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Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services is developing a system to hand the technical upkeep of schools and kindergartens to private management companies, Construction Minister Sherzod Khidoyatov told parliament on 13 October during a government question hour in the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis.
The initiative follows a parliamentary challenge from Miliy Tiklanish party deputy Dilnoza Azizova, who raised concerns about the quality of construction and repair work at social facilities — including schools, kindergartens and roads — and asked whether the ministry was studying international models for broader private-sector involvement. Khidoyatov acknowledged the problems directly. “Today the question of operating schools and kindergartens across the republic is very acute,” he said, adding that work on the issue had begun after the president raised it, in coordination with what is now the Ministry of Education and Science.
Passportisation First
The first concrete step will be a nationwide technical passportisation of every school and kindergarten. Design organisations are currently assessing the physical condition of buildings — roofs, heating systems and boiler equipment — and cataloguing the fuel types in use, including coal and gas. The data will be used to determine what repairs are needed and to draw up operating standards for both existing and newly built educational facilities.
Khidoyatov said the ministry has proposed that management service companies already maintaining nearby apartment blocks be permitted to extend their contracts to cover adjacent schools and kindergartens. That proposal is being worked through with the Ministry of Economy and Finance. He gave no detail on how such companies would be selected or how their services would be funded.
Certified Specialists for Complex Equipment
The minister pointed to a practical driver behind the reform: newer school buildings are being fitted with sophisticated engineering systems, including modern heat pumps, that the schools’ own maintenance staff are not qualified to operate. “We are developing a new system under which not only management service companies but also specialised maintenance organisations will appear in the country,” Khidoyatov said. “They will undergo certification so that this work is carried out by genuine specialists.”
He said the new system is expected to be operational from next year, though he did not specify how many institutions would be covered in the first phase.
The proposal aligns with a separate announcement by Tashkent city governor Shavkat Umurzakov, who has said the capital intends to outsource the facilities management of state schools to service companies — mirroring the role played by residential building managers — and to transfer school catering to specialist firms as well. Umurzakov argued the approach would bring professional operators into functions currently handled in-house.
Key questions remain unanswered: the financing mechanism, the procurement process for selecting private operators, and the regulatory framework that would govern their performance and accountability have not been publicly detailed.