Turkmenistan – Young Marriages Reflect Social Challenges

Source: www.backtojerusalem.com

A 16 years old son of
my friend got invitation to his classmate’s wedding. “Well, how old is the
bride?” I asked my friend. “She is 15. Not a big deal,” my friend replied.
This is already the second wedding for their class.”

Eastern
societies have always had a tradition of young marriages. But in
Turkmenistan this tendency should not be considered a tradition – young
marriages are contracted because of certain problems. One of the reason is
drug addiction wide spread in the country since it obtained its
independence. Unfortunately, this problem is not connected to the age,
among those who use drugs are the representatives of all generations.
Today, in Turkmenistan, there is a very limited number of young men who
can become potential husbands for local girls. Among those, who are 23 or
older, there are many of those who are either already married or drug
users. To find healthy and single husbands, girls need to address to 15-17
years old teenagers.

Parents of the youth are also very much
worried about the future of their kids and thus hurry to make him get
married as soon as possible. The program of primary education
in
Turkmenistan was shortened to 9 years. Those who apply to higher
education institutions need to have at least two years of work experience.
Which means that if you plan to become a doctor, you first have top work
as a nurse at a hospital, or, in the case you want to become a school
teacher, or an engineer, you should find a vacancy at school or a plant.
The level of unemployment in Turkmenistan reaches 80%, and for a 15-16
years old kid it is quite unreal to get a job. Some of them get registered
at a working place only formally, after paying significant bribes. It
turns out that the majority of young guys have no occupation for two years
that pass after graduation from high school before going to army. Those
who planned to complete education after army, have to forget their plans,
as the quotas for those applying to higher education institutions were
significantly decreased.

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