There’s a growing concern over anti-government groups attacking schools and education in Afghanistan. In response to these threats, schools have been closing. Some 30,000 students are being kept home. The past few years thousands of schools have been closed and reopened due to the wartime insecurities. Recently, however, schools have started to close again as threats and violence begin to rise. Parents are choosing to keep their children home and away from school.
In the southwest region of Afghanistan, in the Ghazni Province, schools have been shut as they received threats from the local Taliban group. The local commander said that, although they did not oppose government education, they were using it as a bargaining chip against the Afghan authorities. The militants, by threatening schools, were trying to force the withdrawal of a recent ban on unlicensed motorcycles. This is known as a crucial mode of transportation for the Taliban.
“We aren’t against education,” Taliban commander in Andar, Qari Abdul-Rehman, said. “The reason is that schools, especially girls’ schools, are the only tool that attracts swift government attention.”
Over the past year the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported unacceptable levels of violence. “They are a serious violation of international humanitarian law and of the right to education,” UNAMA states. The mission has been calling for the Afghan government and international forces to step in to ensure the protection of schools, students, and teachers.
While several schools remain closed, there are some schools that have since reopened. In Ghazni, local people have yet to see any Taliban retribution after several of their schools reopened.
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