By: Feroz Bashari
In an address to inaugurate new educational year, President of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said that the government is determined to do its utmost to improve a quality education to the people of Afghanistan. "The government is determined to utilize all ways and means to boot education, improve education system and increase the rate of literacy in Afghanistan," the president said.
Quality in education is more important than focusing on the number of students getting education and being graduated. The focus of the current government is more on the quality of education rather than the quantity. In addition the Afghan Ministry of Education is committed to drawing its attention to the quality of education in order to render the best education services to the people of Afghanistan.
Training the current teachers, hiring professional teachers, getting the required labs, and providing modern text books for the students are the issues most needed for a quality education which the government is determined to work on.
As a result of the Soviet invasion, and the civil war which occurred shortly afterwards, many schools were destroyed and the education process as a whole in Afghanistan was negatively affected. The destruction of the education infrastructure went to an extreme level during the reign of Taliban in Afghanistan. Education in Afghanistan has greatly improved since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001.
In fact, Afghanistan has gone a long journey in education despite the increasing violence in this country over the past 14 years. Regardless of problems and challenges ahead of Afghan education, Afghanistan has had remarkable achievements in the area of education. Thousands of schools were built and millions of children go to schools now.
But despite all these accomplishments, the enemies of Afghanistan still act to prevent children access to education by burning down schools, attacking school teachers and students and terrorizing them. Many schools are closed down and thousands of students are deprived of education due to the enemies’ threats. But the enemies of this country have not reached their evil goals and will never either. Despite many attacks, Afghan teachers and students still go to school to teach and to learn.
Let’s all send the enemies of Afghanistan a clear message that Afghans with strong determination are ready to take the journey of education forward. There is no turn back in the area of education. We are ready to take any risk in this journey. We now, believe that education is the key to end up the current violence in the country. By sending our children to schools, we can help our country stand on its own feet and be dependent on its own resources rather than relying on international aid. We want a prosperous, peaceful and developed Afghanistan.