On the morning of August 27, 2025, the first day of the National Conference of Youth and Children on Climate Change in Uzbekistan (LCOY Uzbekistan 2025), we departed from Nukus and headed towards Muynak. For many of us, this was more than a simple field trip. It was a journey into history, memory, and responsibility. Muynak—once a vibrant port city—today stands as a living testimony to one of humanity’s most devastating ecological disasters: the drying of the Aral Sea.
From a Sea to a Desert
The Aral Sea was once the world’s fourth-largest inland lake, stretching over 68,900 square kilometers in 1960. It provided livelihoods for thousands of fishermen, supported industries, and shaped cultures across Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. But within just a few decades, massive irrigation projects diverted the waters of the Amudarya and Syrdarya rivers, causing the sea to shrink dramatically. By 2020, less than 10% of its original size remained (Orol dengizi, n.d.).
The consequences have been profound. Villages once located on the seashore are now dozens of kilometers away from water. Fish species vanished due to extreme salinity, and Muynak’s canneries—once famous across Central Asia—shut their doors. The exposed seabed turned into the Aralkum Desert, releasing toxic dust and salt storms into the atmosphere, affecting not only Karakalpakstan but also distant regions, even glaciers in the Pamirs and the Arctic.
Walking through the Ship Graveyard
Arriving in Muynak, we walked across the Ship Graveyard. Enormous rusted ships stood abandoned on the sand, as though time had frozen. For the young participants of the conference, many of whom had only read about the Aral Sea in books, this sight was overwhelming. Once these vessels were symbols of prosperity, carrying tons of fish every year; now they are monuments to ecological loss.
Our guide, environmentalist Yusup Kamalov, gave us an introduction to the Aral Sea’s story, explaining not just the ecological collapse but also the human dimension: health problems, forced migration, and loss of cultural heritage. Listening to his words while standing beside lifeless ships created a powerful contrast between past abundance and present emptiness.
Learning from Museums and Memories
The next part of the visit took us to the Aral Museum and the Old Fish Cannery. There, we saw black-and-white photographs of bustling ports, fishermen proudly holding their catch, and workers in the factory halls. Exhibits told the story of how Muynak was once a town full of life, where families built their futures around the sea.
But the museum also displayed documents and testimonies from the 1970s onward, when the water began to recede. Entire generations saw their lives collapse as fish disappeared, industries shut down, and the desert advanced. Locals’ personal stories—of hunger, illness, and migration—reminded us that climate change is never only about nature; it is about people’s lives and dignity.
Youth reflections and activities
The field trip was not just passive observation. The conference organizers planned interactive sessions—brainstorming, Q&A discussions, and storytelling with local residents (Concept Agenda, 2025). Many of us sang songs, shared reflections, and even engaged in group activities to imagine solutions for the future.
Standing in Muynak, we realized that we are not only visitors but also witnesses of history, entrusted with carrying its lessons forward. For children and youth, the message was clear: climate change is not a distant threat, it is already shaping lives, economies, and ecosystems.
Hope in the Midst of Loss
Despite the haunting silence of the ships, Muynak is not only a place of despair. Projects to stabilize the northern part of the sea, such as the Kokaral Dam in Kazakhstan, have shown that ecosystems can begin to recover when action is taken. Fish stocks have returned to parts of the Northern Aral, giving hope that at least partial restoration is possible.
For us as youth, Muynak became a place of commitment. The lessons of the Aral Sea urge us to promote sustainable water management, push for renewable energy, and advocate for policies that protect children, women, and vulnerable groups who bear the brunt of climate disasters.
A Call to Action
As the buses carried us back to Nukus in the evening, the sunset over the endless desert reminded us of both fragility and resilience. The Aral Sea’s story is one of mistakes but also of second chances. If the global community listens, learns, and acts, other regions may avoid a similar fate.
For me, the visit to Muynak was more than a trip—it was a turning point. Walking among the ships, I felt the weight of history and the urgency of action. The Aral Sea’s tragedy must never be repeated, and it is our generation’s responsibility to ensure that.
Annotation: This article looks at blended learning as a new way of teaching that combines traditional classroom teaching with digital tools. It talks about the main problems with blended learning, like digital inequality, teacher readiness, and student self-discipline, as well as the main benefits, like flexibility, personalised learning, and better student engagement. The analysis stresses that to make blended learning work, you need to plan ahead, get help with technology, and change the way you teach. The results indicate that blended learning, when implemented effectively, can substantially improve educational quality and foster a more equitable and forward-looking instructional approach.
