While the Republic of Tajikistan inherited a developed education system from the Soviet Union, the political and economic turmoil has had an adverse impact on access to pre-primary, primary and secondary education. The contraction of the Tajik economy following independence undermined the maintenance of school infrastructure, particularly in rural areas. As a result, the education sector was continuously underfunded and school closures were all too common (UNESCO 2008). According to UNICEF estimates, one fifth of the country's schools were destroyed during the civil war (UNICEF n.d.). Access to ECCE services is a significant problem in Tajikistan as net enrolment ratios (NERs) have hovered around the 7% mark for the past decade (UIS n.d.). While little education statistics are available for the civil war period, since 2000, enrolment in both primary and secondary programmes has risen. Nonetheless, regional differences in access persist. In general, children in the capital Dushanbe and the GBAO region are more likely to attend school (State Committee on Statistics 2005).  Finally, gender parity in 2010 for primary education was close to 1, but the ratio dropped to 0.89 for secondary education (UIS n.d.).

Despite progress in addressing education quality issues, several significant obstacles remain. The curriculum is overloaded with subjects and in need of modernization. The textbooks and learning materials are frequently outdated and often available in insufficient numbers, especially in secondary education (Asian Development Bank 2006). Schools providing education in a language other than Tajik face particular difficulties with the development of curricula, teaching plans and the procurement of textbooks (UNESCO 2008). The quality and quantity of teaching personnel are also key issues. For instance, education levels among ECCE teachers are low – only 20% of ECCE teachers completed mandatory general schooling (UNESCO 2006). Furthermore, salary and incentives are low, making it difficult to attract and retain teachers for all levels of schooling, particularly in rural areas. Strengthening teachers' professional development, including in-service teacher training, is needed to carry out reforms in the curriculum and learning assessment system (UNICEF n.d.). At present, teachers assume the costs associated with in-service training programmes (UNESCO 2008).

Many former Soviet republics in Central Asia experienced a sharp cut in education budget after independence. However, Tajikistan was in an especially vulnerable position considering the civil strife that engulfed the country in the 1990s. The allocation of national budget to education dropped from 11% of public expenditures in 1991 to 2.5% at the end of the conflict in 1998 (UNESCO 2008). Since then, the funding level has experienced a slight rise. In 2008, the Tajik government devoted 3.5% of the GDP to the education sector (UIS n.d.). The system of school financing has been undergoing reforms since 2008. A new funding mechanism is expected to bring greater independence to schools (UNESCO 2008). According to this reform, funds will be allocated according to the number of students at each school, its type and its location (Central Asia Online 2009).

Reforming the system of education financing and management is one of the current priorities of the Tajik government. The sector currently faces three main problems: absence of a streamlined process of decision making; low capacity in the area of policy development and system management; and a lack of a system of assessment of learning results and effectiveness of educational establishments (Ministry of Education 2005a). The main government schemes that seek to address these challenges are outlined in the National Strategy for Education Development (2006-15) and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (2009). The National Strategy also defines the main axes of education policy reform in Tajikistan: improving the management of the sector; enhancing effectiveness of education financing; improving qualifications of teachers and teachers’ training; and improving access to and provisions of teaching materials (UNESCO 2008).