DUSHANBE, January 31, Asia-Plus  -- Some 50 percent of schools in Tajikistan are provided with generators and sufficient fuel that will allow them functioning regularly in the case of the possible suspension of the Norak hydroelectric power station (HPS), the First Deputy Education Minister, Farhod Rahimov, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.   

According to him, more than 3,800 schools with a total number of 1,723,000 pupils now function in the country.  “To date, only some 50 percent of them have been provided with generators; most of them are located in the provinces,” the deputy minister said, noting that they had been provided with generators and fuel as part of the program for computerization of schools.   

However, the education official found it difficult to say what measures the ministry would take in case of mass power cutoffs in the country.  He just expressed hope that the government would be able to tackle the energy crisis problem and they would no have to close schools