DUSHANBE, January 12, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- A special Russian language textbook containing religious terms is being compiled for students of Tajik Islamic Institute.

Shirinbek Nazarov, the Russian language teacher at the Tajik Islamic Institute and one authors of the textbook, says students at the Tajik Islamic Institute are still using the “The Russian Grammar” and “The Practical Course of the Russian Language” textbooks to learn the Russian language.

“The new text book contains religious terms and translation of them,” said he.  “The textbook content was coordinated with the Ministry of Education and the Committee on Religious Affairs.”

According to him, the textbook will be printed in Tajikistan.  106 hours are allocated for the study of the Russian language, Nazarov added.

The Tajik Islamic Institute is the only religious higher educational institution in Tajikistan.  In early 2008 the non-governmental Islamic University was brought under the control of the Ministry of Education and as a result of this change, the rector and all programs of study at the Islamic Institute, as it is now called, must receive approval from the Ministry of Education. Teachers are subject to a vetting process.  The Institute now has 1,411 full-time students and 427 correspondence students.