Classes set up for 18,000 children in war-hit areas

KUNDUZ CITY (Pajhwok): As many as 510 local classes have been set up by the Citizens Organization for Advocacy and Resilience (COAR), enabling 18,000 children to pursue primary education in northern Kunduz province.

Mujib-ur-Rahman Seerat, zonal head of COAR, told Pajhwok Afghan News 600 teachers had also been hired following the establishment of local classes.

“With financial support from UNICEF and Germany, COAR has created 510 local classes in remote areas of Kunduz, where 18,000 children have been provided the opportunity to study,” Seerat said.

The local classes have been created in the provincial capital and districts of Kunduz, where children did not have access to public-sector schools.

Some civil society activists said poverty and economic hardships had forced many children from school and into begging on the streets.

Mullah Din Akbari, a resident of Kunduz City, said: “Most of children in cities and rural areas had started begging due to penury. National and international institutions must do something to address the issue.”

Khalil Karwan, a civil society activist, blamed the government for not resolving the issue of child labour. Thousands of minors had been pushed into hard labour by poverty and past war, he noted.

“We need special guidelines for children involved in hard labour to prevent the retreat of society from development,” Karwan remarked.

A child, named Niamatullah, said: “My father has been martyred. I collect empty bottles on the streets and sell them. I love going to school and studying.”

Faiz Mohammad, the father of a 12 years old child involved in hard labour, said privations of life had forced him to send his son to work.

He urged the government and other welfare institutions to support them.

Director of Labour, Public Works, Martyr and Disabled Affairs Maulvi Ahmad Shah Haqqani said the government was trying to provide the children involved in hard labor and begging opportunities for studying and learning vocational skills.

The department says 14,000 children have been involved in hard labour in the province.

aw/sa/mud

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