Violence, tradition keep millions of Afghans from school

KABUL, (Reuters) – Worsening security and enduring   conservative Islamic customs prevented almost five million   Afghan children from going to school in 2010, a government   official said today.
The strict Islamist Taliban were ousted from power by   U.S.-backed Afghan forces nearly a decade ago, but many women   are still not able to work outside the home and girls are   prevented from attending school in remote parts of the country.
Under the Taliban, women were barred from accessing health   care and education and made to wear burqas covering them from   head to toe. Only boys were allowed to attend school. Many of   these customs are still widespread.
Girls have had acid thrown in their faces while walking to   school by hardline Islamists who object to female education.   Several girls’ schools, including some in Kabul, have also   been hit by mysterious gas poisonings blamed on Islamists.
Asif Nang, spokesman for the minister of education, said   of 12 million eligible children, only seven million attended   school.
“This is an alarming figure for us and the government is   doing its best to pave the way for them,” Nang told Reuters.
Violence is at its worst across Afghanistan with record   deaths on all sides of the near-decade long conflict between   Afghan and foreign forces and a Taliban-led insurgency.
Nang said that aside from the violence, the problem was   made worse by a lack of female teachers in remote parts of the   country where families were reluctant to allow their daughters   to be taught by a male teacher.
“Out of 364 districts in Afghanistan, there are no female   teachers in more than 200 districts.” he said.
In large parts of southern and eastern Afghanistan —   Taliban strongholds — families still did not want their   daughters educated, Nang said.