Many Ghor schools lack textbooks, teaching materials

FEROZKOH CITY (Pajhwok): Principals of many schools in western Ghor province say their schools have been lacking textbooks and other teaching materials, but provincial officials say they are trying to resolve the issue.

The principals and students say they have been facing shortages of books, professional teachers and the lack of safe teaching environment due to negligence of the officials concerned and asked the Islamic Emirate (IE) to pay serious attention to these issues.

Mihrab Delir, the principal of Sangan High School in Pasband district, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the school was established six decades ago and students had since been attending their classes under the open skies due to lack of a building.

Delir added: “This school has no building, we direly need professional teachers and textbooks from first to 12^thgrade, there are no teaching materials at all, there is no drinking water well, the tents where children study are damaged and there are many problems in general”.

He added they had many time raised their voice, but no attention was paid to their demands. The IEA government was responsible to solve their problems, he said.

Mohammad Tahir Sabiri, principal of Sultan Alauddin Ghori School, also complained about the shortages of professional teachers, textbooks, classrooms and the lack of dormitory.

Sabiri said: “The school dormitory was functioning in the past where 600 students stayed at night and studied their lessons. But the dormitory is inactive now, 70 percent of the students lack textbooks and we also face shortage of professional teachers and classrooms because the number of students is higher and the classrooms are overcrowded, we want the Ministry of Educations (MoE) to pay attention to the existing issues”.

Both Sabiri and Delir accused the government of negligence in solving the problems of schools and asked the acting government to pay serioud attention.

A number of students in Ghor raised similar complaints.

Mujibur Rahman a 12^th grade student at Sultan Alauddin Ghori High School, told Pajhwok: “We even do not have a single professional teacher in our school, there is no drinking water facility, there are problems in teaching process, some days the students are taught but other days they are not, if attention is not paid to the school, all students would graduate like illiterate people”.

Razia, a grade fifth student, also said they could not study properly during the previous year due to lack of professional teachers and other teaching materials.

Razia said: “There is no blackboard and chalks, no drinking water facility, no teaching materials, there are many problems”.

She urged local and central officials to pay serious attention to their problems and allow other girls to go to schools.

An education expert said schools in Ghor province had long been lacking facilities and practical measures were required in this regard.

GhulamNabi Saqi told Pajhwok that attention should be paid to the development of the education sector and the existing problems should be solved both in Kabul and provinces.

Saqi added: “If there is a will, problems plaguing the education sector can be solved, or at least decreased, unfortunately both the previous and the current governments were unable to resolve problems on provincial or ministry level”.

But Ghor provincial officials blame the previous government for these problems that resulted from their negligence. They say since the IEA takeover, majority of the problems in the education sector were solved.

Hafizullah Mahfooz, the provincial education department head, told Pajhwok that the previous government was responsible for the existing problems because they did not pay attention.

Mahfooz said: “During the past two years, 75 percent of the existing problems of the education sector and schools and seminaries were solved. Up to 75 percent problems of textbook were solved in 12 districts of Ghor province; efforts are still underway to solve the remaining problems of schools’ buildings, drinking water facilities and other issues”.

According to figures of the provincial education directorate, more than 830 schools exist in Ghor and over 200 of them have no buildings.

Mahfooz said in the past two years, they had been able to provide educational materials and facilities to more than 400 schools

aw/ma

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