In a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, the Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Ziyodullo Abdulzoda, revealed on August 1 that schools in Tajikistan are continuing to experience an acute shortage of teachers of chemistry, physics and mathematics.
According to him, Tajikistan now has 3,434 teaching vacancies.
Abdulzoda said a special commission had been set up a the Ministry of Education and Science to tackle the problem of shortage of high school teachers in the country.
“4,347 people have already been competitively selected and after appropriate procedures they will be sent to work with schools,” Abdulzoda noted.
“The number of those who will work as teachers in districts will become known in late August,” the deputy minister added.
According to data from the Ministry of Education and Sciences (MoES),3,967 highs schools now operate in Tajikistan.
126,354 teachers reportedly work with them; 81,822 of them are women.
A total number of school students in Tajikistan is 2,232,114 people, with 1,079,197 of them being girls.
Experts say the main reason for the sharp rise in the teacher shortage in the country is the fact that many teachers have left the country seeking better employment opportunities and many specialists do not want to work with schools because of low monthly wages in the education sector.
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.
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.
