Uzbekistan is a country of hidden talents. I came to this idea while a student at the Management Development Institute of Singapore in Tashkent and operating English conversation clubs at the Alisher Navoi National Library of Uzbekistan. Imagine hundreds of youths attending speech club meetings for a couple of years, learning English perfectly, and getting admitted to universities in the world's most advanced nations.
Driven by success and a sense of mission, I decided to enhance in scale and open a network of training centers. Then, I came to the government owing to my entrepreneurship. When I became the deputy minister of public education, I wanted to see more of my peers, young people, both in the ministry where I worked and in general in all government agencies. I met dozens of talented and hardworking people, educated and competent, brothers, and sisters during my career. Below, I will cite just a small part of them. They include many of those who have studied and worked abroad, but every one of them is worth being regarded as a world-class specialist.
RUSTAM KARIYEV, 33, ENGLISH TEACHER.
Rustam is an Ibrat Academy mobile application product manager, professional English teacher, and holder of the prestigious CELTA certificate from Cambridge University. He studied at Malaysia’s SEGI University courses and the Management Development Institute of Singapore in Tashkent. As a selfless pedagogue, along with training many students offline, he has conducted and posted about 200 video lessons titled “Learning English from scratch” on the page of Ibrat Farzandlari on YouTube.
FAZLIDDIN BAHROMOV, 32, PROJECT MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST.
Holding master’s degrees from the Management Development Institute of Singapore in Tashkent and Webster University, Fazliddin Bahromov is currently a project manager at the Delivery Unit under the government of Uzbekistan. From his student years, he has been in entrepreneurship, heading the representative office of a British law firm in Uzbekistan, and opened a private clinic and optician’s stores. Since 2017, he has been working in various positions in civil service, building on his experience in the private sector. Until 2023, Fazliddin used to lead the Innovation Department of the Youth Affairs Agency of Uzbekistan.
SAIDA RASHIDOVA, 38, UZBEK TEACHER, PROMOTER OF READING FOR CHILDREN AND MOTHERS.
Saida Rashidova encourages by her example to constantly learn and work on oneself. From age 15, she volunteered in social projects and studied Russian, English, and German. She has been in professional teaching for more than 10 years. In 2021, Saida was awarded the Tahsin Award for her children’s “The Hat Incident” storybook. Currently, within the framework of the Ibrat Farzandlari project, hundreds of video lessons on Uzbek are prepared and brought to the attention of our compatriots and guests of our country.
SIROJIDDIN OLIMOV, 29, SPECIALIZES IN EDUCATION MANAGEMENT.
Sirojiddin earned his MSc in Education at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, on a scholarship from the El-Yurt Umidi (Hope of the Nation) Foundation. He was the manager at the Young Leaders Development Project, at the Uzbekistan Teachers of English Association, and at the Office of the Five Initiatives of the President. Today, Sirojiddin contributes to the practical training of about 3,000 young people at Ibrat Camps to prepare for the world’s top 100 universities.
ORIAN MEHROJ, 28, YOUNG ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT ACTIVIST.
Under the leadership of the Youth Enterprise Support Center of Uzbekistan and the Youth Entrepreneur University, Orian is working on projects that contribute to advancing the startup culture and business ecosystem among youth. He is also Vice-Chairman of the Central Asian Artificial Intelligence Association and founder of the Unicorns venture fund.
ULUGBEK ISMATOV, 28, MEDIA PROFESSIONAL, AUTHOR OF SOCIAL PROJECTS.
Ulugbek Ismatov is a Tashkent University of Information Technologies graduate keen on modern media, entrepreneurship, and social projects. The manager’s curriculum vitae includes heading the MPMG project at the Youth Affairs Agency and experience with Be Creative, INTV, and Marketing.uz, Tezyoz.uz, Modul 5, Chegarasiz, and YouTube Uzbekistan projects.
NILUFAR AHMEDOVA, 24, INCLUSIVE EDUCATION SPECIALIST, PARA- SWIMMING CHAMPION.
Nilufar is the para-swimming champion of Uzbekistan. She heads a club on inclusive education at the Khorezm branch of the Youth Affairs Agency. She is an alumnus of the Faculty of Pedagogy at Urganch State University.
MIYASSAR DAULETBAYEVA, 17, YOUNG SINGER.
Still at school, Miyassar is an indomitable, big-stage-seeking, cheerful singer. This talented Karakalpak girl gained national fame through the project The Cover Up Kids. Winner of the Tahsin Award, she also earned a prize at the President-initiated Voice of Youth national festival in the Bozatau district of Karakalpakstan.
ISLOM OKHUNOV, 29, SCHOLAR OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, NATIONAL EXPERT.
Islom has worked in representative offices of the Youth Union of Uzbekistan, the Youth Affairs Agency, the Ministry of Youth Policy and Sports, and various UN agencies in this country. He participated in the 4th Young Leaders Forum within the framework of the Central Asian Youth Forum, the Organization of Turkic States. He’s been part of such initiatives as Bukhara, the Youth Capital of the Turkic World, the Unicorns startup contest within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), meeting of the Youth Council within the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Tashkent as CIS Youth Capital.
SHAHZOD BAHODIROV, 25, BUSINESSMAN.
He is the founder of training centers for thousands of young people who are the future of Uzbekistan. In particular, 1,100 graduates of the educational center Thompson School he founded have been enrolled in Uzbekistan's most celebrated higher educational institutions and advanced nations worldwide.
