Cases of illegal religious education have been uncovered in two provinces of Uzbekistan, the State Security Service (DXX) reported.
In the Denau district of the Surkhandarya province, a 41-year-old individual with a prior criminal record was found conducting unauthorized religious classes at his home. Lacking formal religious education and the required state permit, the suspect had been teaching 22 children aged 7 to 15 since June. The students, hailing from the Denau and Altynsoy districts, were housed and taught in conditions that completely failed to meet basic sanitary and hygienic standards. The operator charged monthly fees ranging from 500,000 UZS to $100 USD per child.
A separate underground religious school was uncovered in the Rishtan district of the Fergana province at the home of a 55-year-old woman. Since late May, the suspect had been providing unauthorized religious instruction to five children aged 9 to 15 from the Baghdad and Yazayavan districts without the necessary legal permissions.
In both instances, criminal cases have been launched under Part 2 of Article 229-2 of the Criminal Code, which penalizes the private teaching of religious doctrines to minors without specialized credentials or state authorization. Investigations are ongoing. Concurrently, administrative actions have been taken against the children's parents under Article 47 of the Code of Administrative Responsibility for failing to fulfill their parental duties regarding the proper education and upbringing of minors.
These operations follow a string of similar crackdowns. In August 2025, authorities uncovered home-based underground schools in the Surkhandarya and Namangan provinces. In the Boysun district, a man was arrested for operating paid classes where he routinely beat nine children with a stick. Another illegal school was raided in the Fergana province in July 2025. Earlier, in April, investigators discovered an underground boarding facility where religious lessons were strictly enforced; several children had stopped attending regular public schools altogether and bore visible physical injuries from bodily punishment.
Uzbekistan has significantly tightened its legislative framework regarding faith-based education. In February 2025, a law took effect establishing clear liability for parents who illegally involve their children in unauthorized religious education. By June of the same year, the Senate approved amendments introducing explicit criminal penalties for teaching religious doctrines to minors without official educational credentials and formal state permits.
Amid the ongoing enforcement campaign, Muzaffar Kamilov, Head of the Department for Religious and Educational Affairs under the Presidential Administration, recently noted that the government is exploring avenues to establish legal frameworks for providing structured religious education to teenagers under the age of 18.
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