Government launches prestigious “Teacher of the Year” award with major prize

The Cabinet of Ministers has adopted a resolution titled “On measures to organize and conduct the Teacher of the Year and Leader in Professional Excellence competitions among general secondary education staff.”

According to the decision, beginning in 2026, the following competitions will be held every two years:

• Teacher of the Year — among pedagogical staff of general secondary education institutions under the Ministry of Preschool and School Education;
• Leader in Professional Excellence — among directors of Pedagogical Excellence Centers.

Candidates for the Teacher of the Year competition will participate in a subject they currently teach, while primary school teachers will compete in the primary education category. Participants will register via a dedicated platform managed by the ministry.

The competition will be held in three stages:

1. First stage – Candidates will be evaluated on their subject knowledge, teaching skills, and professional standards.
2. Second stage – A panel of judges and fellow educators will assess the candidates’ teaching methods based on specific evaluation criteria. A video recording of a lesson conducted by the candidate will be uploaded to the platform for review.
3. Third stage – Candidates’ contributions to spiritual and educational activities, as well as their reading habits, will be evaluated.

The list of winners will be updated in October every two years and published on the ministry’s official website. Each winner will receive a certificate with a QR code and be awarded a cash prize equivalent to 1,400 times the base calculation unit (currently totaling 525 million UZS), funded by the Ministry of Preschool and School Education’s redistributed resources.

In the Leader in Professional Excellence competition, the performance of directors of Pedagogical Excellence Centers will be evaluated across four key areas:

• Results achieved in improving the quality of education in the region;
• Efforts to ensure financial sustainability;
• Introduction of modern methods in the educational process;
• Staffing the centers with qualified personnel and implementing modern management practices.

Winners of this competition will also receive a monetary award equal to 1,400 times the base calculation amount.

Detailed information and updates on the competitions will be published on the ministry’s official pages.