months , state employment plummeted from 100 percent to a few selected posts in schools , medical centers and government offices . In the Eastern Pamirs , where arable land is practically non-existent , livestock obtained in the course of privatization often became the only source of food and income .”
As Pamiris look ahead to the withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan , feelings are mixed . Tajikistan has distinct advantages over Afghanistan — including a 99 percent literacy rate — but they are tenuous at best .
“ The Tajikistan education system generally speaking receives a failing grade among reviewers ,” according to classbase . com . “ This is because Tajikistan is a poor country where teachers are paid low wages … and where bribes are still required to influence some admission boards .”
Students at Vanqala School in Tajikistan work on a math project measuring distances outside .
School buildings have largely outlived their usefulness and teacher quality is declining . Plus , athough education is both compulsory and free , there are associated costs . “ Many poor families are unable to purchase textbooks , uniforms , or books , or to cover transportation ,” according to education . stateuniversity . com . As a result , “ many children need to supplement the family income by working in the home or in informal industry .”
Those who do make it through school face steep challenges : unemployment , the increase of criminal gangs , increased access to drugs flowing over the border from Afghanistan , and the temptation to make quick money smuggling everything from opium and cannibas , to cigarettes , alcohol , and even people , said Muyassar Kambarovich , a CAI consultant in Tajikistan .
The youth are the big wild card in the post- 2014 equation , he said . Fifty-three percent of Tajiks are 24 years or younger , and a growing number of them are dropping out of high school . Some join gangs , or are radicalized .
“ Tajik families send their sons for ‘ Islamic education ’ in Iran , Saudi Arabia , and Pakistan ,” he said . “ They come back and teach extremist thinking in their homes . People think , ‘ Oh , he knows Islam best ,’ and all people go to him .”
But that ’ s not the kind of education Tajikistan needs , Kambarovich said .
“ If everything is religion and there is no modern education then we will have no engineers , pilots , doctors or teachers , no roads , electricity , TV ,” he said . “ We need change and the best way to change people is with modern education .”
PAKISTAN The big news in girls ’ education in Pakistan this year involved a young woman who actually no longer lives there . Malala Yousafzai , the Pakistani girl who was shot in the head by Taliban in 2012 , was the co-winner with Kailash Satyarthi , an Indian children ’ s rights activist , of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize .
22 | Journey of Hope C E N T R A L A S I A I N S T I T U T E