Thursday 24 February 2011
- Article history
Today 2.4 million girls are enrolled in school in Afghanistan (Report, 22 February). This is a major success story. Just 5,000 girls were going to school in 2001. But according to a new Oxfam report, this is under threat. Nearly half a million of the girls enrolled in school do not regularly attend, while others are forced to drop out to support their families. And the number of teachers has not kept pace. Just 30% of teachers are female and most work in urban areas, with more than a third in Kabul.
Some 42% of girls interviewed by Oxfam said their school didn't even have a building – and that they were forced to learn in tents or even outside. Others reported travelling more than three hours each way to the closest school – raising concerns for their safety. They said that poverty, early and forced marriage and growing insecurity was making it harder to attend school. As authors, we know how empowering learning and words can be. Just 12% of women over 15 in Afghanistan can read today, but things could be different for the next generation of Afghan girls. Education not only benefits them, but wider society too. Donors are investing significant resources in Afghanistan. They need to invest this money where it's going to have the most impact. By supporting more teacher training for women and more female-only schools, we can keep Afghan girls in school and help them rewrite their futures.
Anthony Browne Children's laureate, Michael Morpurgo, Nina Bawden, Jan Pienkowski, Gillian Cross, Mick Inkpen, Francesca Simon, Malorie Blackman, Eoin Colfer, Julia Golding, Julie Hearn, Debi Gliori, Celia Rees, Mark Burgess, Miriam Halahmy, Colin Hynson, Caroline Lawrence, Savita Kalhan, Katherine Langrish, Jamila Gavin
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