Education is supervised by two national agencies, the Ministry of People's Education -for primary, secondary, and vocational education and the Ministry of Higher Education -for post secondary education.In 1993 Uzbekistan had 9,834 preschool centers, most of which were run by state enterprises for the children of their employees. An around 35% of children ages one to six attend such schools, but few rural areas have access to preschools. In the early 1990s, enterprises began closing schools or transferring them to direct administration of the Ministry of People's Education. A modest government construction program adds about 50,000 new places annually-a rate that falls far short of demand. Although experts rate most of Uzbekistan's preschools as being in poor condition, the government regards them as contributing vitally to the nutrition and education of children, particularly when both parents work, a situation that became increasingly frequent in the 1990s.

Education is compulsory in Uzbekistan until the ninth grade. Nearly the entire adult population can read and write. Illiteracy was high before the Soviet time but was virtually eliminated by 1970 as a result of the Soviet Union’s emphasis on free and universal education. Uzbekistan’s education system continues to follow the Soviet model in most respects, although some changes have been introduced since freedom, such as a greater emphasis on Uzbek history and literature. So far the government has been unable to meet the Soviet level of funding for schools. Teachers are generally poorly paid, and new textbooks are in short supply.