DUSHANBE, January 13, 2009, Asia-Plus — Education Minister Abdujabbor Rahmonov told a press conference in Dushanbe on January 12 that they intend to introduce the compulsory secondary education (11 grades) in the country this year.
The president has already seconded this proposal and relevant amendments will be made to the country’s Constitution, the minister said.
On the girls’ education in the country, Rahmonov noted that 27,000 girls dropped out of schools by the end of grade 9 in 2008 alone, which is 39 percent of a total number of ninth-grade girls. “If to take into consideration that 15 percent of those girls entered secondary vocational-technical schools, the remainder is left without full secondary education,” he said.
