KABUL - Education minister Farouq Wardak was summoned before the Senate on Sunday where he was questioned him over the lack of consistency between the curriculums of the private and government schools.

The senators also suggested that there was corruption within the ministry's secondary education department which needed to be addressed.

However, Wardak insisted that the education system has made some impressive achievements in the past 11 years.

Senator Lailama Ahmadi asked Wardak about a decree which had banned school texts from neighboring countries, saying that some private schools are still using such texts.

"The education ministry should have implemented a decree one year ago which banned books from neighboring countries from being taught but unfortunately Kabul's education department has permitted teaching from them," she said.

Senator Mahmood Daneshjoo explained: "This decree was meant to be implemented a year ago. It says that the violation of [curriculum] laws should be stopped, but it's not being implemented yet.

"On the day [the decree was to be enacted], a number of MPs went to the education minister's home and asked for a cancellation of the decree, and the minister verbally accepted the cancellation," Daneshjoo added.

Senator Aziza Musleh pointed out that there was a textbook shortage, saying there is generally only one book for every five students in some schools.

Wardak acknowledged the concerns and said that he is making an effort to resolve these challenges within the education system, while reminding them of the system's achievements. (Tolo News)