Volume 03 Issue 03-2023
38
American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research
(ISSN
–
2771-2141)
VOLUME
03
I
SSUE
03
Pages:
38-42
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.
993
)
(2022:
6.
015
)
(2023:
7.
164
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
ABSTRACT
The paper looks at the reforms in higher education of Republic of Uzbekistan. In particular what measures have been
taken to award a greater degree of academic and financial independence to move from centralized to autonomous
management of HEIs. There are number of law and regulations have been put in place to support this change. The
concept of corporate governance in higher education must be studied and implemented to ensure effective
management of HEIs with the aim to improve and develop academic quality and strategic development.
KEYWORDS
Corporate governance, university autonomy, academic autonomy, reforms in higher education, strategic
development.
INTRODUCTION
The reforms that began in Uzbekistan in 2016 have
affected all sectors and industries, including higher
education. The main challenge in solving existing
problems for 2017 was the coverage of higher
education. To address the issues in higher education
and continue reforms President of Uzbekistan Shavkat
Mirziyoyev signed a decree “On approval of the
Concept of development of the public education
system of the Republic of Uz
bekistan until 2030” on 29
April 2019. The Decree approved the Concept of
development of the public education system of the
Republic of Uzbekistan until 2030 and the roadmap for
its implementation. (lex.uz) Decree includes such
points as the expansion of the accessibility of higher
Research Article
TRANSITION TO AUTONOMOUS MANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC
UNIVERSITIES IN UZBEKISTAN
–
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Submission Date:
March 17, 2023,
Accepted Date:
March 22, 2023,
Published Date:
March 27, 2023
Crossref doi:
https://doi.org/10.37547/ajsshr/Volume03Issue03-09
Alisher Khasanov
Adjunct Professor, Webster University, Independent Phd Researcher, Uzbekistan
Journal
Website:
https://theusajournals.
com/index.php/ajsshr
Copyright:
Original
content from this work
may be used under the
terms of the creative
commons
attributes
4.0 licence.
Volume 03 Issue 03-2023
39
American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research
(ISSN
–
2771-2141)
VOLUME
03
I
SSUE
03
Pages:
38-42
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.
993
)
(2022:
6.
015
)
(2023:
7.
164
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
education through the opening of new universities,
including private and joint international universities, as
well as the expansion or increase in quotas for
admission to public universities.
If you look at the numbers, in 2016 it can be noted that
state universities had quotas for admitting up to
80,000 new students per year in all programs.
Private and international partner universities, as the
providers of higher education services, could cover an
additional 4% of the existing quotas. For 2022, the
number of sits for admission of new students of higher
education institutions at public universities has
increased to 230,000. On top of that, the number of
places at private and international universities, whose
number sufficiently increased to 37 for 2022, was no
more than 30,000. (lex.uz)
The number of applications for admission to state
universities in 2022 exceeded 1,150,000, which
indicates the need for further increase in sits
availability for new students, in order to achieve the set
goal of 50% coverage of admission to higher education
institutions.
With regards to the above-mentioned figures, we can
comprehend that public universities are the main
providers of higher education in Uzbekistan. In this
regard, the effectiveness of university governance,
their subsequent development and the ability to
expand and compete for talented students is one of
the important goals for further developing accessibility
and improving the quality of education in Uzbekistan.
Accordingly it becomes obvious, that government
realized limitation of state budget to further
guaranteeing sustainable budgeting of incensing
number and capacity of state universities, and the
strategy for granting greater autonomy to the state
university of Uzbekistan in self-governance and
management, development of curricula, expansion of
infrastructure and contemporary approaches on
recruitment, talent management and motivation of
academic and administrative staff of universities
becomes the only right approach towards expansion
and increasing capacity of state universities.
To carry out these reforms in 2018, by the decree of the
President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 10 state
universities, in a pilot mode, were granted with
administrative and academic autonomy, which implied
the power of selected universities to independently
run administrative and management decisions on the
institutional
development
and
expansion,
enhancement of existing infrastructure, as well as the
expansion and change of existing programs and
educational services’ modes of provision. (lex.uz)
Looking back to the history of higher education in
Uzbekistan it is worth remarking that the state
universities of Uzbekistan have never had the authority
to
operate
autonomously.
Accordingly,
all
administrative, managerial, and academic decisions
had to be coordinated and approved by higher state
bodies. Looking at the hierarchy of higher governing
bodies of higher education, which includes the Ministry
of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education of the
Republic of Uzbekistan, the Academy of Sciences of
the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Cabinet of Ministers
and the President Administration, we could state on
the centralized approach of governance, when all state
academic institutions were anchored to the top state
bodies and never had their own development strategy,
as well as policy development and administrative
regulations were developed and implemented by
higher authorities, without coordination and analysis
of the needs of the universities themselves. All
processes were centralized and put from top to down.
Volume 03 Issue 03-2023
40
American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research
(ISSN
–
2771-2141)
VOLUME
03
I
SSUE
03
Pages:
38-42
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.
993
)
(2022:
6.
015
)
(2023:
7.
164
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
Considering above mentioned conditions, without the
existence of previous culture and experience of
independent governance of universities, the attempt
by the country's leadership to enable the university to
switch to an independent autonomous governance
mode was something completely new and therefore
was called a pilot experiment that should serve as a
springboard for studying and understanding the
possibilities and ways to create a new culture and
experience, which in the future should be extended to
other state universities in the Republic of Uzbekistan.
