KHUJAND, April 3, 2012, Asia-Plus — Residents of the northern city of Khujand have not remained indifferent to a fate of local woman Tatiana Oleynikova who was punished for children’s truancy.
Ms. Oleynikova told Asia-Plus Tuesday afternoon that one of them, who wanted to remain unnamed, is completing repairs to her apartment.
“At the end of last week, local residents Mansour Tursunov, Zebunnisso Rustamova as well as local public associations “Jahoni Mo,” “Diyor,” and “Amparo,” the organization of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for Sughd, and the initiative groups “Active Youth of Tajikistan” and “Aid to Children of Tajikistan” brought clothes, school accessories, food products, toys and books,” the woman said.
We will recall that the Khujand city court in late March passed sentence on local woman whose children failed for months to attend school. The court imposed a fine of 4,000 somoni on Tatiana Oleynikova, whose three children missed school for several months.
“I have three children and I am keeping going, tutoring children in the Russian language. My husband died in December,” said Ms. Oleynikova. “I have never prevented my children from attending school. But I am not in a position to buy my children clothes and school accessories.”
The local authorities say the constitution obliges parents to enable their children to attend school and that all children between the ages of seven and 16 must do so.
Azam Kholmirzoyev, the head of the Sughd commission for child’s rights, says four criminal proceedings have been instituted this year under the provisions of Article 164 of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – preventing pupils from obtaining basic secondary education, which is punishable by a fine in the amount of 1,000 minimum wages or two years in prison.
According to him, they are currently carrying out work to reveal children who miss school because of the difficult economic situation of their families. “We prepare lists of such children and handover them to city and district administrations in order that allowances will be paid to them,” Kholmirzoyev added.
