Balkh’s Chamtal residents demand schools, seminaries

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): The residents of Chamtal district of northern Balkh province say their children are deprived of education due to shortage of schools or their remoteness.

Abdul Salam, a resident of Ali Zai village of Chamtal district, told Pajhwok Afghan News the nearest school to their village was four kilometers away and small children could not reach on time there.

He said local residents had devoted a piece of their land for a school building, but the government was yet to take action in this regard.

Linking the problem to shortage of schools, Haji Mohammad Amin, a resident of Naw Shar village, said some children of the district were deprived of education.

”Schools are one and a half hours walking distance from our village, walking in winter and summer is difficult for children, hence some of them don’t go to school,” he said.

Yet another resident of the same village, Mullah Jawid, said around ten villages had no schools in the area and they were concerned about the future of their children.

Former successive governments totally ignored the Chamtal district, he claimed, urging the incumbent government to pay serious attention to the issue.

Samiullah, 12, a resident of Ali Zai village said: ”I and other boys like me are deprived of education because there are no schools nearby and we can’t go to the distant ones.”

Chamtal district officials acknowledged the problem and assured that the department would find a solution to it.

District chief Maulvi Noorullah Homam said the issue of lack of schools and seminaries in the district existed from the past.

He asked the incumbent government to construct schools and seminaries in the district in order to resolve the problem.

Naqibulah Baloch, an official of the Balkh education department, said residents of any area lacking schools should approach the department and the residents of Chamtal district might not have contacted the department.

Earlier students in Balkh have complained about shortage of textbooks and professional teachers.

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