Situation in high school sector has become critical across Tajikistan. High schools, which were already straining to deliver an acceptable education, are being decimated by the teacher exodus.
The top education official in the southern province of Khatlon, Ashourali Olimi, told reporters in Bokhtar, the capital of Khatlon province, on January 31 that 1,900 teachers in the province quit their jobs last year.
Meanwhile, the deputy head of the Khatlon education directorate, Saifullo Lutfulloyev, noted that 2,067 teachers left the province last year seeking better employment opportunities.
Commenting on the current situation in the province’s education sector, Ashourali Olimi pointed teachers’ difficult financial position as the cause for quitting their jobs.
“Some of teachers have three of four children each. They cannot feed their families on a teacher's salary, and therefore, they are forced to go abroad seeking better employment opportunities,” Olimi noted.
He further noted that 1,957 young teachers were hired last year. “But young teachers will not be able to replace experienced teachers,” the Khatlon top educational official added.
The Tajik educational officials have acknowledged that the situation was becoming critical across the country.
Many teachers in Tajikistan reportedly quit over the summer to search for work in Russia, and Tajik schools are currently experiencing an acute shortage of teachers.
Teachers’ salaries were always horribly low in Tajikistan but living costs have soared since the pandemic began.
Tajik teachers leaving for Russia seeking better employment opportunities mainly work as street cleaners or delivery workers.
