DUSHANBE, August 26, 2010, Asia-Plus — Tajik authorities will not be able to control the process of legal or illegal learning for Tajik students at foreign religious schools until a network of religious schools and madrasahs with proper teaching level is organized in Tajikistan itself, Tajik political scientist Hakim Abdullo Rahnamo said in an interview with Asia-Plus, commenting on President Rahmon’s call on parents not to send children to foreign religious schools.
He noted that the level of religious teaching within Tajikistan should be equal to that of religious schools in Pakistan, Iran, or Saudi Arabia.
“President Rahmon’s call on parents not to send children to foreign religious schools is an opportune and correct, because this issue concerns both the religious and the political life of the country,” Rahnamo said.
The political scientist is sure that it is necessary to develop the regulation mechanism. “If the government does not take adequate measures on this issue today, it may become aggravated tomorrow that will split society,” he added.
We will recall that in his address to a meting of local administrators in the city of Kulob, President Emomali Rahmon on August 25 called on parents not to send children to foreign religious schools. The president considers that on return home, graduates from foreign religious schools cannot adapt to the traditional way of life of Tajiks. “Different perception of the world, different world outlook, and different traditions make these young men take inadequate actions and bring them, quite often, to ranks of terrorists and extremists,” said Rahmon, “And parents are responsible for this, unthinkingly sending their children abroad for doubtful studies.”
According to official data, some 2,000 Tajiks are currently studying at religious schools in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iran, and Pakistan, though the actual number is thought to be higher.
