The Republic of Tajikistan has several pieces of legislation that address the issue of education. The Constitution (Article 41) guarantees the right to general, vocational and higher education to all citizens of Tajikistan, while Article 34 addresses the role of the state in the upbringing, caring for and educating orphaned children. The Law on Education (adopted in 1993 and amended in 1997 and 2004) makes provisions for 9 years of free compulsory education, from the age of 7 (UNESCO 2008). The Law on Initial Vocational Education of the Republic of Tajikistan (2003) mandates government policy in that sector: Article 4 guarantees free access to initial vocational education and training for all those who have completed full secondary education or lower secondary education. The Law on Higher and Postgraduate Education of the Republic of Tajikistan (2003) defines the course of government policy and strategy in the sphere of higher and postgraduate education; Article 3 guarantees equal access to higher and postgraduate education. The document also defines the system of higher and postgraduate education and its different steps, the national standards for higher and post secondary education, and the financial modalities of the sector. Finally, the Law on State Youth Policy of the Republic of Tajikistan (1996) provides the legal framework that governs the youth policy and youth associations in the country.

The Ministry of Education (MoE) of Tajikistan is responsible for education policy development and regulation of education institutions. The MoE is divided into 8 departments, 7 units and 4 sectors. The departments are devoted to sub-sectors such as pre-school and general education, primary and secondary vocational education, higher professional and postgraduate education etc. The units deal with the analysis and development of education reform and the management of the information system among other issues. The Ministry’s sectors administer dormitory institutions, procurement of goods and services, development of international education programmes as well as implementation of investment programmes and grants. 

In each province, district, city and town, regional authorities (hakumats) are responsible for creating and monitoring the Departments of Education (DoE). Each department functions as a regional board of management in the educational sphere, reporting to the hakumat. These departments execute the national education strategy at the regional level and determine the amount of funds allocated to education from the regional budgets. The departments are also responsible for: organization of education; drafting education budgets; arranging programmes for professional development of education stakeholders; and collecting and processing of education statistics (UNESCO 2008). The education system in Tajikistan is highly centralized, leaving little autonomy to school officials, teachers and professors. The heads of hakumat appoint the chiefs of DoEs with agreement from the MoE; course syllabi and curricula also need approval from the MoE (UNESCO 2010). 

A number of institutions, all subordinate to the MoE, are involved in education sector planning. The Tajik Academy of Education, created in 2002, is the leading scientific organization in the field of pedagogy, methodology and assessment of the educational process. It encompasses several semi-autonomous establishments. These include: Tajik Education Research Institute; National Qualification Centre; National Methodological Centre; and the Centre of Information and Communication Technologies (Академия Образования Таджикистана 2005a). The Academy of Education also houses a unique Gender Pedagogy Centre that has developed several programmes of informal education targeting young girls and women (Академия Образования Таджикистана 2005b). Finally, the MoE of Tajikistan also includes a centre dedicated to the development and distribution of textbooks and other education materials, a National Testing Centre and National Centre for Gifted Children.