The editorial office of Asia–Plus was contacted by a parent of students at the Tajik–Russian gymnasium named after Pushkin in Rudaki district with a request to sort out the problem. According to her, the school collects money from parents of first-graders to repair windows. What do they say about this in the school itself?
"The school collects money for window repairs from us, parents of first–graders – 2000 somoni per child. What should we do? Today, at the meeting (August 9), they announced that we needed to hand over the money. We just submitted our documents to the first class. Passed the exam. We pay 800 somoni per year for our studies. We also pay 150 somoni for the stadium and heating. I have two children studying this year. We can't pay! It's hard for us. Why is it so expensive to study in schools? Children are our future. Mom doesn't work, dad is a taxi driver," the parent wrote.
She did not give her name, probably fearing the consequences for her child at school.
In the comments, one of the users wrote: "It's a pity that now this school has been turned into a fundraiser only. I was graduating from it, and my sister, and everything was fine. She took her daughter away from this school after the 6th grade, when the principals were changed. They immediately raised the prices for payment, etc."
And immediately received a response from an alleged employee of the school:
"You misunderstood. If you were at the meeting, it was clearly said that you should replace wooden windows with plastic windows, and not repair the gymnasium. The gymnasium has already been renovated, it remains to install plastic windows. The parents themselves agreed to help the gymnasium to replace the old windows with new ones.
The administration of the gymnasium did not even force the parents. They gave the go-ahead themselves. You all know that the gymnasium was built in 1960. I graduated from this school myself in 1983. Don't you want the gymnasium where your children and grandchildren will study to be in good conditions, in a warm classroom? And if you don't like it, send your children to another school."
The author of the social media post later contacted Asia–Plus and reported that at the moment the amount had been reduced to 1,000 somoni, the money was being collected by the parent committee.
"Bring up the subject altogether. Not all parents can allocate even 100 somoni for repairs, etc.," she says.
The correspondent of Asia–Plus went to the gymnasium to sort out the situation. At the moment, the school is really undergoing renovation work, the old window frames have been replaced with new ones. However, the director could not be found on the spot. Deputy Director Farangis Saidova said, "he was "shut down," and "the doors of the accounting department are also sealed and told not to touch anything."
According to her, she only found out about the situation now, because she was on vacation until that moment and came out only at the end of last week.
"I also only read about what was happening, but I wasn't aware of it before. We've probably dealt with the situation now. I can't say anything about all this. We are currently re–attesting, and we are currently doing this. No one can give any comments right now," she replied shortly.
Previously, there had been no similar complaints or problems from parents, according to her. And at the same time, Saidova noted, "the situation is conflictual."
The Deputy Director recommended contacting the Ministry of Education and Science of the country. Asia–Plus called there before the visit to the gymnasium – it turned out that the parents of the children from this gymnasium had contacted them and "the issue is under consideration."
Asia–Plus intends to apply to the Ministry of Education and Science again in the near future.
In response to the Asia–Plus question – where should parents go in such situations – the agency recommended contacting the Agency for Supervision of Education and Science under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan.
