Culture - The Times Of Central Asia

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Time Spent by Tajikistan Citizens Sleeping, Eating and Working

The results of a study on time-budgeting by citizens of Tajikistan, conducted with support from the World Bank, was recently published by the Statistical Agency under the President of Tajikistan,. According to data, the first of its type to be recorded in Tajikistan, the country's residents sleep for an average of 8 hours, read for 8 minutes, and work for only an hour each day. During the study, from 15 September to 15 December 2023, officials interviewed 13,150 people over the age of 10 years old. Sixty percent were women and 40 percent, men. The results were presented by gender, age, area of residence (urban/rural), level of education, and employment status. As such, the data provides a broad source of information for analysis in areas including general labour productivity, women's labour and their contribution to the economy, the construction of the system of national accounts, and the organization and conduct of leisure activities as an indicator of well-being. Results showed that on any given day, Tajikistan's population aged 10 and over, spends 12 hours and 53 minutes on personal care, or 53.7 percent of their day. Of this, 8 hours and 26 minutes are spent sleeping, 2 hours and 43 minutes eating, and 1 hour and 43 minutes on personal hygiene and grooming. The second highest daily time-consuming activity, averaging 4 hours and 4 minutes, is housekeeping. Perhaps not surprisingly, women spend 5 hours and 16 minutes a day on housekeeping, and men, just 2 hours and 35 minutes. One hour 37 minutes or 6.8% of the day is occupied on media consumption. Every day, citizens watch TV for around 1 hour 22 minutes but only 8 minutes reading books. The third most popular daily activity involved communication and leisure, at 1 hour 20 minutes. Work took fifth place, with an average of 1 hour 17 minutes per day. Education took up 48 minutes a day, while daily engagement in sports and active leisure pursuits remains lower still at 12 minutes a day.

Education Culture Central Asia Uzbekistan Social OECD

Uzbekistan’s Schoolchildren to Sit International PISA Tests

In 2025, Uzbekistan, with the support of the World Bank, will participate in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), with pilot testing starting this May. PISA testing assesses the ability of students from more than 80 countries in their knowledge and skills in reading, math and science. When allocating funding for PISA testing in 2019, World Bank experts noted the acute shortage of teachers and their low qualifications and in addition, the absence of means to assess both the quality of preschool education and a comfortable environment for learning. "Investing in children's early education is one of the most effective ways to develop human capital, which in turn will stimulate economic growth in the country," Hideki Mori, the head of the World Bank's representative office in Uzbekistan, said at the time. Last year's test results placed Uzbek schoolchildren in the bottom ten of the 80 participant countries. The cause indicated significant problems within the domestic education system and subsequent data revealed a direct correlation between test results and families' socioeconomic status. To address the issue, officials plan to allocate more than $3.7 billion for schools and school education curricula this year.

Culture Literature

The Art of Words: Writer Andrei Orlov Discusses the Development of Kazakhstan’s Literary Industry

Andrei Orlov is an acclaimed writer who has actively influenced the development of Kazakhstan’s literature through the creation of a community of writers and the organization of cultural events. In this interview, he offers his perspective of how the art of the written word shapes a nation’s cultural heritage and stimulates the development of its literary scene. How do you view the contemporary Kazakhstani literary scene? What changes and trends have been noticeable in recent years? I've been in the industry for seven years and have witnessed a lot of changes. Many authors have finally realized that their craft is not limited to printed books and are slowly moving online and exploring specialized digital products. The stereotypical view that samizdat is bad has almost been erased. Conservative writers are still of the opinion that if they want to publish, they should only do so under the auspices of a publishing house. But in our country where supply does not meet demand, samizdat offers an excellent means of embarking on your creative path. I know many authors who have self-published and then, after the first or even third book, received offers from publishing houses. Literature is changing in general. More and more people are writing about things they really care about and understand. For example, over the last 3-4 years, business literature has significantly increased; something I consider a great achievement for the country. What are the main challenges facing Kazakhstani writers today? The challenge is not to die! But jesting aside, there are many difficulties faced by contemporary authors. As I said, there are now far fewer publishing houses in the country, which means that authors must do everything themselves: writing, editing, design, illustration, layout, presentation, promotion. Some tasks are obviously passed to specialists, but these are all issues which many authors are ill-equipped to resolve. We also want our books to provide income or at least, recoup costs. Unfortunately, that rarely happens especially the first-time round. And here we come back to the problem about which I talk non-stop: a writer must treat his project (book) like a business. Otherwise, things are hard. People in Kazakhstan are still unused to reading their writers. It was a similar case with music, when earlier on, there was prejudice against domestic music producers. But once they proved their quality and, in a sense, turned the whole market upside down, listeners began to engage. The same thing should happen with literature. Does the Kazakhstani writing environment reflect contemporary social, cultural and political changes in the country? No, rather than yes. Few authors write on such topics. They are a hundred percent afraid to write about politics. Only a few can afford to do so. I recently published a collection of poetry and under the auspices of our club, organized a contest and selected works. A series of poems on a political theme was submitted. Devoid of any harsh criticism, it was more akin to satire. Our editors, however, were afraid...

