg.

Currently, the workload for pedagogical staff of general secondary education institutions is 18 hours per week in grades 1-4 and 20 hours per week in grades 5-11.

When will the workload of teachers be reduced?

In paragraph 163 of the State Program for the Implementation of the New Uzbekistan Development Strategy for 2022-2026 in the "Year of Caring for People and Quality Education," approved by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. UP-27 dated February 28, 2023, there is talk about reducing the weekly workload of school teachers.

The Minister of Preschool and School Education, Hilola Umarova, and the former Minister of Economy and Finance, Sherzod Kudbiyev, were tasked with developing a proposal to set the teaching staff of primary school teachers at 16 hours by May 2023.

However, this clause was not fulfilled for unknown reasons, and to this day, the weekly workload of teachers remains unchanged. Therefore, reports about a reduction in the weekly workload of school teachers are not currently relevant.