Education Ministry’s inaction leaves dozens of teachers without due payments in Kashkadarya

Several teachers at three schools in Kukdala district, Kashkadarya region, have been unable to receive transport compensation for the past five months due to technical issues in the UzASBO system.

These schools – No. 47, 48, and 51 – are located in the Pakhtalisoy neighborhood, and some teachers commute from other districts. Since January, transport allowance payments to these commuting teachers have been suspended.

“In the early mornings, around 5 or 6 AM, we brave the freezing cold in winter and the intense heat in summer, changing transport 3–4 times and traveling roughly 150 kilometers to get to work. Then we repeat the same journey back home,” the teachers wrote in a letter to Kun.uz.

They stated that they had contacted the Presidential Virtual Reception several times and once wrote to Minister of Public Education Hilola Umarova. However, their appeals have produced no results.

According to the teachers, the issue stems from the reorganization of administrative boundaries. Pakhtalisoy neighborhood, previously under Chirakchi district, has now been transferred to the newly established Kukdala district.

The Ministry of Preschool and School Education confirmed to Kun.uz that, based on a decision by the Chirakchi District Council of People's Deputies on November 18, 2021, 32 neighborhood assemblies, including Pakhtalisoy, were transferred to the new Kukdala district.

However, in the list of remote areas approved by a 2019 Cabinet of Ministers resolution, Pakhtalisoy is still listed as part of Chirakchi. Based on this outdated list, teachers in the neighborhood had been receiving allowances until January 2025.

“Due to the integration of the UzASBO system with relevant databases to prevent financial errors in salary payments, the system automatically suspended bonus payments to teachers from other districts working in Pakhtalisoy, since this neighborhood is not officially listed as part of Kukdala district in the government’s 2019 resolution,” the ministry explained.

According to the ministry, proposals are now being prepared in coordination with relevant agencies to update the list of remote areas. Bonus payments will resume once the government resolution is amended.

Will the teachers receive back pay for the months they missed? Kun.uz asked. A ministry representative replied, “Unfortunately, no. The law does not have retroactive force.”

He noted that bonus payments would only resume from the date the amendment to the government resolution is officially adopted.

It is surprising that the ministry, which is supposed to protect teachers' interests, has failed to find a prompt solution over the five months since the issue arose.

Considering that Kukdala district was established at the end of 2021, it becomes clear that the ministry had nearly three years to amend the government resolution by January 2025.