Families forced to enroll girls in short-term courses

KABUL (Pajhwok): As schools for girls above sixth grade remain closed, families have been forced to get their children in tailoring, art and English language courses.

The new academic year began in Afghanistan on March 25, but the government did not allow girls’ schools above sixth class to reopen.

Most families say as a result of school closures, their girls have developed psychological and other mental disorders.

Najeeba, a resident of Khoshal Khan area, told Pajhwok Afghan News her daughter studied in the ninth grade at Shams-ul Mashaekh High School.

But due to the government’s decision on closing girls’ schools, her daughter unable to continue her studies, she added.

“My daughter's psychological condition is not good. Feeling anxious, she gradually stopped talking. Her mental health seems to be getting worse day by day,” Najeeba commented.

“We have decided to take her out of the four walls of the house We have enrolled her in an English language course. Thank God, she has recovered to some extent,” she said.

Madina, a student of class eight in one of Khair Khana Schools, has been unable to go to school since the regime change in August last year.

Her mother said: “The mental state of my daughter Medina Jan, an eighth grader, is worsening day by day.

“She tends to be very aggressive at home. I have finally decided to keep her busy by enrolling her in an academy near our home.”

A spokesman for the Islamic Emirate said an eight-member committee, led by the chief justice, would deliberate on the issue of closure of girls’ school.

Inamullah Samangani said the committee would soon address the core problem in girls’ education.

nh/mud