ABSTRACT
Contemporary education systems tend to be based on those developed in the West, which is organized around rationality, scientific knowledge, and a secular worldview. Their main function is to prepare young people for participation in modern society, and particularly for successful competition in a capitalist job market. They were developed according to modernistic, individualistic ideology and are organized accordingly. Examinations are used to assess students' abilities, including whether they are fit to continue to higher education. They also determine students' final qualifications and levels of entry into the job market. Many Tajik parents viewed the education system with unease and felt it to be a threat to the preservation of their culture, in particular where the teaching of girls was concerned. In collective environment, where marriage is a family affair and masculinity very strongly dependent on the correct performance of femininity, the tensions around women's employment are directly connected to their gender identities.
