Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kabul (Agenzia Fides) – According to the Education Minister it seems that the Taliban have changed their attitude drastically towards the schooling of women, even if the Afghan Islamic Emirate has not publicly confirmed this position. During the Taliban regime from 1996 to 2001, girls were banned from education and were forbidden to conduct any activities outside the home. Currently, in the last 10 months, 52 schools have reopened in different parts of Kandahar province and soon another 50 will open in other districts. Since reopening, in less than a year, thousands of girls have enrolled in addition to the 120,000 boys and 42,000 girls already attending the 234 schools in the province.
According to UNICEF, in 2010 more than 500 attacks on schools were recorded in which 169 pupils, teachers and school employees killed, in addition to injuring 527. Many of the attacks occurred during the parliamentary elections of September 2010, when the schools were used as polling stations. The militants struck girls and teachers in several ways: fifteen female students and female teachers were attacked with acid in the province of Kandahar, and two female students were hit by gunfire in the province of Logar. According to a spokesperson for the Education Minister, one of the major problems for the schooling of girls is the lack of female teachers especially in the provinces most at risk. Less than 38% of the 175,000 teachers in the Country are women. They need more schools, better security and a change in the mentality of parents regarding the education of female children. (AP) (24/2/2011 Agenzia Fides)
