International Students’ Day started with the tragic death of some students in 1939. Jan Opletal, a student of Charles University, was shot dead in cold blood – which caused angry demonstrations. Currently, Students’ Day is celebrated widely around the globe. Let’s view the historical episode of Students’ Day in further detail.

The 17th of November was first marked as International Students’ Day in 1941 in London by the International Students’ Council. It is the reminder of a tragic story - a day of commemoration of the more than 1,200 students from the University of Prague whose lives were taken in WWII.

During late 1939 the Nazi authorities suppressed a demonstration in Prague held by students of Charles University. The demonstration was held on the 28th of October to commemorate the anniversary of the independence of the Czechoslovak Republic.

During this demonstration the student Jan Opletal was shot and died from wounds on the 11th of November. On the 15th of November his body was meant to be transported from Prague back to his home in Moravia. His funeral procession consisted of thousands of students, who turned this event into an anti-Nazi demonstration. However, this resulted in drastic measures being taken by the Nazis. All Czech higher education institutions were closed down, more than 1,200 students were arrested and sent to concentration camps, and nine students and professors were executed without trial on the 17th of November. Due to this, 17 November was chosen as International Students’ Day.

Students’ Day was also celebrated in many universities in Afghanistan which was the reminder of the starting point of this tragic day. On November 16, a day before Students’ Day, a suicide attack targeted a female MP Shokria Barikzai which resulted in the death of three civilians, including a 21-year-old female student Qudsia. Qudsia, who was in third year in Kabul University, was on the way to a mosque carrying a Holy Qur’an to pray but was killed in the explosion carried out by the Islamic radicals.

Qudsia’s death came as a big shock not only to her family but also to all Afghan students. Her death reflected the true picture of Afghan citizens that lose their lives in one way or another and also of Afghan students who lose their lives on the way to schools and universities. Moreover, this tragedy reveals further violence against female students – their schools are burnt down, they are threatened, harassed and corrosive acid is sprayed on their faces and even murdered.  

A sad story of a rape victim in Daikundi Province, which occurred last year, is still shocking for many Afghans. Shakila, a teenage school girl who was living in Korga village, always had to pass by her neighbors’ houses on her way to school. One morning, on her way to school, she was waylaid and raped by an eighty-year-old man of her neighborhood. He did this to avenge his wife‘s rape many years ago by the father of the same girl, Shakila. Even though, her father had already been trialed and imprisoned for a long period, for his crime, the old man still kept his animosity. Why should the innocent daughter be held accountable for the fault of her father? Hence, don’t such incidents demoralize our female students’ and their parents? If this trend goes on, it will result to the decrease of female students in schools and universities.

Above all, Afghan students rail against challenges, including the poor educational systems, in universities. They say that the university lecturers teach the same lessons that they were taught about 40 or so years ago in the same method. Moreover, the lecturers’ irregularities aggravate the challenges. It is also said that many lecturers, who have been retired, still teach in the universities and do not want to miss their salaries. They deny giving chance to the younger generation to teach.

University students, especially girls, are in the grip of many challenges across the country. They lack basic facilities and live in humid rooms. For instance, in Bamyan province, besides living in cold and damp rooms, they lack not only dormitory but also fresh water and electricity. Life is so hard for them. In short, financial help and facilities are their crying needs.

So, considering such challenges, government is supposed to prioritize them and take measures to deal with. Since security is a matter of life and death, an effective mechanism must be taken regarding the issue. Our students are not supposed to be demoralized, threaten or murdered on the way to schools and universities and the female schools must not be burnt down anymore. Besides providing a safe and secure atmosphere for the students, the officials have to accommodate them, particularly the female students who are the most vulnerable part of society, properly.

Ill-fatedly, within the last decade of Karzai’s presidential period, the security situation remained highly critical. The government failed to prevent the Taliban insurgents from burning schools, terrorizing female students, etc. The more the militants caused insurgency and terror across the country, the less they were punished for. Last government showed unnecessary tolerance towards the insurgents. What about the new government?

It is too early to pass judgment over the failure and achievements of the current government. But the new president Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai seems a serious personality. Though, insecurity is still a serious issue in the country, it cannot be alleviated overnight and the new government is expected to decrease it with the passage of time. Prayerfully, Afghan students will celebrate the Students’ Day happily in the next year and will talk about improvements – it is possible if the new government pays attention regarding the issue.