Published
05/12/2026, 11:43Serious violations of learning and living conditions have been recorded in boarding schools in the Talas region — overcrowded classrooms, dilapidated infrastructure and problems with meals despite state funding of 90 KGS per day per child.
In mid-April, staff from the Office of the Ombudsman of the Kyrgyz Republic carried out a monitoring visit to two boarding schools in the Talas region — the Toktogul Babanov School in the Aitmatov district and the ‘Ulukman’ School in the Manas district.
The Toktogul Babanov boarding school, named after the father of Kyrgyzstan’s former Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov, is designed to accommodate 136 pupils, yet in reality 215 children are enrolled there.
The facility is severely overcrowded: whilst the sanitary standard is 2–2.5 square metres per pupil, classrooms provide only 0.8–1.1 square metres. In the dormitory, the beds are packed tightly together, and the mattresses are old and worn out.
Sanitary conditions also fail to meet standards: there is just one toilet and two washbasins for 133 pupils, whereas the standard is one toilet for every 10 children.
Problems have also been noted with medical provision — the medicine supply is incomplete, and some medicines have passed their expiry date.
The food has caused dissatisfaction among the pupils: they are mainly served buckwheat and rice boiled in water without meat, despite an allocation of 90 KGS per day per child.
The ‘Ulukman’ boarding school, designed for 100 pupils, currently has 106 pupils. The building was constructed in 1972 and has not undergone any major repairs since then. There are problems with the heating, windows and a leaking roof. There is also no sports hall.
Following the inspection, recommendations were sent to the local authorities demanding that the identified violations be rectified.
