There is less crime among students living in dormitories — Deputy Minister

**Crime among students living in dormitories is decreasing – Deputy Minister**

Sardor Rajabov, First Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, said at a press conference in Tashkent on August 18 that Uzbekistan currently has 391 student dormitories, and another 14,112 new places will be created on the basis of public-private partnerships by the end of 2026. This was reported by Gazeta correspondent.

According to Nodir Kasimov, head of the department of the Ministry of Higher Education, there are 60,000 places in the existing 391 student dormitories, and the level of student accommodation with dormitories has reached 58 percent.

Nodir Kasimov said: “Students of all higher education institutions, from the first year to the master's degree, will be accommodated in dormitories in accordance with the procedure established by the Cabinet of Ministers' resolution. To date, more than 70 thousand students have submitted online applications. The first batch of them will begin to be issued with referrals tomorrow.”

Nodir Kasimov noted that universities that cannot fully cover their dormitories have formed a list of about 20 thousand rental apartments, 10 thousand of which are located in Tashkent.

He added: “A large contingent of students comes to the capital. Therefore, the issue of housing is urgent here. Starting today, centers for placement in dormitories and rental apartments have started operating in all universities.”

Responding to a question about the fact that five students are being accommodated in one room in some dormitories and this does not meet sanitary requirements, Nodir Kasimov said that the issue of building dormitories, especially allocating land in Tashkent, is difficult.

He said: “Therefore, efforts are being made to effectively use the existing opportunities. The use of bunk beds in the rooms and the possibility of accommodating students in them are being fully considered.”

According to him, work is also underway to increase the number of dormitories on the basis of public-private partnerships. In recent years, about 8 thousand student dormitories have been built on this basis in Tashkent.

Deputy Minister Sardor Rajabov said that by the end of 2026, 14,112 new places will be created and put into operation on the basis of PPPs across the republic.

He said: “So far, 1,850 places have been created. In September, we will launch another 8,332 places. Another 4,300 places will be added by the end of the year.”

Sardor Rajabov stressed that providing students with dormitories is also important for the quality of education.

He said: “Students who live in dormitories or on campus have higher achievement scores than those who live at home or in rented apartments. We have also studied this. Students who live in dormitories have higher average GPA.”

According to him, students’ being in the same environment, exchanging ideas, studying together, and reading books have a positive impact on their studies. There is also less crime among students living in dormitories.

The Deputy Minister noted: “Higher education institutions are continuously building dormitories at their own expense and through public-private partnerships. The period of exemptions in this regard has also been extended. We will not stop working on increasing the number of dormitories.”

Ministry official Sardor Rajabov stressed that the perception that acquaintances are allowed in the placement of students in dormitories is incompatible with the current system.

He said: “Recently, when we discussed the issue of dormitories with employees from other organizations, they mentioned the situations of a few years ago, such as ‘you put your acquaintances in the student dormitory’, ‘the commandant places whoever he wants.’ But now the system is fully digitalized.”

The Deputy Minister added: “Now the system has been opened and the data is automatically generated in it. Neither I nor anyone else can place any student anywhere.”

He said that the ministry is also working on automating the process of placing students in rooms based on artificial intelligence.

Speaking about the system of state compensation for students living in rented apartments, the head of the department, Nodir Kasimov, noted that in Tashkent, one student will receive a rent payment of one time the base calculation amount, and in other regions - 50 percent.

He noted that the amount of funds allocated for rent changes annually, depending on the needs of students.

He said: “An average of 150 billion soums is allocated for these purposes for one academic year. The exact amount changes every year. A contract is concluded with students who live in rented accommodation, and payment is made on this basis.

According to Sardor Rajabov, private universities are also included in the system of providing students with housing.

He said: “There are requirements for private universities under Resolution No. 80. According to it, they must provide students with sufficient dormitories. They provide information on students' housing both during the licensing process and during monitoring. Some universities have their own dormitories, while others rent apartments.”

He said that previously there were difficulties with housing due to the large number of students studying in correspondence education, and now, since admission to correspondence education has been suspended, the number of students in private universities is decreasing.

Nodir Qosimov said that a list of rental apartments has also been formed for students of private universities.

He said: “The list of 10,000 rental apartments that I mentioned includes apartments allocated for students of private higher education institutions. The same requirements we have for state universities apply to private universities.”

He noted that the placement of students in hostels or rented apartments, ensuring their safety, concluding contracts, and studying living conditions are under the control of the ministry.

Nodir Qosimov said: “Placement of a student in a hostel or rented apartment, studying the spiritual environment there, checking with whom the student lives and in what conditions - all this is registered and under our control. We do not distinguish between students studying in a state or private university in this matter. If a situation is detected that does not meet the requirements, we evacuate students from there and transfer them to another place. Recently, such a situation occurred in the Chilonzor district. One of the private universities placed students in one place. When we studied together with employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, it was found that there were no conditions for living there, not only for students, but for people in general. We immediately evacuated the students and moved them to a safe place.”

Deputy Minister Sardor Rajabov commented on the reports circulating on social media that student dormitories at some universities were being sold.

He said: “We also provided official information. There was no mention of selling dormitories there. It is envisaged to lease empty spaces in dormitories, such as kitchens or basements where students do not live, to entrepreneurs. They can set up various services for students in these spaces. For this, an announcement is made in the prescribed manner through the State Assets Agency, a price is set, and a tripartite agreement is concluded with the entrepreneur who made the most favorable offer. Due to the misinterpretation on social media, many people thought that dormitories were being sold. We have no cases of dormitory sales at all.”

Rajabov said that it is planned to sell the old buildings of some higher education institutions, but this will be done after they move to new campuses. In particular, new modern campuses are being built for Bukhara State University, Navoi State University and the Nizami National Pedagogical University.

The Deputy Minister said: “A new campus of Bukhara State University is being built. The university will move here and the existing buildings will be sold. However, the terms of the sale stipulate that the new building will be completed and handed over after the university moves there. The same applies to Navoi State University and the Nizami National Pedagogical University. We have announced this on our Telegram channel and website.”

He specifically emphasized that it is impossible to sell dormitories while students are living there.

Sardor Rajabov said: “At a time when there is a certain shortage of student housing, selling a dormitory where students live is unthinkable. "That's not going to happen, that's for sure."