The dates for school vacations in Tajikistan have been changed: now, Tajik students will have only 7 days off during the autumn and winter vacations, while the spring vacation will last just 5 days, according to the Ministry of Education and Science of Tajikistan (MoES).

Previously, Tajik students had 10 days off during autumn, winter, and spring breaks: from November 1 to 10, January 1 to 10, and March 21 to 31.

An official source within a MoES says that according to the new schedule, the autumn vacation will run from November 1 to 7, the winter break from January 1 to 7, and the spring break from March 25 to 29.

According to him, the academic year, excluding final exams, in 2024/2025 will last 35 weeks, while for first graders, it will be 34 weeks.

The reason – extending summer vacations

The source says that the new vacation schedule was approved by the Government of Tajikistan on March 28, 2024, and had been in place until 2016 before being reinstated.  He further noted that the shortening of autumn, winter, and spring vacations is compensated by the extension of summer holidays.

“With these changes, the number of academic weeks has been reduced from 36 to 35, and the fourth quarter will end not on June 14, as before, but on May 31. Accordingly, summer vacations in Tajikistan will start on June 1,” the source added.

Previously, children had only two vacation periods

It should be recalled that in 2010, autumn and spring vacations were completely canceled in Tajikistan's schools. This decision was made due to the energy crisis when schools were not heated, and the country imposed strict energy limits.

Winter vacations were extended to a full month, and to compensate for the January break, students were deprived of autumn and spring vacations.

A year later, in October 2011, without explanation, the Ministry of Education announced that only elementary school students would have autumn and spring vacations, and in 2012, the mid-season vacations were canceled even for elementary school students.

It wasn't until 2018 that autumn and spring vacations were restored for Tajik students.