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by Abdullah Qazi (April 10, 2008)
Section Last updated August 29, 2010
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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