The results of the assessment of the quality of preschool education have been announced

It was noted that the results of assessing children's early mathematical skills averaged 94%, while children in the older and preparatory groups had literacy skills at an early age exceeding 77%.

On October 9, 2023, the first stage of assessing the quality of preschool education based on the international tool MELQO began in all regions of Uzbekistan.

Until then, there was no tool to measure the quality of the preschool education system in Uzbekistan. The national system was in the form of certification and accreditation, which did not fully reveal the entire situation. Therefore, within the framework of the World Bank project, it was decided to assess the quality of preschool education based on the MELQO assessment system.

The international tool MELQO is used worldwide to measure the quality of early childhood care and education. This study provides information on how well children are developed and the quality of the children's learning environment.

In 2023, 100 preschool educational organizations across the country were selected using the random sampling method, and the assessment and data collection were conducted by certified specialists. The second stage began in 2024, in which 250 preschool educational organizations were selected.

Recently, a seminar dedicated to improving early childhood development and improving public education in Uzbekistan was held at the National Institute of Pedagogical Mastery named after A. Avloni.

At the seminar, Hiroshi Saeki, Senior Economist of the World Bank and co-author of the MELQO assessment report, announced the results of the quality assessment of education in 250 state preschool educational organizations in Uzbekistan using the International Melko instruments.

According to the assessment results, it was established that the overall state and quality of the educational process in Uzbekistan are at a high level, in particular, the results of assessing early mathematical skills in children averaged 94%, while the level of early literacy skills in children in the older and preparatory groups was higher than 77%.

It is noteworthy that 90% of preschool educational organizations participating in the assessment were fully provided with teaching and methodological and didactic literature.

For reference, the following work was carried out within the framework of the evaluation program in 2024:

• The international assessment tool MELQO has been aligned with the state requirements for the development of early childhood and preschool children in Uzbekistan and the state educational program "Ilk qadam";

• all materials were digitized and translated into Uzbek, Karakalpak and Russian;

• Criteria for the selection of state preschool educational organizations have been developed (urban, district (rural) areas, the presence of 5-6 and 6-7 age groups, gender/boy and girl);

• 250 state preschool educational organizations were selected from each region in a random sample (rondom method) with the participation of international experts from the World Bank;

• The results of the competition of 250 state preschool educational organizations were as follows: urban area - 68 (24%) district (rural) area - 182 (76%);

• A targeted list of 250 state preschool educational organizations has been formed from each region.