A Voice For the Voiceless

MISSION

The Advocacy Project seeks to help community-based advocates produce, disseminate and use information, and so become more effective advocates for human rights and social justice

Educating Afghanistan's Women and Girls

Afghanistan has seen great progress in providing educational opportunities for its population. Since the fall of the Taliban, there has been a four-fold increase in the amount of children attending school in Afghanistan.  Even though there is still a wide disparity between the attendance rate of girls and boys, the percentage of Afghan girls attending school is at a historic high. Prior to 2002, only 2 percent of Afghan girls went to school and now the rate is around 35 percent.

Even though these statistics seem promising, there is still a lot to be done. The 35 percent figure distorts the actual situation in the country as the high rates of enrollment in the major cities inflates the statistics. Locations still exist in rural Afghanistan where only 3 percent of girls have access to education.

There is also the problem of finding qualified teachers, especially those willing to work in these remote areas. Some teachers have only completed the eighth grade and have had very little training. What makes this situation even worse is the increasing demand for female teachers so that families feel comfortable sending their daughters to school.

Security is yet another concern that has been slowing the educational attainment of Afghan girls and boys. Schools providing education for girls have been targeted in particular by resurgent forces. For instance, there have been assassinations of teachers and education officials as well as hundreds of attacks.

Explore these issues in greater depth on the following pages that tell of the development of a girls school in Godah in 2002. The number of schools as well as the enrollment levels have steadily increased since 2002 despite setbacks such as arson attacks, lack of teachers and less than perfect attendance rates. The pages are organized chronologically, beginning at the creation of the Godah school to an overview of progress made in 2006. Also included are pages about a penpal exchange set up between the school in Afghanistan and one in Massachutes.

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