Educational institutions across Uzbekistan are set to implement a comprehensive psychological screening program targeting kindergarten pupils, school students, university undergraduates, and teaching staff at least once a year. The initiative, approved by the country's leadership, aims to fundamentally restructure and enhance psychological support services throughout the entire continuous education framework, ensuring timely intervention for individuals facing emotional or mental challenges.

The rollout of this extensive program will occur in sequential phases. Starting from the 2026/2027 academic year, the system will become operational in preschools and secondary schools, followed by secondary specialized, vocational, and higher education institutions in the 2027/2028 academic year. The Research Institute of Psychology will oversee the diagnostic procedures using a specialized electronic platform designed to streamline data collection.

Collected information will undergo rigorous analysis facilitated by artificial intelligence technologies, subsequently categorizing participants into three distinct groups: "psychologically stable," "in need of psychological support," and "in need of active psychological support." While standard observation will suffice for the first group, more complex cases will be managed by institutional psychologists or regional mentor-psychologists designated for specialized intervention.

To bolster the initiative, the new framework incorporates financial incentives for psychological personnel. Professionals involved in conducting cascading professional development courses will receive a 20 percent salary supplement during the training period. Furthermore, 150 top-performing mentor-psychologists will be awarded a one-time financial bonus equivalent to 20 times the minimum wage, while service personnel will be mandated to upgrade their qualifications every five years.

Source: podrobno.uz