Education Reform Project

“The project has helped us to create a new and stimulating environment," Saodat Maidanova, School Director


Making a dent in poverty by improving education and rebuilding schools

Shahnoza Aivezova, a ninth-grader at school in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe, now has all the textbooks she needs, as well as a new hobby—computers. Kamila Sayismonova, a classmate of Shahnoza’s, says that since their school has been refurbished and equipped with these learning tools, students are not skipping class anymore.

The World Bank has helped to bring about this change in Tajikistan's schools through its Education Reform Project. “The project has helped us to create a new and stimulating environment," says Saodat Maidanova, the school's director.

Computers in classrooms and new textbooks make learning fun

The new textbooks produced with the project's help are very readable and attractive and the students have taken to them quickly. Salima Juraeva, the school librarian, calls them a huge improvement over the old ones. "They reflect changes in Tajik society and will be useful for many years," she explains.

The children's parents are involved too. The new Parent-Teacher Association, with more than 200 people is registered as a public organization with its own bank account. The PTA has, among other things, opened a tailoring workshop where the students produce quilts and clothes for sale. Profits supplement the meals of orphans and poor children.

Recovering from the civil war which orphaned 55,000 children and destroyed schools

Much has changed since the collapse of the Soviet Union. From the old regime, Tajikistan inherited a countrywide network of schools and colleges, qualified teachers, and professors—as well as gender equality in education.

However, the Soviet collapse and the protracted civil war that followed between 1992 and 1997 severely affected the country's educational infrastructure. Fifty-five thousand children were orphaned by the war and 20 percent of the schools were destroyed. Almost 2,000 schools in Tajikistan are still in dire need of repairs, equipment, and supplies. Only about 30 percent of the demand for textbooks can be met, and a majority of qualified teaching staff has left the education sector.

It was in this context that the World Bank launched the Education Reform Project in Tajikistan. Scheduled to run from 2003 to 2008, the project aims to publish textbooks and improve education management at the national level. On the local level, it focuses on 20 pilot schools in the capital city of Dushanbe, and the district of Leninski.

Pilot activities have targeted the rehabilitation of schools, the provision of equipment , introduction of interactive teaching methods, and the establishment and training of Parent Teacher Associations (PTA). By mobilizing school administrations as well as parents, students, and the community at large, the project is actually setting its sights on a bigger, long-term target: tackling poverty.

Parents' involvement encourages girls to attend school

The creation and support of PTAs is also a step toward decentralization, and aims to shift decision-making from local education authorities to schools and PTAs. Zarif Sharipov, Tajikistan's Deputy Minister of Education says that “PTAs can improve the community’s attitude toward education and encourage people to send girls to school.”

This serves the larger goal of reestablishing the gender balance that existed in the earlier educational system and was destroyed by the social and economic cataclysm that accompanied its collapse.

World Bank funds also help train teachers and introduce new teaching methods

Because of the general economic situation in the country, the funds required for new educational tools are scarce and teaching has lost its prestige as a profession. The introduction of new teaching methods target this problem as well, by increasing teachers’ professional satisfaction and pupils’ participation. The initial results are encouraging as more than 1,000 teachers from the pilot schools have successfully completed training so far.

Some 18 new textbooks have also been published so far, and parents pay only one-third of the cost of the books under a new rental system. Funds are also allocated for the rehabilitation of schools, specifically by procuring new furniture and equipment. These changes have been shown to increase student attendance. Overall, according to Ministry of Education estimates, some 20,000 schoolchildren and 10,000 parents have benefited from this World Bank project to date.

The World Bank intends to disburse a total of US$ 20 million for the project out of which US$ 7 million will be allocated on a grant basis.  The Tajik government is contributing US$ 4 million. The Bank sees the project as a stepping stone to further improving Takjikistan's education sector.