Officials at Russia's Ministry of Education say the return of Tajik students to universities in Russia remains on hold due to coronavirus restrictions.
Deputy Director of the Department for International Cooperation at Russia’s Education Ministry, Mrs. Yelena Gorozhankina, and an official with Russia’s Education Ministry, Igor Burulko, answered the questions of journalists in Dushanbe on March 24.
The main question that worries Tajik students today is why Tajikistan was not included to the list countries whose citizens had been allowed to come back to Russia to continue their studies at universities.
Russian officials told reporters that the exact date of when Tajik students can come back to their universities in Russia remained unclear.
Recall, Russia’s Ministry of Education on March 20 issued a list of 25 countries whose citizens were allowed to return to Russia to continue their studies at universities. Tajikistan was not included to the list, even though Tajik officials have said that there have been no coronavirus cases registered in the country since January 1.
Gorozhankina said that the list had been made by Russia's health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, and "has nothing to do with neighborly ties between the countries."
Gorozhankina and Burulko said that it remained unclear when exactly Tajik students will be allowed to go back to Russia.
Representatives from Rospotrebnadzor (the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing), which will make the final decision, were in Tajikistan this month to research the situation at hospitals and medical labs.
According to Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service, known locally as Radio Ozodi, there are about 26,000 Tajiks studying at Russian universities, many of whom have been stuck at home and forced to study online since borders were closed due to the pandemic last year.
Many of the students have complained that online studies are very difficult in Tajikistan due to the high costs and poor quality of Internet services available.
