PARON (Pajhwok): At least 30 schools in Barg-i-Matal district of eastern Nuristan province are without buildings, as the education process remains sluggish in the remote town.
District education official Rahimullah told Pajhwok Afghan News of 36 schools in Barg-i-Matal, 30 were without buildings. As a result, students have to attend classes in an inappropriate environment.
He reckoned nearly 5,000 children were enrolled in these schools, including 2,200 girls.
“Only six of the schools have half-completed buildings but students of other schools are taught under trees or inside mosques,” he explained.
The official stressed the need for constructing buildings for these schools so that students did not face problems in learning.
Abdul Fatah, a teacher at Afzalulum School, said the school did not have a building and as a result, students faced serious problems.
He said some students studied in mosques and others under the open sky. A shortage of textbooks and professional teachers was another issue that affected the education process, he added.
Shah Abdullah, a student of 6th grade, told Pajhwok: “There are no pens and no notebooks. We don’t have a proper place. The government must provide us all these facilities.”
Maulvi Taj Mohammad Motmain, director of education for Nuristan, acknowledged the problems in Barg-i-Matal. However, he said efforts were underway to resolve the issues on priority.
He said UNICEF had promised providing stationery to all students of the province in the near future.
The Ministry of Education has printed about 16,000 textbooks which will be distributed to students across the eastern province, according to the director.
Motmain said the issue of lack of school buildings had been shared with the ministry concerned.
sa/mud
