INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Some 3.7 million between seven and 17 are out of school, 2.7 million of them girls (Reuters)Kabul: Nearly half
all children in Afghanistan are out of school due to conflict, poverty, child marriage and discrimination against girls, the number rising
for the first time since 2002, humanitarian organisations said in a report on Sunday.Spreading violence has forced many schools to close,
undermining fragile gains in education for girls in a country where millions have never set foot in a class room.Some 3.7 million children
between the ages of seven and 17, or 44 percent of all children, are out of school, 2.7 million of them girls, Education Minister Mirwais
Balkhi told a seminar, explaining a study conducted by UNICEF, USAID and the independent Samuel Hall think-tank.The Taliban, seeking to oust
the U.S.-backed government and return the country to strict Islamic rule after their 2001 ouster, are adamantly opposed to education for
girls and threats from ISIS have forced the closure of dozens of schools.Without mentioning the Taliban or ISIS, Balkhi said there were
"many reasons" for children not going to school. In April this year, terrorists set ablaze two schools and widespread violence had led to
closure of hundreds of private schools (Reuters)"Education of children is the most important development in all human communities," he said
"It is the most important tool in fighting war, poverty and unemployment.In the worst affected provinces, up to 85 percent of girls are not
going to school, the aid groups said
They did not give specific time periods or comparisons.In April this year, terrorists set ablaze two schools and widespread violence had led
to closure of hundreds of private schools."Business as usual is not an option for Afghanistan if we are to fulfil the right to education for
every child," said Adele Khodr of UNICEF in the report."When children are not in school, they are at increased danger of abuse, exploitation
and recruitment."One teenage girl, Ziwar, from central Daikundi, one of the safest provinces in the country, said she had been at school
until she was 14."I can read and write
I can write a letter," she told seminar delegates
I want to continue my studies
I want to become a doctor in the future."© Thomson Reuters 2018(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by
TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