The fast growth of information and communication technologies has changed the way schools around the world teach. Blended learning, which combines traditional classroom instruction with online or digital learning activities, is one of the most popular methods in recent years. The goal of this model is to combine the best parts of both in-person and online learning to make the experience more dynamic and focused on the learner. Blended learning does offer many ways to make education better and more accessible, but it also comes with a lot of problems that teachers and schools need to solve.
One of the best things about blended learning is that it gives both students and teachers a lot of freedom. In a traditional classroom, students can only learn at certain times and places. With blended learning, students can access educational materials whenever and wherever they want. For instance, learners can upload lecture videos, digital readings, or recorded presentations to online platforms so they can study at their own pace. This is especially helpful for students who work or have family responsibilities because they can change their study schedules to fit their other commitments. Additionally, accessibility implies that students are not constrained by physical or geographic boundaries. By connecting to the institution’s online system, a student in a remote location can take a university-level course without having to move. Additionally, students who find it difficult to follow along in in-person classes can go over online resources several times until they grasp the material completely. For example, if a student struggles with a mathematical concept, they can practise with interactive exercises, pause at complicated steps, and replay the tutorial video—something that is frequently not possible during live classroom instruction. Thus, accessibility and flexibility not only increase educational inclusivity but also give students the ability to take charge of their education. By removing barriers of time, location, and pace, blended learning supports a more personalized and student-centered educational experience.
Blended learning makes it possible to make lessons more fun and interactive. Digital tools encourage students to take part, which is different from traditional lectures where they often just sit and listen. Teachers can use online quizzes, polls, or game-like platforms to make learning more interesting, for instance. For example, a history teacher might use interactive timelines or virtual tours of museums to make history come alive. Moreover, blended learning lets you use multimedia tools like videos, animations, podcasts, and simulations. Such resources are good for students who learn in different ways, such as by seeing, hearing, or doing things. This keeps them interested as well as motivated. Students are more likely to remember what they learn and use it in real life when they are more interested in it. Blended learning changes the classroom from a static place to an active process of exploration and discovery by combining discussions with digital interactivity.
Blended learning also helps students get more done in class. The “flipped classroom” method lets students get theoretical materials online ahead of time, so class time can be spent on more in-depth discussions, problem-solving, and group work. For example, in a science class, students might watch videos of lectures about chemical reactions at home and then do lab work or group projects in class. This method not only helps people understand better, but it also promotes teamwork and critical thinking. So, blended learning turns the classroom into a place where students can learn actively instead of just taking notes, which makes the most of the value of being in person. Instantaneous and ongoing feedback is another advantage of blended learning. Features like discussion boards, progress trackers, and automated tests are frequently found on online platforms. With the use of these tools, educators can keep an eye on students’ progress in real time and modify their lessons accordingly. For instance, if most students do poorly on an online test, the instructor can pinpoint the issue and bring it up again in the following lesson. Students also gain from immediate feedback, which enables them to improve their comprehension and fix errors before going on to new content. In addition to improving learning outcomes, this ongoing cycle of evaluation and feedback keeps teachers and students engaged in the learning process.
However, not all students have equal opportunities for blended learning, despite its many advantages. The digital divide, or the difference between those who have access to dependable devices and the internet and those who do not, is a significant problem. In comparison to their peers, students from low-income families or those living in rural areas may not have access to laptops, tablets, or reliable internet connections. For instance, a lack of digital resources or poor connectivity made it difficult for many students to fully participate in online components of blended courses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The inclusivity that blended learning seeks to foster is in jeopardy because of this inequality. Governments and organisations must make infrastructural investments, offer reasonably priced internet access, and give students the digital tools they need to overcome this obstacle.
Another challenge is not all educators are prepared to successfully implement blended learning presents another difficulty. In addition to technical expertise, pedagogical creativity is needed for creating online resources, overseeing digital platforms, and incorporating technology into lessons. Many educators may feel unprepared or even opposed to making the switch to digital teaching, particularly those who have spent years working in traditional classroom environments. Without the right instruction, they might either completely avoid technology or use it in ways that don’t actually improve learning. An instructor might, for example, merely post lecture notes in PDF format without including interactive features like discussion boards, tests, or multimedia materials. This method may even lower student motivation while underutilising blended learning. Similar to this, some teachers might find it difficult to effectively oversee online discussions or keep an eye on students’ involvement, which could result in communication and assessment gaps. To prepare teachers for this new methodology, professional development programs, peer mentoring, and ongoing institutional support are therefore crucial. Training should focus on creating engaging digital content, balancing online and in-person activities, and using learning platform data to enhance instruction rather than just teaching fundamental technical skills. Teachers are more likely to accept blended learning as a valuable tool for improving education rather than viewing it as an additional burden when they feel secure and supported.
