AFGHANISTAN: Dozens of schools reopen in Helmand – but only a few are girls schools
KABUL, 4 February 2010 (IRIN): Over the past year dozens of schools have reopened in Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, in part due to an accommodation with Taliban insurgents, Education Ministry officials say.
Of the 283 state-funded schools in the province, over 220 were closed in 2008 due to general insecurity and direct attacks, Helmand’s department of education said (det er i Helmand, de danske tropper befinder sig, red.).
– Two years ago we had only 56 functioning schools in Helmand Province but in the past year we have reopened over 60 schools and now we have about 116 functioning schools, Mohammad Wali, deputy director of the provincial education department, told IRIN.
Asif Nang, a Mini-stry of Education (MoE) spokesman in Kabul, told IRIN even more schools (105) had reopened in the past year, meaning that the province had about 170 functioning schools.
He attributed the reopenings to local support and a tacit rapprochement with the insurgents.
– Tribal and religious elders have helped us a lot and have convinced the governments opposition (the Taliban) to allow the reopening of schools, Nang said.
The MoE said it had also brought together various local actors (religious leaders, tribal elders, parents and government offices) in local “school support councils” which have been campaigning for the protection of schools in insecure areas.
However, only a few of the recently reopened schools in Helmand are girls schools, according to officials.
The Taliban had banned girls from attending schools, and women from working, during their rule (1994-2001),
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