Higher Education And Training In Uzbekistan On The Eve Of Independence

The article analyzes the situation in the system of higher education and national training of the Republic of Uzbekistan during the policy of "reconstruction" in the second half of the 80s of the XX century, the problems in the field and its causes. The first steps taken by the new leadership of Uzbekistan to address the problems in the field and the changes made have been highlighted.


INTRODUCTION
By the 1980s, the stagnation in the socioeconomic life of the former USSR had a negative impact on education and training in Uzbekistan.It is known that during the years of Soviet rule in Uzbekistan, an integrated system of education and training was formed and significant changes took place in this area, all levels of education developed rapidly, a layer of national intelligentsia was formed. As a result, the trained personnel have become a key factor in the development of material production, the spiritual sphere, raising the level of literacy and culture of the people, in The American Journal of Social Science and Education Innovations (ISSN -2689-100x) Published: February 26, 2021 | Pages: 88-92 Doi: https://doi.org/10.37547/tajssei/Volume03Issue02-14 IMPACT FACTOR 2021: 5. 857 OCLC -1121105668 general, the rapid socio-economic development of Uzbekistan.
However, as a result of the policy pursued by the ruling party on the basis of non-scientific communist ideology, the decline in socioeconomic life was also reflected in education and training.

THE MAIN RESULTS AND FINDINGS
In the former Soviet Union, the extensive path of development inherent in all fields has manifested itself in higher education, as in all branches of education. The constant training of highly educated personnel, often without taking into account the needs, and the focus on quantity rather than quality, have led to a decline in their general scientific and qualification training.
The command-and-control system of governance formed in the society, the old approach to the field of educational and research activities of the university, hindered the rapid introduction of scientific and technical achievements in the educational process.
During this period, in the 70s and 80s, Uzbekistan, along with high-potential educational and scientific centers, established many universities that do not provide quality theoretical and practical training of graduates, have poor material and technical base, low scientific potential. While these educational institutions abandoned national values in the educational process, the main focus was on increasing the volume of ideological social sciences and humanities, educating loyal followers of the ruling ideology to absorb the communist worldview. Such an approach reflected the essence of the center's policy in the field of education, limiting students' independent thinking skills and ignoring universal human values.
The material and technical base and educational laboratories of higher education institutions that train highly qualified personnel in the leading sectors of the Uzbek economy have not been constantly updated in line with modern requirements, as in the western republics of the former Soviet Union. As a result, the majority of graduates of engineering, agricultural and economic universities were not able to create and master new generation equipment and technologies, they do not have the skills to independently manage and operate production.
It should be noted that such a situation was characteristic not only of higher education, but also of all sections of the Soviet education system. The roots of the crisis in the Soviet education system on the eve of independence were deep-rooted and were the result of the national policies and approaches pursued by the Soviet government over the years.
The policy of "reconstruction" initiated by the Center in the mid-80s also covered the field of education. The "reconstruction" of the enlightenment sphere by the country's political leadership was, in fact, a sign that the command-and-control system on the spiritual front, the extensive path of development, had become obsolete.
In 1985, there were 42 higher education institutions in the higher education system of Uzbekistan, where 285.5 thousand students studied. It should be noted that 147.8 thousand students studied in the evening and part-time departments [1]. The figures show that in the training of highly qualified personnel, training at that time was inseparable from production. In many cases, such an approach had a negative impact on the quality of trained personnel. Also, by the end of the 1980s, despite the fact that "Uzbekistan was ahead of many developed countries in terms of the number of students per thousand people" [2], the republic's economy developed unilaterally in the union division of labor, mainly supplying enterprises of other republics. There weree a number of high-tech industrial enterprises in the country, which were staffed not by local staff, but by staff from other republics.
In 1987, the former center adopted a number of decisions aimed at reforming higher and secondary special education. The document, entitled "The main directions of the reconstruction of higher and secondary special education in the country", details the level of achievement of the Soviet education system and its problems, as well as current issues of reconstruction of higher education and training of highly qualified personnel. The main attention was paid to strengthening the material and technical base of higher education in line with modern requirements, integration of education, production and science, improving the quality of trained personnel, improving the management of higher education, increasing the capacity of scientific and pedagogical staff.
