Girls long for education but no high school in Behsud

BAMYAN CITY (PAN have to drop out because there is no intermediate or high school for them in the Behsud district of central Maidan Wardak province.

These girls say they are interested in higher education if high schools are opened in their long-neglected areas. Sakina, a resident of Langar village, said she attended a primary school for five years.

“If there were a high school for females in our area, I would have been able to continue my education,” she told Pajhwok Afghan News. Sakina said girls in her village could not travel long distances to attend high schools in neighbouring districts.

Some families do not allow their daughters to go to secondary schools or boys’ schools considering it against their customs.

Mumlikat, another girl from the same area, said: “I have more interest in education but my parents do not allow me to continue my studies in boys’ school because there is no high school for girls.”

Hussain Bakhash, a resident of Gardan Diwal area said “As a father I fulfilled my responsibility towards my daughters by sending them to primary school, but the government does not fulfill its responsibility to establish high schools.”

Families do not allow their daughters to attend schools where boys also study, especially in rural areas, where cultural restrictions are worse, residents say.

Mohammad Azim Baligh, an elder of the district, believes girls should not attend schools jointly with boys because it is not allowed in Islam. Another reason why girls quit schools is their humiliation at joint schools, he adds.

The district education officer, Musa Ibrahimi, said no plan has so far been considered to have a girls’ high school in the district.

He said it was very necessary to have a girls’ high school in the district and he would discuss the problem with the provincial education department.

The Education Ministry spokesman, Amanullah Iman, said they were aware of the problem in Behsud, but sought a week time to give information in this regard.

There are 17 primary, nine secondary and 10 high schools in the district, but all of the high schools are for boys only, Ibrahimi said.

About 40 percent primary school students are girls and 90 percents of them do not go to high schools after completing primary school.

mds/ma

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