Importance of literacy in Afghan society

According to an online survey by Afghan news agency, about 98.8 percent of Afghans support the reopening of schools for girls above sixth grade, while only 1.2 percent of respondents opposed girls’ return to school.

According to the details, about 17502 respondents were asked the question, while 17,288 (98.8 percent) respondents backed the reopening of girls’ schools while 214 (1.2 percent) contradict the opinion.

The education of girls in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan has become a bigger issue because after gaining power the Taliban interim government banned girls’ education over grade six while a significant chunk of Afghan girls intends to achieve education at least up to 10th grade or at the University level to compete in the society.

Most of the elders in urban areas are aware of the challenges faced by the girls and women in Afghan society and they support girls’ education so their female children could be able to compete with the challenges of the contemporary world.

In fact, the decades-long war and political instability have destroyed the Afghan economy, national institutions, and the core fabric of Afghan society. The internal ethic and sectarian violence have fostered intolerance, and religious extremism in Afghan society while decades-long conflicts resulted in the death of millions of Afghan men which rendered countless windows the sole producers of their families. Due to no literacy, Afghan widows were compelled to do labor in farms, factories, or shops if available while others started begging to feed their children.

In fact, the provision of education to children has financial and social aspects other than religious obligations, tribal customs, and societal traditions. