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47 Uruzgan schools remain closed

47 Uruzgan schools remain closed

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10 Apr 2014 - 08:06
47 Uruzgan schools remain closed
author avatar
10 Apr 2014 - 08:06

TIRINKOT (Pajhwok): The education director said on Thursday 47 schools remained closed this academic year due to various reasons including insecurity and lack of buildings in central Uruzgan province.

Ihsanullah Nashir told Pajhwok Afghan News such schools were situated in remote parts, where teachers refused to travel, calling insecurity the major reason behind closure of schools in most parts.

“Most of these schools are in remote parts of all districts. We are in talks with the tribal elders concerned to reopen the schools and send teachers there,” said Nashir, who claimed the scarcity of professional teachers had been overcome to some extent.

He said high school graduates had been appointed as primary schoolteachers through a transparent process. “Some donors have unnecessarily set up schools in the capital and districts,” he said, adding of the schools, 20 were closed in Tirinkot, 17 in the Chinartu district and the remaining 30 in various towns.

Meanwhile, residents blamed problems being faced by the education sector on the government’s apathy.

A tribal elder in Chinartu district, Haji Abdul Salam, told Pajhwok: “Children in our village do not go to school because there are no teacher and books for them.”

He said the incumbent education director was the eighth to be appointed in Uruzgan over the past 12 years, but none of them had been able to do something good for education.

Another elder Ahmad Shah said families in most parts of the province sent their children to religious seminaries instead of schools.

Governor Amanullah Taimori acknowledged to Pajhwok problems plaguing the education sector, saying efforts were being made to resolve them.

“In our area of education, we face a lack of professional teachers, the unnecessary establishment of schools in some localities and low salaries of teaching staff,” said the governor, who claimed working to identify factors behind closure of schools and reopening them.

Education Ministry spokesman Kabir Haqmal said efforts by tribal elders to reopen closed schools were crucial.  “We will establish schools wherever tribal elders and local residents wish.”

Excluding closed schools, there are about 243 schools operational in Uruzgan, with 70 percent of them undergoing reconstruction process. Officials say 78,000 pupils in these schools are taught by 1800 teachers.

Besides Uruzgan, hundreds of schools across Afghanistan are closed due to insecurity and other reasons.

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