September 1st is the first day of school for all children in Tajikistan (and in all the former Soviet Union). It’s quite the production and I was excited to see it because, although I’ve been a teacher at the university level, I haven’t been to schools on the first day of school.
The host family I stayed with before invited me to go with them to school as their son was entering 1st grade and this was his first day of school (There isn’t a kindergarten here so the children start school here in the 1st grade around age 7).
When we got to the school I saw all sorts of kids lined up outside the yard. Evidently, for the first day of school all the classes line up behind their teachers in the yard before entering school and they have a little opening ceremony in the yard. The 1st graders line up on the side and when announced they walk in front and stand in front of the other students. After the speeches, poems, songs, etc… the school bell is rung for the first time and students are invited to enter the school… 1st graders first, of course.
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