A Voice For the Voiceless

MISSION

The Advocacy Project seeks to help community-based advocates produce, disseminate and use information, and so become more effective advocates for human rights and social justice

Women Voice their Views

Women Voice their Views on the State of Education in Afghanistan 

March 4, New York, 2005. Ms. Sadiqi Basiri from OMID recently flew to New York to participate in the two-week Beijing +10 event, an international conference on women’s human rights, that drew over 2,000 women from various civil society organizations worldwide. The event reaffirmed the Beijing Platform for Action initiated in 1995, where women won a broad-based agenda for promoting and protecting their human rights globally.

On March 4, Ms. Basiri contributed in a panel discussion organized by the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children. She shared her recent findings about the state of education in Afghanistan below.

General Situation of Education in Afghanistan

Afghanistan has one of the lowest adult literacy rates in the world, at just 28.7 percent of the population. Only 14 percent of adult women are literate, with some literacy rates in rural areas as low as four to five percent. The Afghan Ministry of Education is currently working on campaign to raise literacy levels, where there has been significant progress made. 

Successes

Over five million students were registered in different schools across the country in 2004; 10 million new textbooks have been published and will be distributed by the beginning of new academic year in March 2005; New school curriculum has been successfully completed; The “Back to School” campaign launched by the Afghanistan Interim Authority resulted in some three million children grades 1-12 and 70,000 teachers returning to school. By 2004, 54.4 percent of primary age children were in school. Afghans are willing in sending their daughters to school so that the literacy rate for women has increased in some areas. 

Challenges

There are no indicators in place by the Ministry of Education to provide quality education. Schools nationwide are not regularly monitored by the government; There is a significant shortage of professional teachers nationally and an absence of female teachers at the provincial level; The greatest gender disparities in school attendance are found in Zabul and Hilmand, where no girls attend school. The highest gender gaps are noted in Wardak, Hilmand, Khost, Paktya, Paktika and Ghor provinces; The lack of school supplies and teaching materials are the most common complaints; Family commitments, marriage, and tradition are barriers to girls’ education in general; Unavailability of schools is the main reason cited for girls not attending. Additionally, with more residents returning to the capital, the number of schools available are insufficient for the demand; Long distances and the lack of available transportation is another main reason girls to remain at home; Disabilities in the Badakhshan province are 14 percent for boys and 11 percent girls and hinder attendance, as well as children suffering from tuberculoses, malaria and whooping cough; and Poor security is a common issue all over Afghanistan, especially for boys in Logar, Kandahar and Paktika, and in the Kunduz area for girls.
 
Recommendations

Close collaboration and cooperation of funding bodies is needed while thinking of educating Afghan women and girls. The priorities identified by indigenous Afghans should be given attention while putting earmarks on grants for education; Building schools and reconstructing existing ones should continue, as millions of Afghan refugees are expected to repatriate over the next year; Teacher training programs, especially among female teachers, should be given the highest priorities, and teachers encouraged to transfer to the outlying provinces; The right of Afghan refugees in Pakistan and Iran should not be forgotten. Funds must be sought for education projects with Afghan refugees in Pakistan and Iran; The “Back to School” campaign should be reviewed and changes made as a result, in order to avoid misspent funds; and Students’ health should be made a priority through mobile health clinics visiting schools monthly. 

Report Prepared By

Sadiqa Basiri
Project Coordinator
Omid Learning Center
Kabul, Afghanistan