Uzbek school textbooks. Photo from review.uz
The contents of school textbooks in Uzbekistan are to undergo a review aimed at removing gender stereotypes. According to UNESCO experts, textbooks currently in use in the country have an influence on girls choosing predominantly “female” professions in healthcare and education and showing a relative disinterest in natural sciences and technical subjects, uzbek.review writes (in Russian).
To support the contention that the textbooks promote gender inequality, the news site showed a page from one textbook with the heading “Conversation about the future”, where young boys dream about becoming composers, engineers and businessmen, while girls aspire to be clothes designers and gymnastics champions. Besides this, when examples of famous Uzbeks are cited, only men are named – Biruni, Bukhari, Ulugbek etc.
An analysis of the textbooks’ contents will be undertaken by a team of international experts, working in tandem with specialists from the Ministry of Public Education of Uzbekistan. In addition, UNESCO’s office in Tashkent will accept proposals from interested companies and citizens between now and 4 February 2020. The initiative’s conclusions will be reported in April of this year.
The president of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev has spoken repeatedly of the need to strengthen the position of women in the country. Last year he emphasised that there are currently more than 1400 female heads of state agencies and civil society organisations. In the spheres of healthcare and social services, the proportion of women is over 82%, in science, education, art and culture 72%, in agriculture 45%, and in industry 38%.
By Uzbek law, 30% of candidates in parliamentary elections must be women. At the last elections, held in December of last year, this target was exceeded.
In 2019, Tanzila Narbayeva became the first Uzbek woman to be elected speaker of the Senate of the country’s Oliy Majlis (parliament).
