Back-to-school just the beginning

The Afghan authorities, with the help of United Nations agencies and NGOS took a giant step this week - enrolling hundreds of thousands of children in primary schools for the first time in years. An estimated 1.5 to 1.8 million children - including girls, came to school last Saturday and officials expect more enrolment because there has been an overwhelming response by the people of Afghanistan. However, although a great start, this is less than half the number of children in Afghanistan who should be going to school. "We think up to 1.5 to 1.7 million children will come back to school now," UNICEF spokesman Edward Carwardine told IRIN in Kabul. "We are in a position, or, we aim to be in a position over the next month to supply another one million children in this primary age-group and the following month an additional one million. This will bring us to the figure of four million children," he added. There is a dearth of reliable statistics on anything in Afghanistan. Every figure is based on estimates and UNICEF thinks that up to 4.4 million children should be in schools right now, though the state can only handle close to two million children. There are no estimates of how many boys and girls should be in secondary and higher level of education and, crucially, when all of them will be offered education. "Only an estimated 32 percent of boys and eight percent of girls participated in some form of primary education, attendance, drop-out rates and completion rates were worsened by the Taliban restrictions on girls education," a UNICEF statement issued in Kabul said. It said at least 2,000 schools have been destroyed or have fallen into disrepair since 1979. "Our mandate is focused to primary school aid work. In Afghanistan it is important because the seven-year-old probably never had been to school, the girls obviously," Carwardine said, adding that one of the reasons that UNICEF focused on primary education was that it was a stepping stone to secondary education. The 23 March, the opening of schools under the back-to-school campaign, was a remarkable day for many Afghans. "There were tears in my eyes, not with pain but with joy." said an Afghan woman teacher as she described to IRIN her emotional experience of entering the school after five years of forced absence. She was teaching at Zarghoona school, one of the largest schools in Kabul, where more than 4,000 girls aged between seven and 18 years go for education. It remained closed throughout the Taliban era. "It was a very exciting day, not only for the ministry of education but for all the people of Afghanistan," Deputy Education Minister Moain Marastyal, told IRIN in the Afghan capital. Marastyal said the interim authority was very keen to provide education to the children but needed international support for that. Afghanistan's own economy is in ruins due to more than 20 years of war. Even salaries for government servants are being paid by the international community through the United Nations. UNICEF spent US $17 million on the back-to-school campaign, one of the biggest operations from the agency considering it had only two months to carry it out. "I think credit should be given to the administration here of bringing back 1.5 million children into schools effectively in two months. The volume combined with the timeframe makes it a huge success. But its just a first step and it has to go on and on," Carwardine said. Abdul Momin, education programme officer for UNICEF, told IRIN that next phase of UNICEF's activity would be to focus on community organised primary schools, or schools run by individuals at homes, or by the international and local NGO's. "We do not know the number of informal schools but there are still informal schools in Kabul and they need our assistance," he said. "And we will provide them with the necessary stuff." This second phase requires up to US $15 million for the entire country and should be completed in April. So far UNICEF has $ 8.4 million and is waiting for the outstanding amount, Cowardine said, adding: "Non-formal schools will remain useful because they provide a crucial safety net." Ghafoori, head of the Education Department for Kabul, told IRIN that the government was pleased with the UNICEF's assistance in ensuring that state schools reopened on time for the spring semester. "We have 262 schools in the Kabul province and about 141 in the city," he said, recalling there used to be 159 schools in the capital alone before the Taliban.