Will pensioners be given only 6 hours of lessons from the new academic year?

Question

Reports are circulating on social networks that starting from the new academic year, teachers of retirement age will be given 6 hours of lessons per week. How reliable are these reports?

Answer

Recently, various groups and channels on Telegram have spread reports about providing lessons to retired teachers. These reports cite the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. PF-5597 dated December 12, 2018 as their basis.

The circulated message states, "In order to provide employment for the large number of graduates from higher educational institutions and pedagogical staff of vocational colleges that have completely ceased their activities, it is necessary to provide retired teachers with up to 6 hours of lessons per week and sign contracts with them for the academic year."

However, these reports have no legal basis

Because Article 4 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan states that everyone has equal opportunities to exercise and protect their labor rights.

Additionally, discrimination in the field of labor and employment is prohibited. It is specifically noted that establishing any direct or indirect restrictions in the field of labor and employment based on gender, age, race, nationality, language, social origin, property status, career position, place of residence, attitude towards religion, beliefs, membership in public associations, as well as other aspects not related to the professional qualities and work results of employees, is considered discrimination. Similarly, providing any direct or indirect advantages based on these factors is also considered discriminatory.

It should be emphasized that the age of the teacher does not play a role in the distribution of lessons. Instead, attention is paid to the teacher's quality of education and the results achieved. In any case, teachers are allocated lessons based on the priority sequence established by the Regulation "On the procedure for class formation and tariff list compilation in general education institutions."

There is no rule stating that a teacher should be given fewer lessons just because they are a pensioner. However, if a retired employee has no achievements, if the quality of education in the class they teach is low, or if there are insufficient indicators, then a subject specialist who has achieved notable results and holds a qualification category can be given more class hours.

Conversely, if an employee, despite being a pensioner, has significant achievements and qualification categories, then it is possible to assign more lessons to such a retired teacher.