Uzbekistan Adopts Korean as a Regular Subject in National Academic Competitions

[Financial News] The Ministry of Education said on the 17th that, on the occasion of the first Korea-Central Asia Summit, it had signed a total of three memorandums of understanding on educational cooperation with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Under the agreements, the parties will pursue a plan to establish Korean as a regular subject in Uzbekistan's national academic competitions.
Earlier, on the 14th, the Ministry of Education signed separate MOUs with the Uzbek government on cooperation in early childhood and general education and on cooperation in higher education. The two countries will share policies and experience in areas of mutual interest, including digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI), science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and early childhood education. They will also cooperate on teacher and student exchanges, language education in both countries, and teacher training. In particular, they will work together to amend a Cabinet resolution granting Korean regular-subject status in Uzbekistan's national academic competitions and to hold Korean-language competitions. The initiative is expected to address demand for Korean-language learning in Uzbekistan and further expand the foundation for Korean-language education there.
In higher education, mutual recognition of degrees awarded by universities in the two countries has been designated as a key cooperation initiative. The countries will support exchange programs for students and researchers, as well as Korean-language education in Uzbekistan and Uzbek-language education in Korea. They will also promote cooperation in people-to-people exchanges, including undergraduate and graduate education programs and government-sponsored scholarship programs for students from both countries.
On the 16th, the Ministry of Education signed an MOU on educational cooperation with Tajikistan's Ministry of Education and Science. The agreement focuses on promoting Korean-language education in Tajikistan's primary and secondary educational institutions and expanding exchanges between higher education institutions. The two countries will support university student exchange programs and joint educational programs while expanding exchanges among experts, teachers and professors.
Interest in Korean and Korean education is growing across Central Asia, and the number of international students coming to Korea has been rising sharply. In recent years, cooperation has expanded beyond student exchanges to include digital technology and AI, teacher exchanges and higher education. Following the signing of the MOUs, the Ministry of Education plans to identify substantive cooperation projects based on each country's educational needs and strengths and continue follow-up consultations.
Minister of Education Choi Kyo-jin said, "The signing of these MOUs is significant because it expands the scope of educational cooperation between Korea and the Central Asian countries beyond student and teacher exchanges and Korean-language education to include digital technology, artificial intelligence, early childhood education, higher education and other areas." He added, "We will continue working through mutually beneficial educational cooperation so that students and educational institutions in both countries can experience tangible results."  

[email protected] Man-ki Kim Reporter