by Abdullah Qazi (April 10, 2008)
Section Last updated October 7, 2008

As a result of the Soviet war, and the civil war which occurred shortly afterwards, many schools were destroyed and the education process as a whole in Afghanistan was negatively affected.  The destruction of the education infrastructure went to an extreme level when the Taliban conquered and ruled most of Afghanistan. 

Except for some religious education, girls and women were forbidden to learn. Even for men, the curriculum was highly dominated by religious studies instead of science, technology, literature, etc. What the Taliban did in terms of education goes against Islam and what the prophet of Islam, Muhammad, preached.  Muhammad told his followers in the early days of Islam to "seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave", and that "the ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the martyr”. Islam requires education for all, both men and women.

Education in Afghanistan has greatly improved since the Taliban were overthrown in late 2001. According to recent estimates from Afghanistan's Ministry of Education, more than 5.4 million children are enrolled in schools today, nearly 35% of them girls^[1]. Even though many arguments have been made criticizing the status and rate of development of the educational system in Afghanistan; and despite efforts by the Taliban to burn and shut down many schools, especially for girls in the South and East, more Afghans now attend school or receive some sort of education than ever in its modern history. According to Afghanistan's constitution (adopted in January 2004), education is the right of all citizens (both men and women), and up to a certain level, it is free of charge.

A lot more still needs to be done in order for Afghanistan to have what modern nations have for their citizens today.  An estimated 11 million Afghans are still illiterate ^[1], many schools lack proper facilities, the number of qualified teachers are still low, and a major obstacle that needs to be overcome is a cultural bias that many Afghans have, especially in the conservative areas towards the necessity of educating women.

References:

^[1] Afghanistan's Ministry of Education (MoE) website (http://www.moe.gov.af) - accessed on April 10, 2008

^[2] United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) - March 20, 2008

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