Millions of Afghans see improvements, challenges in education system
Millions of students around Afghanistan are gearing up for the new academic year in the conflict-hit country. Despite some improvements, many Afghans believe there’s still a long way to go before the nation’s education system reaches a par with global standards.
Currently about 9.5 million students, 40 percent of them female, attend more than 15,000 schools throughout the country, unprecedented in the history of Afghanistan.
This is also undoubtedly a significant achievement in a short period of time, a decade-and-a-half, according to Afghanistan’s Ministry of Education.
Many Afghan students, parents and scholars believe that the country’s education system faces significant challenges including raising standards.
“Quantitatively speaking, we have made some progress in education, but we must not ignore the fact that the education system is facing some serious and crippling challenges such as a low-quality education service, outdated curriculum and insufficient schooling infrastructure,” said Zaker Hussain Ershad, a political science professor at Ibne Sina, a private university in Kabul.
“Insecurity and corruption are also among the major challenges and problems facing the Afghan education system,” Ershad said.
“Therefore, urgent, feasible and lasting solutions must be found for each of these challenges,” he said.
On Saturday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani rang the bell of a local school in central Kabul to inaugurate the new academic year.
The Afghan president said that the Afghan school system had seen significant progress but more efforts were needed to improve the quality of education in the poverty-stricken country. “The government firmly hopes to develop all ways and means to boost education, and improve the quality of the education system in Afghanistan,” Ghani said.
Insecurity is one of the most pressing and striking matters. Thousands of students, particularly females in rural areas, have not been able to attend school due to the security threat posed by insurgent groups such as the Taliban.
Corruption and embezzlement are also an obstacle to the provision of a decent education in Afghanistan and millions of dollars have been misused or wasted in the past 17 years.
“Previous officials in the education ministry embezzled millions of dollars from the international community, which is called grand corruption,” said Iqbal Heidari, who teaches economics at Bamyan University.
The quality of education generally is not comparable to global standards, with another challenge being that people with experience and knowledge are not willing to be teachers due to low payment.
In Afghanistan the payment for educators is low, which means there is not enough financial incentive for educated and experienced teachers to work in schools or universities.
The curricula taught in schools and universities are also believed unsuitable to the students’ development.
“The current curriculum does not meet the needs of our country and it has been developed without considering the skills students need to learn and develop,” said Ahmad Zia Bahraini, who teaches computer science at Kabul University. “Thus, they must be redeveloped according the needs of the country,” he said.
A shortage of learning materials, particularly textbooks, and a lack of buildings are other key challenges, especially in rural areas.
Children in these areas are not able to receive equal education and often study in tents and use mosques as classrooms.
More than 50 percent of Afghan schools do not have a building. Some schools’ classes are oversubscribed to the point that more than 60 students have to attend a single class.
“Some government schools are too crowded. There should not be more than 20 students in a class but sometimes 60 students attend one class with just a few chairs and desks,” said Shafiqullah Anawri, a high school student.
“The government has published enough textbooks in recent years but there is a problem in the distribution process and the transporting of textbooks, especially to restive districts and far mountainous areas,” he said.
Ghani on Saturday also urged religious scholars to encourage parents to enroll their children in local schools as more than 3.5 million school-aged children have no access to education due to poverty, conflicts and insurgency.
Receiving an education that will help graduates secure work is yet another issue that the government here must traverse in improving the overall system.