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Cover Story

Grades 4-6

Tough Lessons

Principal Surava Sarwary loves the sound of her second-grade girls reciting a new lesson. Six years ago, that sound would have put her life in danger. Back then, Afghanistan was controlled by the Taliban (tah-lee-bahn). Its members enforce an extremely strict version of Islam. The Taliban outlawed education for girls. A few brave teachers taught them in secret. Sarwary, 36, recalls gathering students in her home and whispering lessons, for fear that neighbors might report her. These days, as the principal of a school with 1,500 students in Herat province, she worries that the girls' voices may drown out the math lesson next door.

"Our students have talent and a passion for learning," she says. "But we still have problems." Girls are so eager to go to school that the building cannot possibly hold all of them. The second graders huddle in a ragged tent, where torn canvas blocks many girls' view of the blackboard. The fierce desert wind threatens to tear the one textbook from students' hands. There is no playground, no running water, only a hole in the ground for a bathroom. Yet the school is one of the most successful in Herat, and Herat has the top schools in the nation.

A New Chance to Learn

After the Taliban was toppled by U.S.-led forces in 2001 (see "A Look at Afghanistan"), the rest of the world cheered Afghan women's newfound chance at equal rights and an education. "If women are educated, that means their children will be too," says Ghulam Hazrat Tanha, Herat's director of education.

Since 2001, 3,500 new schools have opened. But more than half of these are in tents or outside, under shade trees. Funds for education are not a top priority. Of the 40,000 teachers needed this year, the government has budgeted for only 10,000. "The province of Herat alone could use that many," says Tanha.

Afghanistan's Tradition of Separation

The Taliban policy of keeping girls out of school was based on a strong cultural belief that women should not mix with unrelated men. "My family says that they would rather I be illiterate than taught by a man," says Yasamin Rezzaie, 18. She is learning dressmaking at a women's center in Kabul instead of attending her local school.

A recent report by the international aid group Oxfam shows that boys outnumber girls in primary school by a ratio of two to one. But by high school, there are four boys for every girl. Overall, only 10% of girls in school actually graduate. The same report identifies another factor holding girls back: Only 28% of the country's accredited teachers are women. If so few girls graduate, where will the next generation of women teachers come from?

Against The Odds

Afghanistan's leaders face another harsh reality: The Taliban is making a strong comeback in some places. In little over a year, 130 schools have been burned, 105 students and teachers killed and 307 schools closed down due to security concerns. On June 12, two gunmen fired on a crowd of female students in Logar province, just a 90-minute drive from Kabul, the capital. Lida Ahmadyar, a 12-year-old whose sister was killed in the shooting, went back to school last month. She clings to her dream of becoming a doctor. "I am afraid," she says. "But I like school because I am learning something, and that will make me important. With education, I can save my country." If enough Afghan girls get the chance to finish school, they will do just that.

Next: Disgrace Under Pressure