DUSAHNBE, May 25, Asia-Plus - On Thursday May 25, Mr. Graeme Loten, British Ambassador to Tajikistan, participated in a ceremony to mark the completion of renovation work on the sanitary facilities at the Branch of Secondary School No. 56 of Sino District for blind and partly-sighted children. The renovation work, which included the installation of new sanitary equipment like wash-basins, baths and water-heaters, was carried out by Oroishgar Open Limited Company. As a result of this project all the school children will now have access to modern toilet facilities more conveniently placed near to the rooms where they study and sleep.  

“We are very happy to be contributing in this small way to the improvement of this important institution for blind children” said Mr. Loten. “We see projects such as this as complementary to the larger-scale consultancy work, seminars and study tours which make up an important part of our economic development partnership with the Republic of Tajikistan . But we must never forget the immediate needs of disadvantaged children like the ones we are meeting today.”

The project has been funded by the British Embassy''s Small Grants Scheme, which in the last financial year has supported projects in spheres such as education, human rights, mass media and poverty reduction in Tajikistan . The cost of the project amounted to about $5,000.

The Branch of Secondary School No 56 of Sino District for blind and partly-sighted children was established in August 2004. There are 53 schoolchildren in the school, 21 of them are blind and 34 are partly-sighted. The children receive primary education based on the braille system in the school and continue their education in common secondary schools, mostly in the School No 56 of Sino District.