Ministry of Education Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Editorial

With the international forces planning a phased withdrawal from the country in the coming two years, the fear of insurgent attacks on schools, in particular girls’ schools in the country, has become more intense, with alleged incidents of poisoning of students, and torching of school buildings being a cause of serious concern, both for the families of school-going children, and for school administrators and the government. As many as 550 schools in 11 provinces of the country remained closed down in response to threats from anti-government groups.

This somber picture of the state of education in the country however, is not without a brighter side. The incident of the closure of schools in Ghazni last month, ended positively in Andar district, when the communities of 10 villages united against the groups threatening schools in their area, and took up arms against them and routed them out of their districts, determined to protect the right of their children to an education and a better future.

This issue of the EQUIP newsletter focuses on the northern region provinces, bringing other similar heart-warming stories of communities that took on the responsibility to allow education to reach their children and actively contributed to realizing the hope for a better tomorrow for their children. We plan to bring stories from other regions of Afghanistan, of other challenges and victories in subsequent issues.

We welcome your reactions and comments, which will enable us to produce more interesting and relevant content in our subsequent issues. Please email any suggestions or feedback to zlkh.haq@gmail.com. We look forward to a hearing from you.