Research assistant on international good practice in the financing of tertiary education (TVET and Higher education)

TERMS OF REFERENCE

For research assistant on international good practice in the financing of tertiary education (TVET and Higher education) Grant Facility for Project Preparation (GFPP) – Uzbekistan Student Loan Program: I. Background The Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan is implementing comprehensive reforms aimed at expanding equitable access to higher education and strengthening the effectiveness, sustainability, and inclusiveness of student financing mechanisms. As higher education participation continues to increase, ensuring adequate, equitable, and effective financing has become a key priority to support equal educational opportunities and long-term sector development. To support these reforms, the Grant Facility for Project Preparation (GFPP) represents a strategic investment of US$2 million, financed by the World Bank, to support the preparation and implementation readiness of the Student Loan Program in Uzbekistan. The GFPP finances analytical studies, institutional capacity building, implementation support, and policy development to establish a sustainable and efficient student financing system. The facility supports comprehensive analytical work to assess the current student financing landscape, conduct stakeholder consultations, evaluate international good practices, and develop evidence-based policy recommendations. It also strengthens implementation capacity through the recruitment of specialized Project Implementation Unit (PIU) staff and fiduciary experts, while supporting national and international training programs for representatives of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), the Ministry of Education and Science (MoES), and other relevant stakeholders. These reforms take place in a context of rapid expansion. Gross enrolment in higher education rose from 9 percent to 21 percent between 2016 and 2022, the number of HEIs grew from 70 to 194, and the Government aims to reach 50 percent enrolment by 2030. Admission is still largely managed through centrally set quotas of places, which are increased every year.2 Public spending on tertiary education has risen more than fivefold in five years to about 0.89 percent of GDP, close to the OECD average. However, the financing model continues to rely heavily on households: around 68 percent of public higher education institutions’ (HEIs’) revenues come from tuition fees; free (state-funded) places, held by about 17 percent of students, are allocated on admission test scores and benefit mostly students from middle- and higher-income families; and government funding to HEIs is based on enrolment alone, so it does not reward labour market outcomes, curricular innovation or industry links.1 The regional “dual-track” model of budget-funded and fee-paying places, combined with centralised quotas that may not correspond to demand for specific programmes, has been found to create an incentive for institutions to retain fee-paying students at the expense of academic standards.2 World Bank analysis has pointed to a package of system-level financing reforms, including a transparent funding formula that combines enrolment with performance on strategic indicators, competitive grants, diversification of institutional revenues and reform of student financial aid. These reforms depend on greater institutional financial and academic autonomy and on reliable data on graduate outcomes.1 The Government recognizes the importance of evidence-based analysis to inform future reforms of the financing of tertiary education, covering both technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and higher education (HE). It also places high value on learning from good practice in relevant and comparable international cases, so that design choices for Uzbekistan are informed by what other systems have done, what results they achieved, and under which conditions. II. The assignment To inform these reforms, the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) and the PIU have engaged an international consultant to carry out research on international good practice in the financing of tertiary education (TVET and HE). The research covers the general design of TVET and HE financing systems in a selection of relevant and comparable countries, including their institutional and legal frameworks, the incentives they create and their impact on the sector; and countries’ experiences in phasing out admission quotas for students entering TVET and HE, including the finance-related aspects of this transition. It will assess how far these arrangements fit, or would need to be adapted to, the Uzbek context. The work runs from October to December 2026. It starts with an initial review of how TVET and HE are currently financed in Uzbekistan and exploratory desk research on international experience, through which the analytical framework will be refined. It then includes a selection of country cases with national counterparts, in-depth interviews with stakeholders in the selected countries and, subject to confirmation, a mission to Tashkent in mid-November 2026. III. Objective The objective of this assignment is to provide research support to the international consultant throughout the study, by collecting, organising, analysing and synthesising evidence and data on the financing of TVET and HE in Uzbekistan and in the selected countries, and by supporting interviews, the mission to Tashkent and the preparation of the report. IV. Scope of Work and Deliverables Under the guidance and supervision of the international consultant, who defines the overall methodology of the research, the research assistant will carry out the following tasks: Review of the current system in Uzbekistan. Collect and organise documents and data on the current financing of TVET and HE in Uzbekistan (e.g., laws and regulations, budget and enrolment data, admission quota decisions, available studies), in coordination with the PIU, and prepare summary tables and notes as requested by the consultant. Explorat