The IssuesTeachers, once highly respected in Kyrgyzstan society, today have a low social status. Coupled with low salaries, this undermines the motivation of teachers and decreases the quality of education. More and more parents put little value on education and force their children to work to help support their family. Basic education, though compulsory, has suffered from a decline in enrollment. Official figures indicate 92 percent enrollment in 2004. However, one in ten pupils do not attend school regularly. During harvest season, up to 40 percent of school children do not attend school. School dropout rates, especially among girls due to forced marriages, are increasing.
The overall quality of education is also declining. According to a UNICEF study, in 2005 only 58.8 percent of fourth grade pupils passed a standard mathematics test, down from 81.4 percent at the time of the first study in 2001. Well under half – just 44.2 per cent – passed a literacy test, down from 59.1 percent in 2001. The situation is worse in rural areas where most children of school age live and many schools are in deplorable physical condition. Access, quality and efficiency are the priorities for the state’s education policy until the year 2010. The country is undertaking important educational reform which aims to retain the positive aspects of the Soviet experience, while mitigating the negative impact of economic transition on education and introducing a policy approach and framework based on human rights, such as Education for All and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
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