Education Culture Central Asia Economy UN Women's rights Uzbekistan

Samarkand to Host Asian Women’s Forum Next Month

The Asian Women's Forum will be held in Samarkand this May, where participants will discuss the situation surrounding women's rights in the countries of Central and Southeast Asia. The forum will discuss issues related to expanding women's rights, and reducing poverty in the region by involving women in entrepreneurship. Sessions will pay special attention to the role of parliaments in stimulating women's participation in business, gender-oriented budgeting, elimination of gender disparity, and eradication of all forms of violence against women and children. The participants will also focus on modern approaches and best practices in promoting the green economy, the impact of climate change on gender issues in the region -- as well as protection of women's rights and interests. Women are now a driving force in all aspects of life in Central Asia. Addressing the 78th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York, Chairwoman of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis (bicameral parliament) of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbayeva said that "the attitude towards women has fundamentally changed in the country. Much attention is [being] paid to their education, mastering professions and foreign languages -- as well as to the development of women's entrepreneurship." To date, Uzbekistan has adopted more than 40 legal and regulatory acts to improve the status of women in society, established the National Agency for Social Protection, which, among other things, provides targeted assistance to women and works specifically on the social adaptation of women returned from conflict zones in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

World Nomad Games Economy Central Asia Tourism Kazakhstan Culture

Sell-Out of U.K. Tours to World Nomad Games in Kazakhstan

Due to an unprecedented demand, U.K. package tours, organized by Regent Holidays and Wild Frontiers, to attend the Fifth World Nomad Games in Astana from 8-14 September 2024, have already sold out. The news, reported by Kazakh Tourism, is perhaps not surprising given that the magazine 'Wanderlust', listed Kazakhstan as one of its top 24 destinations in 2024 on account of the country's hosting the event. With reference to Kazakhstan being the only Central Asian country to make the list, Kairat Sadvakasov, chairman of the board of Kazakh Tourism, commented, "Year after year, Kazakhstan is becoming a center of attraction for foreign tourists. That's because we are a relatively new destination, particularly for American [and] European readers of Wanderlust. To appear on the publication's list shows great progress in the development of our tourist industry. It's also important for us to let everyone know about the World Nomad Games in our capital city. We hope that (it) we will open up a new perspective on Kazakhstan and especially, Astana." The World Nomad Games are international competitions in indigenous ethnic sports historically played by nomadic peoples. Aimed to support the development of ethno-sports and ethno-cultural development, the Games are included in UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage. Comprising 20 sports, this year's event will involve some 3,000 competitors from more than 100 countries. Costing $17.9 million to present, the Games are expected to attract 20,000 foreign spectators.

Education Culture Uzbekistan New Tashkent

Towards a New Tashkent

On April 3rd, Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev attended a ceremony to celebrate the start of construction of New Tashkent; a twin capital located on 20,000 hectares east of the existing city of Tashkent, between the Chirchiq and Karasu rivers. Speaking at the launch, President Mirziyoyev emphasized the historical significance of the ground-breaking project and its far-reaching impact on the future of Uzbekistan: “Today we are laying the foundation for the campuses of Yangi Uzbekistan University and Tashkent State Pedagogical University, the National Library, the National Theater, the International Research Center, the Museum of Literature, and the Alisher Navoi School of Creativity. It is no coincidence that the construction of a new city begins with the abodes of knowledge and spirituality. They will become the basis and model in the formation of an enlightened society.” The new city’s campus of Tashkent State Pedagogical University will provide teaching facilities for 20 thousand students, dormitories for 5 thousand, a kindergarten for 300 children, and a school for 616 pupils. It will also include a sports centre, a palace of culture, and an amphitheatre. Yangi Uzbekistan University, rated as one of the most prestigious universities in the country for engineering, management, information technology, agricultural technology, humanities, and natural sciences, will be complemented by a second campus in New Tashkent. Once in operation, the new facilities will accommodate 10 thousand students, a library, sports complex, and an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Ambitious plans for the second city also include a new National Library of Uzbekistan with the capacity to house over 10 million books and accommodate over 1,400 users at any given time. Concluding his speech, the president underlined his belief that New Tashkent was set to become a centre for excellence in science, education, and culture not only for Uzbekistan but also for the entire region. It was earlier reported that master plans for New Tashkent had been developed by the UK’s Cross Works design company.