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Uzbekistan’s Minister of Education and Science has been granted an exceptional authority to hire staff for the ministry’s central apparatus through direct interview — bypassing standard competitive procedures — until 1 February 2027. The power was established in Presidential Decree No. PQ-380, signed on 19 October, which sets out organisational measures for the newly formed ministry.
The ministry itself is recent. A presidential edict dated 3 October merged the former Ministry of Preschool and School Education with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation into a single body, the Ministry of Education and Science. On 9 October, Erkинjon Turdimov — previously governor of Sirdaryo region — was appointed to lead it. He simultaneously assumed the position of First Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan.
New structures around the ministry
The 19 October decree establishes several bodies alongside the ministry. A Public Council on Education is to be formed under the minister, drawing representatives from students, parents, teachers and employers. The ministry’s collegium will comprise 15 members: the minister as chair, deputy ministers, directors of agencies attached to the ministry, and a selection of rectors of leading higher education institutions, scientists and educators.
A special working group on developing a Human Capital Development and Lifelong Learning Strategy will be set up under the Presidential Administration. Within the ministry itself, a Human Capital Development Fund and a Centre for Strategic Research and Assessment in Education and Science are to be created.
The decree also provides for the establishment of a Knowledge and Skills Assessment Agency under the ministry. At the same time, the Education Development Centre previously attached to the Ministry of Preschool and School Education is to be dissolved.
Why the hiring exemption matters
The temporary direct-hire authority reflects the practical challenge of staffing a brand-new central apparatus from scratch. Because the merged ministry has no established civil-service roster of its own, requiring full competitive recruitment for every post before February 2027 could leave the institution unable to function during its critical early months. The exemption is time-limited and confined to the central apparatus, but it concentrates significant discretion over personnel in the minister’s hands during the consolidation period.