Tajikistan’s president proposes studying smartphone and social media restrictions for schoolchildren

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has called for proposals on restricting schoolchildren’s use of smartphones and social media, saying uncontrolled use has become a concern. He made the remarks on August 31 at School No. 105 in the capital during events marking the start of the academic year and Knowledge Day.

Rahmon said excessive time online can harm children’s sleep, speech, memory, ability to gain knowledge and physical development. He noted that several developed countries had already introduced various restrictions on mobile-phone use by children under 16. At the same time, he said young people needed a stronger culture of using the internet, social media and artificial intelligence.

The president asked officials to prepare proposals addressing the issue within three months. His speech also covered the wider education system, including preschool training, vocational education and digitalisation.

Rahmon said more than 70 billion somoni from the state budget had gone to education during the years of independence, with another 10 billion somoni provided through state investment projects. He said 9.215 million textbooks and educational materials had been distributed since the beginning of 2025 and declared that schools no longer faced textbook shortages, while urging the Education Ministry to improve textbook quality and bring it closer to international standards.

He instructed regions and responsible agencies to expand kindergarten construction, with a goal of covering up to half of children, and to train qualified preschool staff. He also said the number of professions and specialities in primary and secondary vocational education had risen from 230 to 730. Primary vocational institutions now offer 330 fields and secondary institutions 400, with 106,500 students enrolled in secondary vocational education.

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Today, there are no problems with textbook shortages in educational institutions.