Emomali Rahmon annually recalls the existing problems in the field of education in his messages. This time, in his speech in honor of the Day of Knowledge, the head of the republic instructed to develop a law “On the status of teachers in society”.
“Respect for a teacher is respect for the future of the nation,” – the president noted, committing to support teachers and improve their image and authority in society.
Is it so prestigious to be a teacher in Tajikistan today?
“We must support teachers even more”
In his speech on the Day of Knowledge, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon once again recalled the existing problems in the field of education, instructing them to be eliminated before the celebration of the 35th anniversary of the country's independence.
The head of the republic drew special attention to the issue of the honor and dignity of teachers.
“Society should understand well that respect for a teacher is respect for the future of the nation. This is a person who illuminates public life with a ray of literacy, enlightenment and knowledge, expels superstition and ignorance from public life and educates future builders and creators of the Motherland.
Thanks to the selfless work of the teacher, generations are growing up who, thanks to their work and activities, further improve the state and the nation, as well as improve the standard and quality of life of the population,” – the president noted.
He instructed the responsible structures to develop a draft law “On the status of a teacher” within six months and submit it to the Government of the country for consideration.
Addressing teachers and educators, Emomali Rahmon recalled that “they must be devoted to their chosen profession, sincerely love it, have a strong will and a high level of professionalism, and by kind and exemplary actions win even greater respect from society for their dedication to their chosen profession”.
He called for even more support for teachers and other employees of educational institutions, to improve their image and authority in society.
An “unfashionable” profession
Surveys conducted among Tajik graduates have shown that young people do not seek to devote their lives to teaching, but mainly choose the professions of an economist, lawyer, programmer, and physician.
According to the National Testing Center of Tajikistan, in 2023, medicine, taxation, customs and banking, foreign languages, public administration, etc. became the top popular specialties.
Unfortunately, today in Tajikistan, the teaching profession has long ceased to be in demand and prestigious. Only a small part of young people become teachers at the call of their hearts. The rest receive pedagogical education either to avoid the army or because of the lack of choice.
And there are several reasons for this.
Meager salaries and excessive workload
Tajik teachers have the lowest salaries among the CIS countries. Today, they receive an average of 1,200 to 1,500 somoni ($112-140).
Moreover, teachers are almost universally withheld money for newspaper and magazine subscriptions, funds for the costs of admitting inspection commissions, repairs and other activities.
Despite the fact that in the Ministry of Education, the shortage of teaching staff is caused by their retirement and parental leave, experts are sure that the main reason is unworthy wages.
Excessive workload is added to low salaries. Today, due to a shortage of schools, instead of the established norm of 25 students, there are 35-40 in one class.
It is a huge burden for one teacher to conduct classes with so many children. To control the assimilation of the material, subject teachers need to check notebooks, for which an additional allowance is due. And there is no difference whether there are 50 students in the class or 15, everyone is charged the same amount.
The condition of the class teacher is even more deplorable. For a meager surcharge, the teacher must lead a huge team of children, be responsible for their absence from lessons, monitor everyone's appearance, check the availability of textbooks and much more.
And then there are class meetings with parents, school visits at home. Unsurprisingly, teachers are reluctant to take classroom guidance.
On top of everything else, there are constant checks, useless paperwork and annual changes in the curriculum.
Teachers working in schools experience not only material, but also psychological discomfort.
Respect for teaching is a lost tradition
If back in the 90s the title of teacher sounded proud, today we have to observe a decline in the prestige and status of this profession. Respect for teaching has, alas, become a lost tradition.
Instead of doing their direct duties, teachers are used for extras, they are attracted to events related to the meeting of high-ranking officials. They are driven on marches, clean-up days and forced to take part in cotton harvesting.
Even for universal vaccination, teachers are involved so that they go door-to-door with doctors and agitate the population.
Another reason for teachers to leave the profession was the updated law on child upbringing. If previously such responsibility was only on parents, today it has fallenon teachers.
Teachers are afraid that with the adoption of the amendments, there will be even more requirements for them. This will increase the psychological pressure, and, most likely, will push some of the teachers to look for another job.
