Nuriymon Abulhasan, chairman of the Association of Non-Governmental Educational Institutions, assessed the division of higher education institutions into private or state-owned as illogical in an interview with the "Vatandosh" TV channel on YouTube.

According to Nuriymon Abulhasan, the organization that issues licenses to universities in Uzbekistan should be private, not state-owned.

"It is incorrect for state organizations to issue licenses to private universities. This is illogical. Because we need to focus on the main goal of establishing a university. Whether it is established by the state or by private founders, the goal should be to train qualified personnel. This is why we're talking about private versus state-owned institutions.

For example, Oxford, Harvard, and other major international universities have been operating for hundreds or thousands of years. How did they become known worldwide? State funds didn't get them to this level. What brought them to this level was scientific potential, research, and discoveries. That's why everyone knows them. We are talking about creating the 3rd Renaissance. But we cannot achieve it with slogans, grandiose words, or some banner posted on a street," says Nuriymon Abdulhasan.

Nuriymon Abulhasan stated that universities in the country are not free; they are under pressure from the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, which negatively affects the quality of education.

"The Ministries of School Education and Higher Education report on how many schools or universities have upgraded their material and technical base, and how many places have been improved. I attend their meetings. But when will we include data like 'this many children changed their mindset,' 'this many children became knowledgeable,' 'became leaders' in the report? We always hear reports on the funds allocated for the material and technical base.

We cannot sideline scientific potential and focus solely on building requirements. Let's say they made the building great - if we can't change the mindset of the students we teach, if we can't raise them to be world-changing inventors, what will change? Artificial intelligence is working everywhere now. If we still can't explain it to our children, who needs those reports? It is necessary to strengthen competition within universities. Competition should be with minds, not buildings or numbers," says the chairman of the association.

Earlier, the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Kongratbay Sharipov, said that most young people enter universities just for a diploma, because in the hiring process for government organizations, a diploma is required, not knowledge.

"Young people still think that having a diploma is enough. I wondered why this is so, why we're interested in diplomas. Because in the past, during the Soviet system, a diploma was required when hiring. The diploma might say accountant, but the applicant could be an economist. The employer would say, 'No, I need an accountant's diploma.' 'Show your diploma,' they'd say. Whether you know this field, whether you have knowledge of accounting - no one would check it. They hire based on a diploma. Because the inspection body also checked whether the hired person matched the employee's diploma. No one cares whether they have knowledge, whether they know how to do calculations. We're only interested in having a diploma. This system still works in government organizations. Until a system for assessing qualifications and knowledge is introduced in government organizations, the demand for diplomas will only increase. The organization will hire us only if we bring a diploma," said Minister Kongratbay Sharipov.

At the same time, the minister said that 20 state universities in Uzbekistan do not meet the requirements and they are planned to be closed.