Aid groups warn of risks to Afghan girls' education

Feb 24, 2011, 0:02 GMT

Kabul - Gains in girls' education in Afghanistan were slipping away as a result of poverty, growing insecurity, lack of trained teachers, neglect of post-primary education and poorly equipped schools, aid groups warned Thursday.

High Stakes, the report by 16 aid groups and Afghan non-governmental organizations, called for 'renewed efforts by the Afghan government and donors' to keep girls in school and improve the quality of the education they receive.

Researchers, led by international charity Oxfam, interviewed more than 1,600 girls, parents and teachers in 17 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces.

Girls were banned from attending school during the 1996-2001 reign of the Taliban, who deemed it un-Islamic. They also did not allow women to work or venture out of their homes unless fully veiled and accompanied by a male family member.

Last month, Education Minister Farooq Wardak said the Taliban had decided to scrap the ban on female education, calling it a profound change in attitude, behaviour and culture.

However, schools and teachers continue to be a target of insurgent attacks. Earlier this month, suspected Taliban fighters torched a school in the southern province of Helmand.

At least 20 schools were bombed or burned down between March and October and 126 teachers and students were killed in the same period.

More than 2.4 million girls were in school in 2010, a 480-fold increase since 2001. Afghan girls are 'hungry for an education,' said Neeti Bhargava, Oxfam's country programme manager in Afghanistan.

'Nearly two-thirds of girls we spoke to said they want to complete university. But the reality is the education system is facing its greatest challenge since 2001.'

Poverty was the 'single biggest obstacle' to girls' education and the main factor in causing girls to drop out of school, followed by early or forced marriage and insecurity.

High school dropout rates as high as 94 per cent remain one of the main challenges in girls' education.

The report also said a lack of trained female teachers, especially in rural villages, prompted parents to stop their daughters from attending schools.

The aid agencies warned that the increasing violence, especially spreading to previously peaceful areas in the north, is preventing girls from going to school.

'We must ensure Afghan girls face a blackboard instead of a bleak future,' said aid worker Abdul Waheed Hamidy.

'By putting more female teachers in classrooms and supplying more women-only schools, we can keep these girls in school.'

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