In December 2021, a new decree of the President of the
Republic of Uzbekistan was issued that more broadly
described the autonomy granted to state universities,
the number of which was increased from 10 to 40
(https://lex.uz/pdfs/5793251). This document described
the phased gradual provision of independent financial
management by selected 40 universities, less
dependence on the state budget, the creation of
supervisory boards, which plans to replace the higher
state bodies in coordinating and making decisions
regarding the annual budget of the university, quotas
for the admission of new students to academic
programs, reviewing existing curricula and opening
new ones, approving the cost of curricula, hiring and
dismissing senior administrative staff of the university,
management and expanding the infrastructure of
educational institutions.
Correspondingly, state universities should start
developing individual strategies for the long-term
development of universities, according to which each
of them should operate within the existing realities and
trends in changing economy, and also develop their
own internal rules and policies to regulate the internal
and external activities of the university.
It should be noted that the practice of corporate
governance in Uzbekistan is still at the stage of initial
development and the activities of the Supervisory
Boards of universities are not regulated by separate
legislative or administrative norms approved by state
bodies. There are also challenges associated with the
lack of professional staff and qualifications associated
with work experience in the composition of the
supervisory boards, which are the corporate
governance div of the organization. In this regard, it
can be observed that the activities of state universities,
which received financial and academic independence
by presidential decree, require the restructuring of
existing corporate governance systems for the
activities of supervisory boards, and which faced
difficulties in effectively functioning and accepting
delegated powers from higher state bodies.
If we turn to the practice of the activities of the
supervisory and trustee boards of the organization, it
can be noted that in different countries, based on the
historical and cultural characteristics of development,
the processes of activity and regulation are often fixed
at the legislative level and are supported by constant
monitoring and discussion through the provision of
best corporate governance practices in various sectors
of the state economy (Chait, R.P., Ryan, W.P. and
Taylor, B.E., 2011). Directors and members of the board
can receive educational trainings by taking special
courses on management and governance to better
fulfill their role. Also, within the framework of the
activities of the councils, there is a practice of internal
distribution on topics and areas that are within the
scope of responsibility of this div, through
committees and subcommittees that regulate financial
and administrative activities, as well as assess the
activities of the organization's management, its hiring
and dismissal, remuneration packages and strategic
development (Ranson, S., 2008).
Volume 03 Issue 03-2023
41
American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research
(ISSN
–
2771-2141)
VOLUME
03
I
SSUE
03
Pages:
38-42
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.
993
)
(2022:
6.
015
)
(2023:
7.
164
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
By review of the activities of supervisory boards based
in state universities that have received financial and
academic autonomy, it can be noted that these
practices and approaches have not been reflected in
their activities over the past 4 years, however, there is
no legislative and regulatory framework that would
impose certain requirements and obligations on the
qualifications of members of supervisory boards. It
should also be noted that universities, to a greater
extent, have not yet been able to develop sufficient
resources for the independent development of
internal policies and procedures for internal and
external regulation of the activities of universities. The
practice of regulating the activities of state universities
is preserved in accordance with the normative
document by decree, resolution, and indication of
those issued by the higher authorities of the state.
By defining corporate governance, we can say that it is
a continuous process of applying the top management
exercises, ensuring compliance with the law in
accordance with the goals set by its main founders and
sticking to the ethical standards of the organization for
operational management, fulfillment of obligations to
stakeholders and compliance with corporate social
obligations. (Ntim, C.G., 2018)
The purpose of the existence and operation of a
corporate div of an organization is to have policies
and
rules
to
maintain
a
transparent
and
understandable
relationship
between
the
shareholders or founders of the organization, the
governing bodies, top management and various
interested parties, such as employees, students,
government bodies, service and product providers and
the public.(Babic, V., 2003)
In this regard, we can conclude that public universities
in Uzbekistan have begun their journey from
centralized administrative state governance to more
autonomous one, but this process is still at an early
stage of its development. With the purpose to develop
corporate governance practices of state universities in
Uzbekistan, it requires the creation of the necessary
legislative and regulatory framework regulating the
activities of supervisory boards, their functions and
tasks, the use of advanced corporate governance
practices, as well as the need for mandatory training of
all participants in basic knowledge and skills on the
work and functioning within the framework of the
work of supervisory boards as the highest supreme
corporate div of the university.
REFERENCES
1.
Babic, V., 2003. Corporate governance problems in
transition economies. In Winston-Salem: Wake
Forest University, Social Science Research Seminar
(Vol. 2, pp. 1-14).
2.
Chait, R.P., Ryan, W.P. and Taylor, B.E., 2011.
Governance as leadership: Reframing the work of
nonprofit boards. John Wiley & Sons.
3.
Ntim, C.G., 2018. Defining corporate governance:
Shareholder versus stakeholder models. Ntim, CG
(2018).
Defining
Corporate
Governance:
Shareholder versus Stakeholder Models’, in
“Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration,
Public Policy and Governance”, Springer, USA.
4.
Ranson, S., 2008. The changing governance of
education.
Educational
Management
Administration & Leadership, 36(2), pp.201-219.
5.
https://lex.uz/ru/docs/4545887 - President decree
“On approval of the Concept of development of
the public education system of the Republic of
Uzbekistan until 2030”
6.
https://lex.uz/docs/-6069606
–
President Decree
regarding parameters of the state order for
admission to public higher education institutions
for the 2022/2023 academic year
Volume 03 Issue 03-2023
42
American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research
(ISSN
–
2771-2141)
VOLUME
03
I
SSUE
03
Pages:
38-42
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.
993
)
(2022:
6.
015
)
(2023:
7.
164
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
7.
https://lex.uz/pdfs/5793251 - President Decree on
measures to provide financial independence to
state higher education institutions
