DUSHANBE, November 26, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- Schools in Tajikistan are experiencing an acute shortage of seats.

“In all, the country’s schools now need another more than 65,000 seats,” Education Minister Abdujabbor Rahmonov said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

“Dushanbe alone is currently experiencing shortage of 53,000 pupil seats,” said the minister, “Therefore, 17 schools in Dushanbe are currently functioning in three shifts.”

According to the minister, Dushanbe municipal authorities have promised to build one more school in each of four districts of the city.

According to the Ministry of Education (MoE), 3,819 highs schools now function in Tajikistan, more than 1010 of them are situated in Dushanbe.