Primary School Years
Official data indicate that literacy and primary school enrolment rates remain relatively high, but lack of resources is affecting access to, and quality of, education. Studies on monitoring of learning achievements have revealed growing numbers of children out of school. One-third of school children of grade four failed to pass basic learning competency tests in 2005. The quality of education is poorest in rural areas where most school-age children live. Teaching and learning processes remain centred on the teacher, rather than the child, and are rigid, formal and outdated. School buildings in rural areas are poorly maintained and lack even the most basic facilities - such as heating and safe water - let alone educational materials such as text books and computers. While official data show little gender disparity in education, a worrying gap between boys and girls is starting to emerge, particularly in poorer regions, such as Batken and Osh, where early marriage means the end of education for many girls. Other challenges to school attendance include family poverty and increasing child labour, especially in the south of the country where tobacco and cotton are cultivated. Poor families who cannot make ends meet and who are under stress, may well leave their children in residential institutions. The number of institutionalised children and the number of residential units has risen dramatically in recent years and a number of child abandonment – once rare – has began to grow. There is a growing public awareness of violence against children and their abuse and exploitation. Now there is an urgent need to systematically document and report violence, abuse and exploitation wherever it occurs – in families, schools, in the community and in residential institutions.
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