I left school incomplete, but will continue self-study: Raihana

KABUL (Pajhwok): Raihana, who left education incomplete due to remoteness of her school, says she was highly interested in education and currently she has been teaching children in her house free of cost.

Raihana, 17, was a student in QalaKhel School in QalaKhel village of Koh-i-Safi district of Parwan province.

The school in QalaKhel village was established10 years ago and is the first girls’ school in the area.

Raihana says she and her sister were the first girls enrolled in the school and would walk about half an hour from their village Yaqubzai to the school every day, but did not feel tired because they loved to learn.

She added that going to school in their area was first experience for girls, while some locals considered it a shame for girls to go to school.

“In the early days, all villagers would watch us, people’s unnecessary comments about girls education were disturbing us, sometimes my brothers would tell us not to go to school,” she said.

However, with the passage of time, people would less talk about girls education and more girls of the village joined the school, she added.

Raihana said she was unhappy when she was in eighth grade because her school was not a high school and she could not continue her education.

She said that a high school was far from her residence in Koh-i-Safi district and she had to walk for about an hour and a half every day to reach it.

She added that walking everyday that distance was a difficult task for her and her family was also not in favor of her to walk that long distance.

The girl said that she told her family, villagers and teachers to promote the primary school into a high school, but her efforts did not bear any fruit.

Some people did not want the village school to be promoted to a high school because they considered girls education as a shame, Raihana said.

She said she once told the principle of the high school in the district center that she could attend the school one or two days in a week but the principal should help her in her attendance.

“The principle with a lump in her throat told me that she cannot do so because the school was under supervision and she feared corruption charges,” Raihana added.

Raihana says that after hearing from the principal of the high school, she realized that her dream of high education would not come true.

“Sometimes I think it’s a dream that I left my education incomplete, but it’s not a dream, it’s reality,” she added.

The girl says she is unhappy with her incomplete education, but is happy that she was the first student of Qalakhel School, which is now open for more local girls to get education.

She said that she does not spend her day without studying and because of her interest with knowledge, has set up free education classes in her house for local children.

Raihana hoped that the government would work for education and provide access to education to all the people in the country so no one like her is deprived of the service.

mds/ma