Rethinking Schooling for the 21st Century

• information competency;
• self-improvement competency;
• civic competency;
• national and universal competency; and
• mathematical and innovation competency. (Uzbekistan Today, 2017)
The content of several subjects has been revised significantly; for example,
elements of basic coding have been introduced into the curriculum for primary
school mathematics, and the subject ‘Labour training’ has been changed
to ‘Technology’. According to a senior government official, as a result of
implementing the new standards, learners will now say ‘I can…’ instead of saying
‘I know…’ (Nasirov, 2017). The competencies are conceptualised as ‘the actual
activities that the student must master by the end of a certain stage of training’
(Uzbekistan Today, 2017).
With country-level data collection and analysis completed before the new SES
for secondary education were adopted in April 2017, the analysis here is based
on the results of coding curricular documents collected for Uzbekistan in 2016
(see Appendix IV). The coding data of Uzbekistan show that many aspects of the
environmental dimension of sustainable development carry a high weighting in
curricular documents, including environmental conservation, renewable energy
and ecology (Appendix II-2) and environmentally sustainable lifestyles (Appendix
II-13g). This is perhaps in part a consequence of the environmental devastation
of the country as a result of utterly unsustainable economic policies pursued
during the Soviet period — with massive irrigation projects and the introduction
of industrialised agriculture leading to widespread desertification and the virtual
destruction of the Aral Sea. Social dimensions of sustainable development —
good health, human rights and interconnectedness (Appendices II-3, 4, 10) — also
feature prominently in curricula.
However, there is no reference to the category ‘activism’ (Appendix II-13.iii).
The absence of references to ‘current and future participation in civil protests’
(13k) and ‘engagement in debates on socio-political issues’ (13l) undoubtedly
reflects official reluctance to countenance any challenge to the image of Uzbek
society as peaceful, orderly and contented. An emphasis on orderliness and
political quiescence is further reinforced by promotion of a vision of the family
as central to the regulation of society and the provision of welfare. Reflecting the
provisions of the Law on the Family and the Civil Law are curricular exhortations
to respect the elderly, particularly parents, take care of children and respect
national traditions.
Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan
Instrumentalist understandings of education are also clearly present in Mongolia
and Kyrgyzstan, but there they take a somewhat different form. In both Mongolia
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Chapter 6: Central Asia and Mongolia