Under the Taliban rule, which collapsed in late 2001, violence and intimidation were routinely used to prevent girls and women from attending school.
At that time, no more than 1 million children attended school, while today, 11 million Afghan children go to school, some 40 percent of whom are girls, according to official statistics.
According to UNICEF’s representative in Afghanistan, Akhil Lyer, UNICEF has been working in Afghanistan since 1949 and the main sectors which we work are health, nutrition, water, sanitation, education and the program that we called child protection, which protects the rights of children in various areas such as protecting children from exploitation, abuse and violence.
Two generations of Afghan, after the decades of war, are figured to be illiterate. Deprived of the basic right that include the right to live, to be educated and to have good health-care facilities, the Afghan in the repressive regime of the hard-line Taliban suffered first due to unavailability of inadequate schooling and then due to the bans imposed on the girls constraining them to abandon school. The theme of teaching in the mentioned era was evolving around the ‘political’ Islam. Girls were in fact the most affected ones as they were intercepted to join school and college. The only way to empower the oppressed women folk is to educate them. Women are the shapers of the society; they have to be educated and have access to information in order to raise promising children. Since the US-led International intervention in Afghanistan in 2001, different foreign NGOs are in constant toil to ensure their participation in the reconstruction of the country. In this regard, the government can specially play consequential role in motivating youth to continue their studies and to brighten the name of the country.
On Wednesday November 19, 2014, a sad story came in media that Unknown gunmen abducted six school teachers in western Badghis province. According to local government officials, the incident took place late on Tuesday in Qads district. The officials further added that the fate of kidnapped school teacher is not clear so far and no group has so far claimed responsibility behind the abduction. According to a recent survey conducted by Asian Foundation says that there is strong support for women’s education in Islamic madrasas (92.3 percent), primary schools (83.9 percent), high schools (82.0 percent), and universities in their home province (71.9 percent), but less support for women to study in another province (45.2 percent) or to go abroad on a scholarship (33.4 percent).Overall, 79.1 percent of Afghans have disagreed with the practice of baad—a practice to give a daughter to another party as a penalty or payment for some offense—and also baddal—the exchange of daughters between families for marriage.Although Afghanistan has gained visible achievements in Education sector but still work remain to be done. Female students and teachers are still in danger and remaining under threat by local warlords in many parts of the country. Therefore it is important that we re-open the schools all over Afghanistan and bring back to the people our cultural heritage. Particular attention should be given to orphans living in the streets, both in respect of shelter and education. For the past three decades, Afghan people have been living in the dark. The Afghan women should join efforts to establish a civil society in the country and bring back democratic values through education and culture. Education and culture transcend the reality of our lives. Their healing power and creative energy could act as a catalyst for peace and as an antidote to our national wounds by safeguarding our cultural heritage from disappearance. By reviving education and culture, we Afghans can all have something common to share and be united. The pace of education promoting activities in the post-Taliban period has been on account of scarcity some what sluggish. As mentioned earlier that almost more than 70 percent of the country’s educational infrastructure has been destroyed in the past three decades. Many schools still have no drinking water, electricity or sanitation. Classes are held on footpaths, in tents and under trees, but with the onset of winter even these spaces become unusable. However, it is to be mentioned here that the point on which the organizations like UNESCO should concentrate is the need to build up the skill and expertise needed at all levels of education, from manager to trainers of teachers.Professional debate and exchange between Afghan intellectuals and experts living abroad and the national authorities was the best way of identifying and seeking solutions to the issues facing the Afghan nation.
Most of the parents with the conservative opinions hold their sons and daughters to their apron and don’t let them go abroad and get education. On the other hands, some other parents fear the consequences and do not send their children abroad for getting education. The inclination of some people towards education in Afghanistan is due to the fact that they have realized the significance of education in life. Therefore, more and more people from such well-aware places move for the sake of studies to foreign countries and then return with good skill, education, and expertise. Many boys and girls after passing certain tests of eligibility are recommended to go abroad for studies. On their arrival to their homeland, they can be utilized as a productive assets to rebuilt and strengthen the country in future.