Dozens of returning families children enrolled in Balkh schools

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): Dozens of children of returning refugee families have been enrolled in schools in Dehdadi district of northern Balkh province, an official said on Tuesday.

Abdul Jalil Shahidkhel, director of education, told Pajhwok Afghan News children of families who had returned from Pakistan were provided with the opportunity to continue their education.

He said that 110 children both boys and girls have been officially enrolled in the Dehdadi district school and started their studies today.

He added they also plan to provide education opportunities to returning families’ children in Chamtal, Dawladabad districts and addition to the provincial capital in the future.

Meanwhile, Karamatullah Akhundzada, deputy director of Islamic Education at the Ministry of Education (MoE), said that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) was trying to remove the distance between schools and madrassas.

He added MoE had formed a committee to prepare and implement an educational curriculum for madrassas and schools up to sixth grade.

Gul Zamir, a refugee who returned from Pakistan to Dehdadi district, said: “I am happy to have returned to my country with honor and I thank the government for providing education to our children.”

Earlier, the returnees had asked the government to provide their children with education.

The government of Pakistan had set November 1 deadline for all refugees lacking legal residency documents to leave the country or face mass deportations.

According to reports, Afghan refugees with legal documents are also being arrested, their houses demolished and many forcibly evicted from Pakistan.

Earlier, Zabihullah Mujahid, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’ (IEA) spokesman, had said more than 400,000 Afghan refugees have returned to the country from Pakistan since November 1.

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