Afghanistan+Education

Two separate systems of education exist in Afghanistan. The older system is a religious one, taught by the mullahs, who conduct schools in the village mosques. They teach the religious precepts of the Koran, reading, writing, and arithmetic. The other system was introduced in Afghanistan's 1964 constitution and provided for free and compulsory education at all levels.

Secondary schools existed in Kabul and the larger towns. Twelve years of primary and secondary schooling were expected, although many Afghans could not attend because they lived in areas where there were no schools.

In the mid-1980s the country had about 800 primary schools and 300 general secondary schools. Kabul University had about 6500 students. Literacy was estimated to be about 29 percent for all Afghans aged 15 and older in 1990, about 44 percent for males and about 14 percent for females. However, some experts believe these figures are too high, since up to 80 percent of the schools had been destroyed by this time; warfare effectively eliminated most education thereafter and a generation grew up without any formal schooling.

Between 1996 and 2001, under the Islamic group the Taliban, the educational situation in Afghanistan worsened. The school curriculum was restricted, schools were destroyed and Afghan females were banned from all educational life. After the Taliban fell from power in late 2001, an international effort to reconstruct the educational system was put in order. Record numbers of students enrolled in school, including the highest percentage of female students in decades.

Even though their are a lot of girls attending school thier are still some places where the statistics of girls attending school are very low. In the former Taliban strongholds of South Afghanistan girls enrollment is at its lowest, with only 3% in Zabul, 5% in Helmand and 7% in Khost. But that is only in places where the Taliban used to be.



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In 2002, with the opening of new schools, many children – especially girls – were able to attend classes for the first time in several years. The increase in school enrolment demonstrated a demand for education that was the highest in Afghanistan’s history. The education program started with the objective of getting an estimated 1.5 million children into classrooms in 2002. By the end of the year that number had swollen to 3 million children, 30 percent of them girls. This year, some 6 million Afghan children are attending classes, further straining education resources.

Five years ago, only an estimated 15 percent of teachers in Afghanistan’s schools had graduated from teachers’ training colleges. Initially, UNICEF supported the Ministry of Education in providing training for 50,000 primary school teachers with a 10-day refresher course on language arts, pedagogy and landmine awareness. Pedagogy is the instruction of being a teacher.



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