Education for All in Tajikistan: A Comparative Study of Girls' Access to Education in Khorog and Panj

Abstract

...The study was conducted in two remote/rural communities in Tajikistan, one of the five Central Asian Republics. A case study, this project was carried out in two sites, Panj and Khorog, where twenty-one girls, their parents, teachers, school principals and other community members were interviewed regarding girls' access to education in Tajikistan, in light of the Education for All (EFA) initiatives implemented by Tajikistan's Ministry of Education. The data were analysed using critical discourse analysis (CDA), drawing on critical post-structuralist feminism to understand how girls are positioned by the discourses available to them. The study was grounded in research conducted by UNICEF (d'Hellencourt, 2004) concerning reasons why girls living in and around Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan drop out of school. The theory of modernity was used to analyse the contradiction of modernisation, as the country moves from a socialist to a capitalist system, and the apparent return to 'traditional' ways that seem to be limiting access to education for girls. ... It is hoped that the findings of this project will help those working 'on the ground' to match global sourced policy with the needs of those living in Tajikistan, particularly girls whose future access to life chances arguably depend on access to education.