The Future of Learning

A change I’d very much like to see in Uzbekistan’s education system is a much stronger emphasis on critical thinking and project-based learning in secondary schools, rather than the heavy focus on memorisation and test preparation that still dominates. At the moment, many students spend their final years preparing intensively for university entrance tests, which largely reward recalling facts and solving standard problems quickly. This change would affect students most directly, but also teachers, who would need new skills, and universities and employers, who would ultimately receive graduates with different abilities. It could be introduced gradually. A sensible first step would be piloting it in a number of schools, perhaps one subject at a time, where students work on extended projects — investigating a local environmental issue, for example, or designing a small business plan — and are assessed on their reasoning, research and presentation, not just final answers. Teacher training would be essential; many teachers would need support and time to adapt their methods. Entrance exams would also need to evolve, otherwise schools would continue teaching to the test. I believe this change is important for several reasons. Most fundamentally, the world our students will work in is changing so rapidly that the specific facts they memorise may soon be outdated, whereas the ability to analyse problems, evaluate information and collaborate will remain valuable. Employers already complain that graduates struggle with these skills. There’s also a democratic dimension: citizens who can question information critically are better equipped to resist misinformation. Of course, rigour and knowledge remain important; the aim isn’t to abandon them, but to build thinking skills on top of them.

O‘zgarish → hozirgi holat → ta’sir doirasi → bosqichma-bosqich joriy etish (pilot, o‘qituvchi, imtihon) → sabablar (kelajak, ish beruvchi, demokratiya) → muvozanatli ogohlantirish.