Kuchi tribesmen in Khost seek edu facilities for children

KHOST CITY (Pajhwok): Kuchi facilities.

The nomads complain the central government and aid agencies have not only failed to provide their children with fundamental education facilities, but have also ignored them in other sectors.

Ramazan Kuchi, a local elder of the tribe in Khost City, the provincial capital, told Pajhwok Afghan News Kuchi children had no access to formal education and schooling and the Ministry of Education should provide them facilities like other children.

He said schools for Kuchi children were without buildings and lacked text books and other essential teaching materials. “Children attend classes in the open under a hot summer sun and brave cold weather in winter. The big problem is the lack of shelter, which we want to be built. Our children also belong to this country.”

The elder said his tribe had now realized the importance of education and wanted their children to be educated and enabled to serve the country.

“When Kuchis see children of other people going to school, they wish their children also go to school. The nomads like education for their children more than everything else on earth.”

Kuchis are regarded the most ignored community in Afghanistan, but the tribe has started demanding rights equal to other tribes.

Rozi Khan, a 12th-grade student at a high school for Kuchi tribesmen in Khost City, told Pajhwok Afghan News the government had totally ignored the tribe when it came to service delivery.

“As little work has been done to improve our situation, other people think that Kuchis are wild and unsocial. We are not wild, but the government has forgotten us,” he said.

According to the provincial education department, nearly 5,000 Kuchi children are enrolled in 10 schools in Khost City and districts.

The nomads say only two of the schools have buildings.

Education Department official Matiullah Fazli said they were making efforts to resolve problems being faced by Kuchi tribesmen in area of education, but they lacked budget to construct buildings next academic year.

He told Pajhwok Afghan News they had met the shortage of teachers and teaching equipment and were planning to establish six more schools for Kuchi children due to their increasing number.

“We don’t have development budget for the next academic year,; we have repeatedly urged the Ministry of Education and some aid agencies to construct buildings for schools and provide tents.”

The Kuchi Affairs Department in Khost says 32,000 nomadic families are permanently living in province.

ma/mud

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