The winners of the first stage of the "Teacher of the Year" competition, with a prize value of 525 million soums, will be determined based on the results of category tests to be held in August-December 2025.

According to the Regulation approved by a government decree, a subject teacher or primary school teacher with a higher or first qualification category and at least 5 years of teaching experience, working in a permanent position, can participate in the "Teacher of the Year" competition.

The competition will be held in three stages:

in the first stage - the candidates' theoretical knowledge of their specialty subject, pedagogical skills, and professional standards are assessed;

in the second stage, the pedagogical skills of the candidates are assessed by a panel of judges and teachers based on evaluation criteria. For this, a video recording of the candidate's lesson will be uploaded to a special platform for evaluation;

in the third stage - the spiritual and educational activities and reading habits of the candidates are assessed.

Based on the results of the competition, once every two years in October, each candidate recognized as a winner is awarded a QR-coded certificate, which is maintained by the Ministry and posted on the official website of the Ministry.

On the basis of this certificate, the winners will be awarded a cash prize equal to 1,400 times the basic calculation amount (approximately 40 thousand US dollars) by redistributing funds additionally allocated to the fund of the Minister of Preschool and School Education.

Now, through high results recorded in the category tests (teacher attestation), it is possible to have the following opportunities:

• 1. Increase or confirm the current qualification category (thereby being exempt from mandatory attestation for the next five years and receiving a salary according to the higher category).
• 2. Receive a 70% bonus for the next 2 years (if 86 points or more are earned or maintained for the highest or first category).
• 3. Be considered to have passed the first stage of the selection process for bonuses paid from the Minister's Fund (more than 57 million soums) (for this, one must rank 1st-9th in their district in the category tests conducted in their subject).
• 4. Be considered to have passed the first stage of the "Teacher of the Year" competition (for this, one must rank 1st-3rd among all teachers in their district in the category tests).