The new prime minister's first deputy will coordinate the work of state bodies and governors in three areas

The President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev on October 9 signed a decree on measures to further improve the executive structure of the Cabinet of Ministers .The document was published in the legislative database on October 12.

The decree introduced into the government structure the position of First Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan — Minister of Education and Science. On October 9, Erkinjon Turdimov, who had previously served as governor of Syrdarya region, was appointedto this position.

According to the decree, the First Deputy Prime Minister — Minister of Education and Science, within the scope of his powers on education, science and healthcare issues, provides general leadership over and coordinates the activities of the heads of ministries, committees, agencies and inspectorates, as well as the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Karakalpakstan and the governors of regions and the city of Tashkent.

Which agencies will be assigned to Turdimov?

According to the annex to the decree, the list of bodies and organizations assigned to the First Deputy Prime Minister — Minister of Education and Science includes the following:

• The Ministry of Education and Science and, within its system, the Agencies for Specialized Educational Institutions, Vocational Education, Innovative Development, and Knowledge and Qualification Assessment;
• The Ministry of Health, the Committee for Sanitary and Epidemiological Wellbeing and Public Health, the Agency for the Development of the Pharmaceutical Industry, and the Clinical Audit Inspectorate;
• The Ministry of Internal Affairs — on issues of preventing offenses and violent crimes in educational institutions and among schoolchildren and students;
• The Youth Affairs Agency — on issues of youth education, vocational training and upbringing;
• The Academy of Sciences;
• other ministries, committees, agencies and inspectorates — in the part of the tasks assigned to them in the fields of education, science and healthcare;
• The deputies of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Karakalpakstan and of the governors of regions and the city of Tashkent in the relevant areas.

The organizations with which cooperation must be ensured were designated separately.Advertising on Gazeta

Among them are the State Security Service — on issues of preventing the illicit trafficking of narcotic substances, the recruitment of youth into criminal groups, and religious extremism and terrorism, as well as the National Guard — on issues of instilling patriotism in schoolchildren and students, strengthening a sense of responsibility for the country's fate, and promoting a healthy lifestyle.

A new secretariat will be established in the Cabinet of Ministers

The decree provides for the establishment of a Secretariat for Education, Science and Healthcare Issues with a staff of 12 units.

Five of its staff units will be transferred from the Department of Social Development Issues of the Cabinet of Ministers, while the remaining seven will be formed by optimizing the staffs of the reorganized Ministries of Preschool and School Education and of Higher Education, Science and Innovations.

At the same time, the Department of Social Development Issues in the executive structure of the Cabinet of Ministers will be renamed the Department of Culture and Sports Issues.

The total number of managerial staff in the executive structure of the Cabinet of Ministers was set at 243.

The government was instructed to adopt, within two weeks, a resolution approving the functional duties of the First Deputy Prime Minister — Minister of Education and Science and the regulation on his secretariat.

On October 12, at a meeting held in New Tashkent, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev commented on the appointment of Erkinjon Turdimov as First Deputy Prime Minister — Minister of Education and Science.

"You have seen it yourselves: I replaced the education minister. I brought in the person I trust most and made him education minister, because the number [of universities] has increased but the quality has declined. This worries me greatly," the president said.

According to him, Turdimov's appointment to this position, having previously governed four regions, is of particular significance.

"It is not without reason that I gave the status of First Deputy Prime Minister in order to pay great attention to education. Now attention to medicine and education in the country will change completely," Shavkat Mirziyoyev emphasized.