The UK Ambassador of Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, attempted a surprise visit to a modern University outside the capital of Tashkent. The following excerpt is from his book Murder in Samarkand.
" The authorities had not wanted me to visit the university [in 2003] because of its resemblance to the Marie Celeste. I was later to discover the answer to the question, where has everyone gone? They were all in the fields picking cotton.
Even the massive labour forces held on the state farms are insufficient when it comes to harvest time, so more forced labour is drafted in. Staff and students are brought in from colleges and universities, which are effectively closed for the entire autumn term. An able-bodied university or college student will expect to spend three months in the cotton fields. Older schoolchildren will do the same, and even children as young as eight might expect to spend two or three weeks in the fields. Civil servants and factory workers can also be drafted as the size of the harvest and weather conditions dictate."
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