Mirziyoyev: Rising number of female students is a sign of Uzbekistan's Third Renaissance

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said that women now make up more than half of university students in the country, calling this a sign of the Third Renaissance.

According to a Report correspondent in Tashkent, the president made the remarks at a ceremony marking the 35th anniversary of Uzbekistan's independence.

Mirziyoyev stressed the importance of developing education and training a new generation of specialists equipped with modern knowledge and future-oriented skills.

He said that over the past 10 years, preschool education coverage increased from 27% in 2016 to 78% this year, while schools gained an additional 1.5 million student places.

The president also noted the increased accessibility of higher education. According to him, the number of university students rose from 250,000 in 2016 to 1.6 million today.

"It is encouraging that young people's desire for knowledge is growing. For parents, having their children receive higher education has already become a reality rather than a distant dream," Mirziyoyev said.

He specifically highlighted that more than half of university students are now girls and women. "And this is, in a sense, a sign of the Third Renaissance. I primarily see [its significance] in such changes," the president stressed.

"At the same time, we have launched large-scale efforts to give new impetus to areas such as information technology, artificial intelligence and the creative economy. Thus, we will engage 10 million young people in the digital industry and professions of the future," he added.

Uzbekistan's history officially recognizes two major periods of cultural and scientific flourishing: the First Renaissance (9th–12th centuries) and the Second Renaissance (14th–early 16th centuries). The Third Renaissance, or Third Revival, is a state strategic concept put forward by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev aimed at achieving a broad spiritual, scientific, economic and cultural revival of the country.