According to data from the Ministry of education and Science (MoES), Tajik-language schools lack 44 textbooks titled in editions of about 500,000 copies. And this despite the fact that more than 4 million textbooks have been published this year alone.
Director of the Center for Preparation, Publication and Distribution of Textbooks at a MoES, Najmiddin Zainiddinov, told Asia-Plus Wednesday afternoon that 40 textbooks titles in editions of 4,318,630 copies have been published this year, which is 1.397 million copies more than last year.
“Despite this, the country has experienced shortage of textbooks. In 2022-2023 academic year, the need for textbooks has been 4,508,260 copies; by late October, we have provided schools with 4,055,795 textbooks. That is, today Tajik-language schools still need 452,465 other textbooks,” Zainiddinov said.
According to him, textbooks are currently distributed to schools by lease, which is one of the most convenient ways of providing school students with text books.
“The MoES has decided to revise this order and make textbooks, first of all, for elementary grades one-time,” Zainiddinov added.
According to a poll conducted by Asia-Plus, 30 percent of those surveyed say they buy textbooks while 70 percent of those surveyed say they rent textbooks at schools.
The total amount of rent for textbooks per year may be up to 50 somonis (24 percent of those surveyed), 100 somonis (20 percent), 150 somonis (34 percent) and up to 200 somonis and more (20 percent).
