IRIN: Attacks threaten girls’ schooling in Shindand

SHINDAND, 25 October 2007 (IRIN) – More than 1,500 female students have not attended classes for several days after unidentified assailants attacked their school in Shindand district in the western Afghan province of Herat, education officials told IRIN.

On 19 October, at around midnight local time, several grenades were thrown inside Naswan High School, breaking windows and causing minor damage to several classrooms, said Ghulam Hazrat Tanha, director of the Herat education department.

Officials say some students are gradually returning to school but locals are concerned about their children’s education, particularly for girls.

“Recent attacks on schools have frightened many parents and students,” said Tanha, adding that local residents had demanded the authorities ensure students’ security at schools.

Since 8 October, four attacks on schools have been reported in the restive district, none of which harmed students or school staffers, according to Haji Shah Alaam, Shindand district governor.

Two of the schools belonged to girls, Alaam said.

In Afghanistan, high schools are segregated, while universities do not follow this rule.

Shindand – with a majority of its population ethnically Pashtun – has been a hotbed of Taliban insurgency in the relatively calm Herat province.

Schools elsewhere in Herat, where the Taliban have a strong influence, have also experienced assaults.

Backtracking in Helmand

Meanwhile, education authorities in southern Helmand province gave warning about the shrinking numbers of functioning schools there.

In early October the director of Helmand’s education department told IRIN that more than 90 schools were functioning across the insurgency-torn province, while about 100 others, mainly in rural areas, were out of commission due to insecurity.

Three weeks later, officials say only 64 schools are open in Helmand – Afghanistan’s top opium-producing and most conflict-ridden province.

About 400 schools remain dysfunctional in southern Afghanistan, with tens of thousands of students deprived of education, concede officials in the Ministry of Education (MoE).

“Community schools and other local education facilities are closing down because of growing insecurity, Taliban attacks and lack of resources,” said Saeed Ibrar Agha, head of the provincial education department.

Immediately after the Taliban were ousted from power in late 2001, Afghanistan took significant strides in education and has increasingly admitted millions of students to formal schooling.

There are now more than six million students, 35 percent of them female, in over 11,000 schools and education facilities around the war-ravaged country, the MoE reported in 2007.

By 2020, boys and girls alike should be able to complete a full course of primary schooling, according to target number two of Afghanistan’s revised Millennium Development Goal.

Dormitories needed

As more and more students from insecure rural areas flock to schools in the provincial city, education officials complain about the lack of capacity to absorb all newcomers in Lashkargah, capital of Helmand.

Almost all the rural students coming to schools in Lashkargah are boys, local officials say. Students who commute daily between the provincial capital and their homes in rural districts are also exposed to the risk of being targeted by elements that oppose education.

Moreover, travel is an extra financial burden for already impoverished parents.

“We need to open a dormitory for students coming from rural areas to schools in Lashkargah,” said Ibrar Agha. “We look forward to donors to help us build one.”

Pajhwok: Education official kidnapped in Farah

Text of report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Herat, 16 October: Unidentified armed men have abducted an official of the education department in Delaram district of the western Farah province.

Abdol Ghafur Sherzai, the head of the education department in the district, was kidnapped by armed men from the main market. A teacher named Mohammad Zaher was also abducted along with Sherzai, officials told Pajhwok on Tuesday.

Provincial chief of the education department Atiqollah said Mohammad Zaher was freed later; however, Sherzai was still in the custody of the abductors.

He said the police had surrounded Shadi village in the district, where they believed the kidnappee had been kept by the armed men.

A police officer, Joma Khan, said they had no contact with the kidnappers. However, a search operation had been launched to recover the education officer, he added.

[Description of Source: Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Pajhwok Afghan News, established in April 2004, provides daily news and features in Pashto, Dari, English and Urdu. Self-described as "independent," it often reports on security matters and the Taliban activities. It claims to be staffed, managed, and led entirely by Afghans. According to the site, it receives financial support from USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). IAP20071016950076 1455 GMT 16 Oct 07]

Pajwok: Female coalition troops offer help to Afghan women

Text of report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Herat city, 13 October: As the coalition forces assist in building a secure nation with the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), the unique issues that Afghan women face in this country are also being addressed.

Ten US military women recently met with Afghan women at an elementary school and the Women’s Training Centre in Herat City to find out what issues they are facing, and how the ANSF can assist them in their concerns.

When the Taleban led the Afghan government, women were not allowed to pursue education or work outside home. Now girls and women are attending school throughout the country. Unfortunately, sometimes the new-found freedom comes with fear and complications.

During the visit to the elementary school, teachers asked the coalition forces to help teach Afghan men that the country benefits when women work outside of their home and receive education.

Teachers also asked for more school supplies. Because of inadequate supplies, some women write in pencil so they can erase their work and re-use the paper, one teacher said. The ladies at the Herat Women Training Centre shared many similar concerns.

When Senior Chief Petty Officer Darlene M. Gonzales, contracting team leader for the Afghan Regional Security Integration Command-West at Camp Stone in Herat, asked how the ANSF can help address their concerns, the answer was clear, but not necessarily simple.

Bring security for girls who are going out of home, said Sima Shir Mohammadi, the head of the Department of Women Affairs in Herat.

She said many Afghans have fears, but women are a little more scared.

It does not help, she said, recalling the Taleban who are more prevalent in some villages and who are completely against women’s education.

After years of Taleban oppression, women do have more rights now and many are working in various jobs. What many men consider acceptable work for women, however, is limited to teaching, tailoring, and jobs that are done in a half-day schedule or inside home, Shir Mohammadi said. Many men here still look at women and girls as objects, meaning that they belong to men.

Many men believe that when women spend time on education, they are not serving the men, which is expected of them, Shir Mohammadi said. This causes problems in Afghan households, which often leads to domestic violence against women.

Another issue Sher Mohammadi hopes to resolve is keeping the Ministry of Women Affairs open to continue the growth of women’s rights. She expressed concern over word she had received from members of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan’s parliament about six months ago that the Ministry of Women’s Affairs would only be funded for a year.

Mohammed Nur Akbari, a current member of the IROA Parliament, acknowledged in a telephone conversation that parliament recently discussed the need for the Ministry of Women Affairs. He said that in late September, however, they voted to keep the ministry intact, for now.

Sher Mohammadi contended that the existence of the Ministry for Women’s Affairs, which operates and funds the Women Training Centre in Herat, is Afghan women’s way of taking on these challenges, in some regards.

Sher Mohammadi also suggested that one way to pass new ways of thinking is by educating the ANSF men and other Afghan government employees on the significant contribution women can make. The American women agreed that it is important to seek assistance in educating Afghan men.

Army Capt. Megan S. Detweiler, information operations officer for Task Force Phoenix in Kabul, told Sher Mohammadi and other Afghan women present that American women also faced challenges and a struggle for suffrage in the past, and they had to stand up for their rights.

While Sher Mohammadi and others like her continue to work towards educating women, Gonzales assured her the coalition will help in any way they can. For now, this often means providing basic learning materials, supplying copies of pamphlets and providing other supplies.

[Description of Source: Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Pajhwok Afghan News, established in April 2004, provides daily news and features in Pashto, Dari, English and Urdu. Self-described as "independent," it often reports on security matters and the Taliban activities. It claims to be staffed, managed, and led entirely by Afghans. According to the site, it receives financial support from USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). OSC IAP20071013950016 0929 GMT 13 Oct 07]