DUSHANBE, April 11, Asia-Plus  -- Education Minister Abdujabbor Rahmonov told a press conference in Dushanbe on April 10 that more than 700 schools in the country do not meet elementary requirements of education standards.

“Of them, 145 schools are located in private houses, 109 are placed in trailers, 276 are currently in a very poor state and 178 others require major repairs,” the minister said. 

According to him, a joint working group, comprising representatives from the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Committee fro Construction and Architecture, has studied the situation and elaborated a program for tackling this problem.  The program has already been submitted for consideration the government.  

“We hope the program will be approved and with allocation of necessary funds we will tackle this problem within two or three years,” Rahmonov said.  

            3,810 general schools currently function in Tajikistan.  Last year alone, 126 new education buildings were built in the country.