5.5 Primary and secondary education Foreigners have the same right to education as nationals in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan and this right extends to recognised stateless persons in Kazakhstan. Anyone enrolled in a national educational establishment has the same rights and obligations as other students and staff, according to the law.390 In Kazakhstan, foreign nationals and stateless persons permanently resident on Kazakh territory have the same rights as nationals to pre-school, primary, junior and intermediate education, according to the law. People who are officially recognised as stateless and permanently resident in Kazakhstan can also acquire free vocational and professional training as well as higher and post-graduate education on a competitive basis – provided they have not previously had one. Those who are undocumented do not have access to higher education on this basis.391 In Tajikistan, free basic education is compulsory under Article 41 of the Constitution of Tajikistan, and the 1996 Aliens Law grants stateless persons and other foreigners, rights to an education on an equal footing with nationals of the country.392 According to stateless persons who participated in meetings with UNHCR in Dushanbe, their children have no problem with access to primary and secondary education on an equal basis with nationals of the country. There is no comprehensive information, however, on the level of enrolment and attendance or the drop-out rate by age or gender. None of the stateless persons reported harassment or violence at schools by staff or other students. Although formally compulsory for the children of citizens, penalties do not seem to apply for nonattendance at school. Some sources have estimated that school attendance may have fallen significantly between 1991 and 2003.393 UNHCR was told that the cost of school uniforms and basic equipment, like books and pens, prevented some stateless persons from sending their children to school. In Kyrgyzstan, 70% of the children of the stateless persons surveyed in the North had completed secondary education and 9% an advanced secondary education. In the South, some 94% of children had completed a secondary education. They felt they had been fully integrated into their school life and given full access to sport and other facilities, and their parents did not disagree. Those surveyed reported no administrative obstacles to their education at elementary and secondary level. Another 6 % said they had missed school altogether,394 because of emotional disruption in the family. There was apparently no State supervision of their absence or penalty for non-attendance. In Kazakhstan, if they wish to register a child under the age of 16 in an educational institution395 stateless persons must present their Stateless Person’s Card, indicating their registered place of residence. Their children are then legally guaranteed access on an equal footing with nationals of the country.396 No documented or undocumented stateless persons who attended Participatory Assessments with UNHCR in Almaty or South-Kazakhstan reported that their children had been 390 Article 12, 1993 Law No 1296-XII ‘On the Legal Status of Foreigners’ in Kyrgyzstan; Article 13, 1993 Law ‘On the Legal Status of Foreigners’ in Turkmenistan, as amended in 2011; Article 13, 1997 Law No 500 ‘On the Legal Status of Foreigners’ in Tajikistan, as amended in 2009; Article 10, 1995 Law No 2337 ‘On the Legal Status of Foreigners’ in Kazakhstan. 391 Article 10, 1995 Law No 2337 ‘On the Legal Status of Foreigners’ in Kazakhstan. 392 Article 13, 1997 Law No 500 ‘On the Legal Status of Foreigners’ in Tajikistan, as amended in 2009. 393 Report of the International Crisis Group, 2003. 394 Quoted in the UNHCR surveys and published in UN High Commissioner for Refugees, A Place to Call Home. The Situation of Stateless persons in the Kyrgyz Republic: Findings of Surveys Commissioned by the UNHCR, UNHCR Bishkek, 2009. 395 Paragraphs 4, 2007 Order of the Minister of Education No 659 ‘On The Rules for Receiving Pre-School, Primary, Main and General Secondary Education by Foreigners and Stateless Persons who Permanently Reside in the Republic of Kazakhstan’. 396 Article 8, 1995 Law No 2337 ‘On the Legal Status of Foreigners’ in Kazakhstan. According to Article 14 of the 1991 Citizenship Law of Kazakhstan, a child born in Kazakhstan to two stateless parents is a Kazakh citizen, but it appears that its parents are nevertheless required to present this card to have their children enrolled. It is not clear if schools can refuse to enrol anyone whose parents do not have Stateless Person’s Cards. ~ 60 ~