Emma Harden-Wolfson

EurasiaNet’s Konstantin Parshin has identified what he sees as a growing call EurasiaNet’s Konstantin Parshin has identified what he sees as a growing call amongst Tajik parents for more and better Russian language instruction in primary schools.

The article, at http://www.eurasianet.org/node/70211 and (c) EurasiaNet, offers an interesting angle on the oft-repeated theme of endemic corruption in the Tajik education system. There is no firm evidence of the demand Parshin refers to but you could counter firstly that he presents some anecdotal (if urban-centric) first hand stories, and second, that neither the Tajik academic community nor the government has the capacity or the desire to undertake a wider scale survey to assess demand for Russian in schools.

It would be interesting to see whether this alleged demand is equally as high outside the capital Dushanbe and other towns.

Anecdotally, I am told that the main Russian language university in Tajikistan, the Russian-Tajik Slavonic University has dropped hugely in quality and reputation from its earlier position as the (perceived) most prestigious university in the country. There are a range of factors underlying this shift, but there must clearly be a connection with Parshin’s report on the diminishing quality and quantity of Russian language provision being offered at school level and the pipeline of qualified applicants able to complete higher education in the medium of Russian.