Caring for Younger Generation

Investment in the future

Proclaimed in Uzbekistan as the Year of Comprehensively Advanced Generation, the year 2010 has come. Ministries and agencies are finalizing the national program that will determine the major directions of social development for the next twelve months. It is a complex of measures aimed at further development of infrastructure for encouraging a comprehensive development of youth.

In the heart of attention and care

In his New Year greeting to the people of Uzbekistan, President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov expounded especially on the goals and objectives that must be taken today to address long-term plans and programs aimed at enhancing the capacity and power of our country, bringing it in line with the developed ones and raising international prestige of our nation. In particular, he highlighted that “a grave responsibility in achieving our ultimate goals falls on the shoulders of the growing generation. And each of us sees the meaning of the parental sacred duty not only in our children to grow into physically and mentally healthy, but also comprehensively developed people with the most advanced knowledge, and those capable of facing the challenges of the twenty-first century, in which we and our children live and work.”

The government has elaborated programs for children to be able to exercise their rights and interests to decent education, enshrined in the Constitution, laws “On Guarantees of the Rights of the Child”, “On Healthcare” “On Education” and other acts of national legislation. They allow the government to gradually and orderly develop a reliable and efficient healthcare system, educational establishments, institutions for social protection and leisure-time activities.

Today, issues of upbringing younger generation lie not only on the family and government. The process of cultivating healthy lifestyle principles has also involved nongovernmental organizations, such as Kamolot Civic Youth Movement, Mahalla Fund, international nongovernmental charitable foundation Sog’lom Avlod Uchun, Foundation Forum of Culture and Arts of Uzbekistan and others.

In the Year of Comprehensively Advanced Generation the government will carry on the existing programs and launch new projects on creating environment for the harmonious development of the younger generation.

Healthcare

The basis for any human development is health. This assertion largely explains why the program of the Year of Comprehensively Advanced Generation will focus on the continuation of measures aimed at prevention of various diseases, development of health facilities.

The government carries on improving rural health units for examination and early detection of diseases in women of childbearing age, developing mother and child screening service, reproductive health centers, perinatal centers and other medical institutions aimed at ensuring sound health. In the past years these measures proved effective: maternal and infant mortality has fallen almost threefold, birth rate of children with impaired health decreased by 14%.

Institutions providing specialized, high-tech medical care are also consistently developing. In order to further the introduction of advanced diagnostic and treatment methods, the government carries out large-scale modernization of republican research medical centers of obstetrics, gynecology and pediatrics. In particular, last year departments of the Republican Center of Obstetrics and Gynecology were completely reconstructed. The new building and equipment afforded doctors to substantially increase their capacity to nursing even the heaviest patients.

At the present stage, the national healthcare service focuses on the creation of environment in regions to enable implementation of latest treatment methods practiced at the republican institutions. This task is imposed on regional multi-type medical centers. In 2010, the Ministry of Healthcare of Uzbekistan plans to start large-scale transformations there. Regional medical centers are being supplied with high-tech equipment enabling for such diagnostic and treatment methods as computed tomography and endo-visual surgery.

Education

Priority in education is given to further improving the activities of kindergartens, schools, establishments of extra-curricular education, academic lyceums and professional colleges, higher educational institutions.

From the early days of independence, the government provides material and technical equipment of educational institutions. As it has been declared, in the new 2010-2011 academic year, more than 90 dormitories of lyceums and professional colleges as well as 51 schools of music and art will be reconstructed. Besides, there is much to be done to ensure rational and efficient use of material and technical capacities of educational establishments. First of all, it is about school laboratories, rooms, computers that create better opportunities for improving and enhancing the learning process.

For example, representatives of universities are sure that there should be more video-conference lessons. Such lessons provide great opportunities for students of all universities to communicate with the best scientists in the country. For instance, students are fond of lectures provided by professors at Tashkent Institute of Law on the development of the legal system in the country. Besides, most universities in the country use teleconferencing technologies for communicating with leading foreign scientific centers, particularly the University of World Economy and Diplomacy, Tashkent Medical Academy, Farg’ona State University, Andijon State Medical Institute.

Information technologies

Today, not a single sphere of life nor a branch of economy can develop without information and communication technologies in Uzbekistan, as well as in the rest of world. It is hard to imagine young people without computer who use it as a working tool for solving complex problems, designing, creative work and as a source of diverse information from around the globe.

Along with this, a lot of work is to be carried out on the further development of software products adapted for use in the country, enriching computer networks with learning materials in the Uzbek language. Today, this direction is run by Republican Center for Development of Multimedia Educational Software and a number of organizations specializing in the development of educational computer programs. Teachers at educational institutions themselves make significant contribution to this work with their websites developed for their colleagues and students.

Experts predict that this year the number of young people wishing to use the free space provided within the ZiyoNET national portal for creating personal web resources will considerably increase. Apparently, these works will be devoted to the educational institutions and creative works. By the way, today the global network contains several hundreds of such resources created in Uzbekistan.

Sports

The whole system of children’s sports in Uzbekistan is primarily aimed at raising a developed healthy younger generation. For their comprehensive development, all children’s sports facilities and youth sports schools are transferred to the Ministry of Public Education that runs a special fund focused on the development and construction of new sports facilities. Owing to the fund, almost all existing sports complexes in the country were renovated and new ones opened.

Methodological and technical supply and professional training staff of these facilities get improved. The number of sections in various sports has significantly increased. Such sports as football, volleyball, basketball, tennis, rhythmic gymnastics, wrestling are progressing.

Such competitions as “Umid Nikhollari”, “Barkamol Avlod”, sports contests among universities are held in the country for a more active attraction of young people to sports. Thus, this year Andijon will host the fourth Universiade, a sports competition among students.

These competitions, as well as further strengthening of material and technical supply of sports facilities and construction of new ones will become an important part of the program of the Year of Comprehensively Advanced Generation.

Small business

To date, 70% of active population of Uzbekistan is employed in small businesses. In recent years, entrepreneurial community has enriched with graduates of professional colleges and universities who start their own businesses immediately after education.

For engaging graduates of colleges and universities in entrepreneurial activity, Kamolot Civic Youth Movement jointly with relevant ministries and agencies holds special contests in which winners get significant support in their businesses. In addition, the country created a system of micro-credits and Mikrokredit Bank was established to provide financial support to graduates wishing to start their business.

Specialists note that the enthusiasm of graduates in launching new enterprises may be much higher. Issues of providing support to young people in starting their own businesses are the focus of developers of the social program for the year.

Science

Another important area to be consolidated in the coming year is attracting young people to scientific activity. A complex of measures are undertaken by the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education to attract capable young people to science from the second year of bachelor department. These measures will be expanded by a program of creating new modern research laboratories.

In particular, there is a project of creating youth science centers on the basis of ten universities of the country. Another several similar centers are planned to be established at the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan. The idea of the project is that these centers will be open for all university students wishing to study science. These centers will be not only created but also supplied with high-tech equipment of last generation.

Authors of the project say these centers will not only become a place for training young scientists, but also demonstrate that the research work today is a promising area of professional activity that opens up ample opportunities.

The program of the Year of Comprehensively Advanced Generation must become another strategic document for creating an enabling environment for upbringing a worthy generation which will ensure stability and successful development of the country.