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This is a footnote to my last post just so I can prop Amanda and Caleb for their efforts in Kabul. Although the ISK caters to a more wealthy subset
of Afghanistan, every contribution to education cannot be overlooked.The civil war of the 90’s between warring tribes (Mujahidin factions) caused the closing or dismantling of most lower, middle, and higher education facilities. Warfare effectively eliminated most education thereafter and an entire generation grew up without any formal schooling. Although the Taliban brought an end to the security issues, the education problem did not change because it
was exacerbated by the removal of all girls from schools and a renewed emphasis on the madras-style of education.Some staggering literacy numbers:
total population: 28.1%
male: 43.1%
female: 12.6%
Rural areas: 17% men, 3% women
There is an overwhelming lack of facilities. Afghanistan has some 12,000 public schools (primary and secondary). Roughly half of them do not have a building; students assemble in tents and/or in the open, say officials. Insurgents have torched hundreds of schools and killed dozens of teachers and students over the past four years in a country which desperately needs more schools and teachers. About 700 schools were reportedly closed because of insecurity and attacks in 2008
, though some have been re-opened over the past few months, according to the Ministry of Education.The bottom line: Those that started this century at the bottom are still struggling to catch up, because it takes a major effort for a country to educate its populace. A country needs a large pool of the already educated to act as teachers, and an economy that can detach children from the workforce long enough for them to go to school. Afghanistan has neither.
Hats off to Caleb and Amanda, and the many more like them!
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But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.
-- Persian Proverb
WOW!
ReplyDeleteWhat a difference an education would make for those children. Isn't it amazing how we take such simple things for granted?
Hey bro . . . it always blows my mind to see another part of the world that is so far behind and in need of a simple "good" education. Be safe and thanks for the cool updates and knowledge.
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