EENET asia Newsletters : Fourth issue June 2007 Contents

The Story of a Strong Desire for Education

Inger Guddal

In Khogyani district of Nangahar Province 4 government schools have been included in the Quality Education Program of Save the Children Sweden-Norway (SCS-N). One of these is the Bar Behar School for girls with 902 students. Khogyani is considered a conservative district situated below Spin Gar Mountain and the Tora Bora caves where heavy fighting took place at the fall of the Taliban government.

I first visited this school in early February 2006, and was welcomed by about 250 of the students, village elders and all the teachers. They had prepared a nice program for us under some trees in a field near the mosque. The field also served as the school ground for the students.

I was thrilled by the sight of all these eager students who came to the event in spite of the fact that they were in the middle of their winter holidays. And my admiration rose even more when 3 of the elder girls, after reciting a poem about the need for knowledge, claimed their right for education on equal terms as boys, in front of all the elders and officials. They also mentioned how difficult it was to study without a shelter over their head.

Later I learned that one of the elders Malik Abdul Qayom and his family on this occasion decided to donate 2 gerib = 60 square yards land so we could build a proper school for the girls.

Two months later, I mentioned the situation in Bar Behar in a meeting with Bernt Aasen, the Head of UNICEF Afghanistan. He promptly sent his head of Education Department, David McLoughlim, to Jalalabad. At the meeting there we were able to present a letter from the Bar Behar elders, requesting support for the construction of a school building. They promised to provide labor and materials equal to 30 % of the cost of the building, and a signed document of the land already provided by Malek Qayom and his nephew Noorullah, who is the head of the Parent, Teachers, Students Association (PTSA)

Today the school is almost completed, with a well for safe drinking water and much needed latrines. A protection wall - funded by a private Norwegian donor - will secure for girls the possibility to continue their education until the end of grade 12 as well as the recruitment of 4 much needed female teachers.

The increase in the number of community-based and community-supported schools and the increase in enrollment - especially of girls - has been encouraging in Afghanistan. Prospects are good if girls are able to claim equal rights and their communities can provide the protective learning environment they need.

Ms. Inger Guddal is the Program Coordinator for Save the Children Sweden-Norway in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. She contacted via email: Ingar.guddal@csa.savethechildren.se or post:
Save the Children Sweden-Norway,
H- No: 2127, Street -A Kart-e-Seh, D.6 Kabul, Afghanistan

EENET asia Newsletters : Fourth issue June 2007 Contents