Students enrolled in blended learning must possess a high degree of independence, dedication, and self-discipline. Online components mainly depend on students’ time management and motivation, in contrast to traditional classrooms where the teacher is present to oversee attendance, direct activities, and give prompt reminders. Younger students or those with poor organisational abilities may find this especially challenging. The efficacy of the blended model may be limited by students who procrastinate, miss online classes, or fail to turn in assignments on time. For instance, when new materials are introduced, students who disregard recorded lectures in the hopes of catching up later eventually fall behind. Others might only use digital platforms to finish the bare minimum of tasks without really participating in the learning process. The achievement gap between highly motivated students and those who have trouble learning on their own may eventually widen as a result of this lack of discipline. Teachers and institutions must establish supportive structures and offer clear guidance in order to address this challenge. Students can maintain accountability by using techniques like establishing clear deadlines, sending automated reminders, keeping an eye on their online activity, and incorporating graded checkpoints. Furthermore, incorporating interactive components like discussion boards, tests, and cooperative group projects can promote steady participation. Teachers can help students develop better self-management skills—which are crucial for blended learning as well as for lifelong learning in the modern world—by balancing digital freedom with structured supervision.
One of the most revolutionary approaches in contemporary education is blended learning, which strikes a balance between the benefits of digital technology and conventional classroom instruction. It is a potent instrument for raising the standard and inclusivity of education because of its advantages, which include flexibility, accessibility, individualised instruction, and increased engagement. However, there are some difficulties with the strategy. For blended learning to reach its full potential, issues like unequal access to technology, inadequate teacher preparation, low student self-discipline, technical challenges, and worries about assessment integrity must be carefully addressed.
Ultimately, meticulous planning, robust institutional support, and continual professional development for teachers are necessary for blended learning to be effective. Under these circumstances, blended learning can transcend from a short-term fix or fad to a long-term approach that gives students the adaptability and abilities needed for lifelong learning in the digital age.
References:
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2. Al-Kahtani, N. S., & Al-Ahmari, A. (2022). Online assessment during COVID-19 pandemic: Challenges and opportunities. International Journal of Medical Education, 13, 231–239. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9330967/
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5. Han, F., & Ellis, R. A. (2019). Identifying consistent patterns of quality learning discussions in blended learning. The Internet and Higher Education, 40, 12–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2018.09.002
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7. López-Pérez, M. V., Pérez-López, M. C., & Rodríguez-Ariza, L. (2011). Blended learning in higher education: Students’ perceptions and their relation to outcomes. Computers & Education, 56(3), 818–826. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2010.10.023
8. Rasheed, R. A., Kamsin, A., & Abdullah, N. A. (2020). Challenges in the online component of blended learning: A systematic review. Computers & Education, 144, 103701. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2019.103701
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Panoyeva Jasmina O’tkirovna was born on November 14, 2006, in the Shofirkon district of Bukhara region. She graduated with a gold medal from School No. 13 in Shofirkon, demonstrating academic excellence and dedication throughout her studies.
Currently, she is a first-year student at Bukhara State Pedagogical Institute, majoring in Foreign Languages and Literature. Jasmina is an intellectually curious and active young woman who regularly participates in the “Zakovat” intellectual game, showcasing her critical thinking and broad knowledge.
In addition to her academic and intellectual pursuits, Jasmina has also contributed as a volunteer to several environmental projects, reflecting her strong sense of social responsibility and commitment to sustainable development.
With her passion for learning and active involvement in both academic and social initiatives, Jasmina continues to grow as a promising and motivated student, ready to make meaningful contributions to her field and community.
Recursion in programming is a process where a function (a block of code that performs a specific task) calls itself repeatedly until a specific condition, called the base case (a condition that stops the function from calling itself), is met. Each cycle processes a smaller part of the whole, gradually reducing the problem until nothing remains. In “Rose Window”, recursion is a chilling metaphor for systematic loss, where each recursive call represents the erasure of a child, a home, or a memory.
