When is the term "pedagogical employee" given a clear definition?

Despite the fact that the preschool and school education system is a large system, the term "teacher" is not fully defined. The definitions given, more precisely the definitions given in regulatory documents, confuse many. This in itself can work to the detriment of educators.

The term "teacher" was originally defined in the Regulation "On the Procedure for Organizing a System of Continuous Professional Development of Public Education Workers," approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 25 of January 17, 2022. According to this regulation, pedagogical personnel are teachers and educators engaged in educational and upbringing activities in public education organizations.

The Law on the Status of a Pedagogue states that a pedagogical employee is a physical person who carries out professional activities in the field of education and upbringing on the basis of an employment contract concluded in an educational organization in accordance with legislative acts and possesses appropriate education, professional training and spiritual and moral qualities. That's actually a very good definition.

However, in the Regulation "On the Procedure for Organizing a System of Continuous Professional Development of Public Education Workers," approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 25 of January 17, 2022, pedagogical and managerial personnel working in educational organizations are indicated as a separate category, and persons performing managerial functions and tasks in public education organizations and their structural divisions, as well as their deputies, as well as specialists of regional management bodies in the public education system, are indicated as managerial personnel.

The Regulation "On the Procedure for Providing Compensation to the Management and Teachers of General Education Schools, Achieving Positive Results in Ensuring Quality Education," approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 263 of May 6, 2024, also separately identifies the categories of managerial and pedagogical personnel. It is noted that the leading personnel are the director of the general education school and his deputies, and the pedagogical personnel are all teachers working in the general education school.

Although the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 263 of June 26, 2023, approving the norms for the length of annual extended leave for pedagogical workers, provides a list of pedagogical workers, the regulation approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 275 of December 21, 2005, divides pedagogical and managerial personnel into two categories.

Who is a teacher, who is a leader? In general, is the activity of other personnel working in the preschool and school education system related to pedagogical activity or not? Why are different definitions of the term "pedagogical employee" given in regulatory documents?

If such ambiguous definitions are not eliminated, will there be problems when the number of benefits provided to teachers increases in the future?

For example, the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated January 20, 2022, No. PP-96, provides for the payment of a one-time bonus in the amount of 50 percent of the monthly salary fund from the director's fund to teachers who served as coordinators of the "Zakovat" club in educational institutions.

However, if the coordinator of the "Zakovat" club is not the teacher, but the school's managers, it becomes a problem to pay them a bonus. The reason is that the phrase "teachers" was used in Resolution No. PP-96.

Currently, they are unable to use this privilege due to the fact that the question of whether the managers are not teachers remains open.

Also, in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated August 12, 2024 No. DP-108, from October 1, 2024, the salary of teachers working in preschool, general education, secondary specialized, professional and extracurricular educational institutions and organizations working in budgetary organizations, "Muruvvat" boarding houses, children's and orphanages, children's sanatoriums will be increased by 15%.

However, according to the official who informed xalqtaliminfo.uz, there were also many disputes with "financiers" about whether they should be included in the category of pedagogical workers in order to increase the monthly salary of managers, psychologists and librarians working in the aforementioned educational institutions and organizations by 15% from October 1, 2024.

In fact, according to the Law on the Status of a Teacher, the Ministry of Preschool and School Education and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation must approve the list of positions related to pedagogical activities. However, the ministries have not yet approved this list.

Why do we have to go through a lot of documents to clarify the term "pedagogical employee"? Is it really impossible to coordinate all the documents?

In conclusion, it can be said that the ambiguity of definitions provided in regulatory documents makes it difficult to identify the difference between teachers and managers. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a clear definition of the term "pedagogical staff," bring other regulatory documents in line with the Law on the Status of a Teacher, and quickly approve a list of pedagogical activities and related positions.