![[Afghanistan] Shortage of schools mean classes spring up everywhere.](https://assets.thenewhumanitarian.org/s3fs-public/styles/responsive_large_2x/public/images/2994.jpg.webp?itok=JGH3N97V "There are 7,000 schools like this in Afghanistan")
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The Afghan education ministry is planning to build 2,000 schools in cooperation with international aid agencies during 2006, the ministry said on Tuesday in the capital Kabul.
Afghanistan has one of the worst education systems in the world and one of the lowest adult literacy rates, at just 28.7 percent of the population, according to the UN's Afghanistan Human Development Report of 2005. Only Burundi, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Sierra Leone are worse.
“[During 2006] we are planning to build around 2,000 schools, mainly for primary education, with the cooperation of the World Bank, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Japan and other aid agencies in the country,” Mohammad Sadiq Fatman, Deputy Minister of Education, said.
The ministry has said that around 7,000 schools have no permanent structure, with students studying under trees or tents for lack of classrooms.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), around 5 million children were studying in schools during 2005, an increase of over a million on 2004. The enrollment of girls also increased in the same period, the UN agency noted.
Despite these large increases in children attending school in the post-Taliban era, in some provinces, more than 60 percent of young people do not attend, with the number rising to 80 percent when girls alone are considered.
On top of a lack of school buildings, many schools face serious shortages of professional teachers.
“More than 50,000 teachers need to be employed over the next six years to meet the thirst for education,” Fatman explained.
Insecurity is also preventing schools from operating in parts of Afghanistan. In the southern provinces of Helmand, Kandahar, Zabul, and Urozgan more than 200 schools have been closed due to attacks from ousted Taliban insurgents.
Fatman said the ministry was planning to arrange temporary schooling in the capitals of Helmand, Zabul and Paktika provinces for students whose schools have been closed as a result of the insurgency in these remote districts.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
