At the National University of Uzbekistan (NUUz) named after Mirzo Ulugbek, the process of assisting graduates with employment has taken on signs of administrative coercion. The university administration is forcing students to register on state digital platforms, turning a support tool into a mandatory step for access to final certification.
Graduating students contacted the editorial board, reporting ultimatums from faculty leadership. According to them, creating profiles on job portals is now presented not as a graduate's right to job search assistance, but as a strict obligation, without which diploma defense is jeopardized.
According to an internal order from the university leadership, a rigid vertical control system for graduate employment has been introduced. Deans and department heads are tasked with the uncompromising goal of achieving a "100 percent indicator" of employment and coverage of students on specialized portals.
The reporting system is built on a "top-down" principle: teachers are required to inform departments weekly about each student's registration, and departments pass data to dean's offices and the university headquarters. The document explicitly provides not only incentives but also punitive measures: the vice-rector for academic affairs and the marketing department are instructed to submit proposals for disciplinary action against employees deemed ineffective.
The situation reaches absurdity when, due to technical features of state portals, students are forced to incur additional expenses. The platforms authorize users through the OneID system, which requires strict linking of the phone number to the user's passport data (PINFL). If a graduate's SIM card is registered to parents or relatives, their profile does not receive "confirmed" status, and the university's database still lists such a student as "unaccounted."
The editorial board has obtained messages from internal correspondence between teachers and students, confirming that this technical formality has become a tool of pressure. Teachers demand that graduates purchase new SIM cards in their own name. One message states the ultimatum bluntly: "So you need to get a new number in your name. Without this, you won't be allowed to defend."
In effect, the presence of a correct number in the digital database has become more important to the university than years of study results, turning registration into a mandatory condition for obtaining a diploma.
A Podrobno.uz correspondent sought clarification from the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation. The ministry emphasized that creating such digital resources aims to help youth integrate into the labor market, not to create additional bureaucratic barriers.
"Registration on these platforms is aimed solely at supporting graduates and expanding their opportunities in job searching. However, it is important to emphasize: such initiatives should be implemented on the basis of voluntary principles. It is unacceptable to link registration with access to the defense of a graduate's qualification work or to apply any other forms of pressure," the ministry commented.
The ministry added that its press service has already contacted colleagues at NUUz to clarify the circumstances and expects official explanations from the university administration regarding the reported coercion of students.
Source: podrobno.uz