Financing for equity in primary and secondary education
1. Education resources to subnational governments
2. Education resources to schools
3. Education resources to students and families
4. Social policies and family support programmes
Introduction
In Tajikistan, education is free and compulsory in state institutions up to the end of basic general education (Grade 9, typically age 15). The Ministry of Education and Science serves as the central governing body, responsible for setting national education policy, determining curriculum standards and regulations, overseeing state educational institutions, and allocating and supervising educational budgets.
1. Education resources to subnational governments
Under the 1995 Constitutional Law on Procedure of Administrative-Territorial Organisation of the Republic of Tajikistan, the country is divided into two regions, the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region, and the capital city of Dushanbe.
The 2011 Law on Public Finance describes three types of fiscal transfers from the central government to subnational governments: general-purpose grants, targeted/earmarked grants, subsidies or matching grants, and an individual grant to the capital city of Dushanbe. Earmarked grants fund the salaries of civil servants and employees of government institutions, such as schools.
The constitution grants local state governments the power to develop and implement their own budgets and to establish local fees, taxes, and duties. Tax revenues are the main source of revenue for subnational governments, accounting for more than 80% of the revenue. Grants and subsidies from the central government represent around 15.5% of the total revenue.
Generally, when tax revenue does not meet the set targets, subnational governments are expected to reduce their spending or request for subsidies from the central government. If revenue exceeds the target, subnational governments are required by law to transfer 20% of the surplus to the central government. These specific arrangements are determined by the annual state budget. The central budget is considering a method of tax sharing that can help mitigate the inequality between subnational jurisdictions.
Subnational governments finance over 80% of total education spending.
2. Education resources to schools
Subnational governments (regional and district levels) handle most school funding, including teacher salaries and maintenance.
According to the Department of Economics and Planning of the Ministry of Education and Science, the budget of the education sector, including schools, is determined according to the per capita standard: from TJS 2,156 to 3,363 (USD 229-357) are allocated per student per year. An additional standard for the school itself is added to this. The final formula is as follows:
The budget of the institution = the number of students × the standard per student + the standard for the institution.
The standards for a student and a school differ depending on the type of educational institution. The standard is indexed annually, taking into account the growth of wages, the level of inflation and the capabilities of the state budget. In 2025, they are as follows:
- for primary education institutions (grades 1-4): TJS 3,363 (USD 357) per student and TJS 58,026 (USD 6173) per institution.
- for secondary general education institutions (grades 1–11): TJS 2,156 (USD 229) per student and TJS 400,321 (USD 42,588) per institution per year;
- for basic general education institutions (grades 1–9): TJS 2,688 (USD 285) per student and TJS 161,183 (USD 17,147) per institution per year.
School principals then have the authority to independently distribute funds.
Joint Education Development Project
Tajikistan is implementing a Joint Project supported by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), and the Islamic Development Bank to advance the 2021–2030 National Strategy for Education Development. A major component of the project is the construction and equipping of 73 schools. This initiative aims to improve access to education in underserved and rural areas, addressing infrastructure deficits and gender disparities, particularly among adolescent girls. The new schools will also function as demonstration sites for implementing competency-based education reforms.
Although Tajikistan’s education strategy emphasises equity and access, there is no clearly documented mechanism for direct, recurrent financing to schools with equity approaches. Reported budget figures are associated mainly with capital investment and project-based spending rather than equity-oriented school grants.
3. Education resources to students and families
The presidential scholarship was established through the 2017 Decree of the President of Tajikistan No. 944. About three thousand students who study in general, primary, and secondary educational institutions in Tajikistan receive a presidential scholarship for around TJS 840. Scholarships are paid out to successful pupils and students.
State Academic Scholarship Fund
This fund may be awarded to secondary students who are successful students. It also is provided to orphans, students without parental care, and disabled students, regardless of their academic results. Secondary students receive from TJS 40-150 per month depending on their scores. Up to 60% of all students receive these funds.
4. Social policies and family support programmes
Targeted Social Assistance (TSA)
The Targeted Social Assistance (TSA) programme is an unconditional cash transfer aimed at improving the well-being of the most vulnerable households. Recipients are selected using a proxy means test (PMT). TSA succeeded the Cash Compensation Programme (CCP), which has been gradually phased out since 2018. Under the 2017 Law on Targeted Social Assistance, TSA provides aid in two primary forms: monetary transfers and in-kind assistance. Monetary benefits are distributed quarterly and include both regular disbursements and one-time payments. As of 2021, the poorest families receive 480 somoni annually, divided into quarterly payments of 120 somoni from the national budget. In 2023, the World Bank approved a $35 million grant to modernise Tajikistan’s social protection systems, including TSA, providing one-time cash aid to 110,000 vulnerable families.
Non-Contributory Survivor Pensions
Complementing TSA, the government also provides non-contributory survivor pensions to children under 18—or up to 23 if enrolled in secondary or higher education—who have lost one or both parents and are not eligible for contributory pensions. The benefit is determined by the number of orphaned children in the family and whether one or both parents have died, ranging from 124.2 to 414 somoni per month.
5. School meal programmes
Tajikistan’s national school meal programme primarily targets primary school children. It operates across 52 districts, involving 6,000 technical staff in more than 16,000 public schools. According to the 2023 School Meal Commitment of the Ministry of Education and Science, the goal is to increase coverage of primary students to 50% by 2027. The programme is implemented collaboratively by the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, and the World Food Programme (WFP), with active involvement from parent-teacher associations and local authorities.
Financially, the school meal programme is supported by a combination of government allocations, local stakeholders, WFP funding, and key international donors. The 2022–2027 State Programme for the Development of School Meals incorporates multiple funding streams in its calculation of required financial support from the state budget. In addition to state funding, the programme factors in contributions from the WFP’s School Feeding Development Project, local executive authorities, and parental donations. Complementing these efforts, the 2023 School Meal Commitment of the Ministry of Education and Science notes that additional funds were allocated from the state budget in recent years.
