'The High Price Of Education In Afghanistan', Embassy, 25 February 2009

EXCERPT: "A bounty was announced in Afghanistan last year; terrorists promised to pay $500 for the killing of a teacher?double the money if it was a female teacher. In the war-torn Central Asian country, all aspects of a functioning education system are a constant target of terrorism, and teaching children is a risky job. Afghanistan's schools have crumbled under 30 years of war, and during Taliban rule, schools were shut down and women banned from taking up studies. A generation of Afghans was being deprived of its literacy and, as a result, its independence. Since 2001, many efforts have been made to re-build the country's educational institutions. One of the top priorities of Canada's mission is to build, expand or repair 50 schools in Kandahar by 2011. While there have been success stories and more girls are indeed making it into classrooms, the challenges of security, capacity and overcoming an overly rigid and patriarchal culture continue to undermine such efforts, and it is devoted Afghans who pay the ultimate price for pushing such advancements"

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See also:
'Minister: US shortchanging Afghan development', Wired.com, 25 February 2009
'Afghanistan: Build infrastructure, not bases', FPIF, 23 February 2009

Related posts:
'Taliban forces students out of schools into madrasas', 17 February 2009
'In Afghanistan, education under attack', 22 December 2008
'Attacks deprive 300,000 students of education', 22 September 2008
'The general situation of children in Afghanistan', 21 April 2008