Over 40% of schoolchildren in Kyrgyzstan illiterate

The monitoring “Education for All” has been carried out the Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan – former Soviet republic of Kirgizia - within the framework of UN, UNISEF, and UNESCO development programmes. As a result, over 40% schoolchildren have been found illiterate, radio Ekho Moskvy reports citing Interfax news agency. 3,727 students, teachers, and directors of 150 schools, and also 3,407 parents took part in the monitoring. According to the analysis data, 8% of primary-school students consider heart to be an organ of digestion. The majority of the polled schoolchildren say they dream of being rich. At that, only 3% want to be the country’s president. 39% of school directors, teaches, and the students’ parents do not think school is a safe place. Officials at the republic’s education ministry plan to use the monitoring results as a basis to develop the national educational policy.