Thanks to international donors about 50-55% of Afghan children are now going to school. School in Afghanistan doesn't mean nice space with modern equipment, needless to say. Most pupils study in terrible old and dirty structures or tents. Still, one might argue that any school is better than no school. That is the good news.
Sadly, in many especially rural and thus more conservative areas, boys are sent to school rather than girls. Parents often refuse to send their daughters to a school to be taught by a male teacher - however, according to Oxfam (an international charity), only about 25% of all teachers are women. That then seems to be the root cause of the problem.
Would be interesting to know if donors could allocate their money only if a certain number of female pupils and students will be among its recipients. Another option would be to arrange urgent teacher training for women. The Afghan government seems to be interested in solving these problems; it may be hard to change the years of Taliban anti-woman atmosphere but with some pressure from donor countries this is possible. On some level then, the ball is at the donors' court.
We, you and I, have to make sure that our governments are aware of this issue. Western money should only go where it is spent in a way that benefits the recipients in the long run.
posted by Emilia.kk @ 1:13 PM
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