Programming keywords in the poem that mirror this technical process: • length checks the number of remaining children, symbolising how many lives are left to count. • shift() removes the first child from the array, representing lives taken in sequence. • delete() is used to erase a child’s name from the “ledger of the living”, signifying the total erasure of existence. • return halts the process when the list is empty, reflecting the grim end when no one is left to remember.
Rose Window “and the cherries, blackberries, raspberries avocados and carrots are a rose window” – Alicia Suskin
The cherries are the spilt pomegranate hearts, strewn where the fruit stand once stood The blackberries, torn veils of a mother’s grief, clinging to smoke-stained skies too thick for light. The rusted swings of Al-Bureij sag beneath the weight of loss handprints too small to fetch the skies. Before this, a blueprint of erasure is whittled upon the silence of a boardroom. The logic was simple count the children, subtract the children, iterate until the land forgets her laughter function genocide(gaza) { while (gaza.children.length > 0) { let child = gaza.children.shift(); obliterate(child); collapse(gaza.homes, gaza.schools); } return ‘a mother tucked into her womb’; }
The base case is always the smallest—a child torn from a mother’s arms, dust mapping the absence of skin, their face rewrites itself as rebounds that cling to the dregs of a place once known as home. The mother watches her womb becomes a ledger crossed off with her children’s names, Yousef, Jana, Khaled, Fara, as if they were debts to be erased. This completes the syntax of annihilation—children become variables, home becomes void. A loop that terminates only when there is no one else left to name.
function obliterate(child) { markTarget(child); delete(child.name from the ledger of the living, into dust); // return child to smoke; } The first one she lost, she called a martyr— a child still learning his letters became smoke that carried his giggles away. The second, a wound. The third, the silence between prayers. The fourth, the mathematician— his body one of his own chaotic equations. No avocados here, no ripeness to hold— the recursion halts when the list is empty— no children left to count.
Ibraheem Uthman is a Nigerian poet, essayist, literary mentor and software engineer. He is the author of Mind of a Bard, Managing Editor of The Nigeria Review, and curator of the HIASFEST Literary Panel. A two-time winner of the National Library Prize and HCAF Excellence in Creative Writing Award 2025, he was also a BillWard Prize runner-up for Emerging Writers (Essay) and is currently a poetry reader at Chestnut Review.
Each person has their own favorite season. For example, my favorite season is autumn. Some people choose spring or winter, summer. Psychologists say that a person’s character chooses these seasons. Each season has its own charm and beauty, we see this beauty every 3 months because at that time the seasons change. During the change of seasons, weather changes can be a little difficult for a person, but you need to enjoy these processes, see and feel them. The change of 4 seasons during the year directly causes astronomical phenomena. For example: the movement of the earth around the sun, the tilt of the earth’s axis is one of the main factors. These four seasons bring about different phenomena.
Keywords:
Nature, change of seasons, years, weather, people, astronomical, earth’s axis, beauty, lush green, similarity.
Introduction:
As I mentioned at the beginning of my speech, these seasons that show everyone’s character, there is a season that shows my character too, this season is autumn. I like autumn because autumn reflects the happy and sad states of people. Autumn attracts with its golden leaves. Autumn neither expresses happy nor sad moments. The weather in autumn is changeable, cloudy, rainy, sunny, and sometimes even cloudy. There is another season that is similar to autumn, this is spring. In spring, the same events occur as in autumn. Spring is the opposite of autumn, while autumn shows joy and sadness, while spring often shows joyful times. Spring is the favorite season of many people. The reawakening of trees in spring makes people feel as if they are full of strength and energy.
Main part:
At the beginning of my speech, I talked about two seasons that are similar to each other. Now, after spring, we will talk about the season that brings with it heat and heat. After these words, it will be clear which season is coming, it is summer. In the heat and heat of summer, most people go to the mountains and fields to relax. Because only there can they enjoy the cool heat of summer. Another season that gives the opposite of summer is winter. If it gives bitter cold in winter, it gives hot heat in summer. Winter is also a very beautiful season. Winter has its own special charm. It is a great joy to see the trees turn a white, miraculous color in winter.
Conclusion:
Each season has its own special recipes. You just need to see these four seasons appear one after another and enjoy them. All these words are the miraculous change of seasons in the weather.
References:
1. Erkin Vohidov – Spring has come, questioning you.