However, the document did not pay attention to the reconstruction of the conceptual and methodological foundations of the Soviet education system, the reform of all parts of the system of continuing education using best practices in the world educational space.
In the educational work based on the old ideological standards, great emphasis was placed on increasing the number of hours of ideological social sciences and humanities, ideological education. Deteriorating socio-economic situation in the country, limited financial and economic opportunities for reforming higher education and training in Uzbekistan did not allow to carry out largescale radical changes in the field. As a result, the training of highly qualified personnel continued to develop extensively on inertia. In the 1987-1988 academic year, the number of higher education institutions in Uzbekistan reached 43. 300.3 thousand students studied there. No structural changes were made in the training of highly qualified personnel.
More than half of the trained specialists, ie 155.5 thousand, were evening and part-time graduates [4].
Some shifts in the higher education system in 1985-1989 are characterized by the forced movement of the administrative command system. However, during this period, the conflict in the field of education and upbringing intensified. The material provision of any education, which is an important factor in determining its condition, fell to a low level during this period. For example, in the former Soviet Union, 11% of the budget was allocated for education in 1970, but by 1986 this figure had dropped to 8%. Less money was allocated to Uzbekistan from the union budget in the social sphere, including education. It is known that when the first President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov took office (June 23, 1989), the communist ideology that prevailed in Uzbekistan for many years and the one-sided economic policy based only on the supply of raw materials had its deadly negative consequences. had begun to show its effects on a large scale.
It should be noted that in his first speech on June 24, 1989, President Islam Karimov drew attention to the problems of education and Reflecting on the existing shortcomings in the country's education system and training, the head of state said, "There is a serious shortage of highly qualified specialists in the countrydoctors of sciences. For example, in the institutions of the academy, doctors of sciences make up 7.3%, and in higher education institutions only 2.6% " [7]. "It is necessary to implement a series of comprehensive measures to ensure the entry of talented young people into science. In this regard, it is necessary to radically restructure the activities of higher education, and even general education schools " [8].
The problems of education and training have always been in the focus of the leadership, despite the difficult situation in the country.
It should be noted that the first President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov in 1990, the material and technical base of science and education in the country, the staff was in a sorry state, these areas were funded on a "residual" basis, including 1,700 school buildings in disrepair. In this case, he put forward the idea that "we need a special, national program of training" [9].
During 1989-1991, certain work was done in Uzbekistan in the field of training highly qualified personnel. The first group sent more than 100 researchers to central universities and research institutions. At the same time, in 1990, it was planned to send 52 students and 51 researchers and specialists to study abroad, study and improve their skills and conduct research [10].
At the initiative of the head of the republic, structural changes have been made in the higher education system of the country. Decisions were made to establish Fergana State University, Bukhara Medical Institute, Nukus Pedagogical Institute [11].

CONCLUSION
In the 1990-1991 academic year, there were 46 higher education institutions in Uzbekistan. 340.9 thousand students studied there. This is 55.4 thousand more than in the 1985-1986 academic year, and the number of full-time students was 183.4 thousand. Attention was also paid to the social protection of students and providing them with housing. For example, "49 dormitories were overhauled at a cost of about 4 million soums. This is four times more than in 1988. Preferential nutrition has been introduced in a number of universities. Students who were forced to live in private apartments due to a lack of dormitories have been paid since January. "[13] Despite some positive changes in higher education and national training in Uzbekistan in the late 1980s, the situation in the field required radical reform, improvement of the quality of highquality training in all areas, spiritual and educational work on the basis of universal and national values.
Of course, in the period of the domination of individual ideology in society and the dependence of Uzbekistan on the center, the problems in all spheres in the republic, including in the field of education, could be solved only on the basis of truly independent development. Radical reform of the system of higher education and training of highly qualified personnel in Uzbekistan on the basis of modern requirements remains a topical issue today.