Governors should treat every child as their own – Mirziyoyev

Regional and district governors must treat every child as their own, staying informed about their health, education, behavior, interests, aspirations, and challenges. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev made this statement on June 30 during a Youth Day meeting with young people.

According to the President, there are around 15,000 educational institutions and 7,500 vocational training centers across the country. In recent years, these centers have received more than 100 privileges and benefits. Taking the opportunity, the head of state urged the centers not to be satisfied with current achievements, but to expand further and increase the number of youth learning modern professions and foreign languages. He expressed his readiness to create any necessary conditions to support this.

President Mirziyoyev emphasized that if local governors establish a system of constant communication with youth and unite schools, universities, vocational centers, and entrepreneurs into a network that supports young people, tangible results will follow.

“These efforts should not be mere campaigning. Every young person in every neighborhood must truly feel the changes every day.

Then, in New Uzbekistan, there will no longer be any notions of uneducated, unemployed, unskilled — in short, unorganized youth,” the President stated.

He noted that many regions and districts have already made effective use of available opportunities and turned their territories into examples. The annual turnover of 261 enterprises founded by young entrepreneurs now exceeds 100 billion soums.

Previously, Tashkent city led in this area, but today, the business performance of youth in Tashkent region, Samarkand, Andijan, Namangan, and Fergana rivals that of the capital. Karakalpakstan, Kashkadarya, Navoi, Syrdarya, and Khorezm have also become leading regions in terms of youth employment.

In higher education, Surkhandarya made significant progress, rising from 11th to 4th place in just one year. Jizzakh and Syrdarya are also demonstrating notable improvement. Two years ago, students from seven regions earned 45 medals at international science Olympiads; over the past six months alone, students from Jizzakh, Andijan, Namangan, Samarkand, Surkhandarya, Khorezm, and Tashkent regions won a combined 166 medals.

Furthermore, 325,000 young people have been trained under the “One Million Programmers” initiative. Youth from Khorezm, Kashkadarya, and Samarkand have already begun earning significant income in the IT field. In another milestone, more than 150,000 young people received international language certificates last year—twice as many as in 2023. Youth from Tashkent, Fergana, Namangan, Bukhara, and Samarkand have shown notable progress in mastering foreign languages.

“Of course, young people understand each other’s language. They follow each other’s example and inspire one another. That’s why we appointed youth leaders in more than 9,000 neighborhoods. Over the past three years, they have gained valuable experience. Now they must start working with schools, technical colleges, language centers, and vocational institutes,” the President said.

However, he pointed out concerning statistics: 167,000 youth in neighborhoods remain unorganized, and 17,000 students have either been difficult to raise or have committed crimes. At this point, the President addressed the newly elected neighborhood chairmen directly:

“Who is responsible for peace, harmony, kindness, and a healthy environment in neighborhoods? First and foremost, it is you. Even if one child goes astray, it should be treated as an emergency. You must care about each child—their fate and future.”

He added, “One thing must be understood clearly: there is nothing inherently wrong with the child. They simply need love from adults, conditions to show their potential, and motivation to build self-confidence.”

The President also praised the work of 108 entrepreneurs from the Public Council of Entrepreneurship, who regularly visit nearby schools and introduce students to professional paths. Most importantly, many of these students now have a clear vision of the careers they want to pursue.

“These enterprising, selfless, and patriotic entrepreneurs are my wings. Tell me — what more can I do to help you support youth, guide them toward careers, and make them employed and successful? If our leading entrepreneurs meet with governors and quickly submit their proposals, I am ready to consider them all,” the President said.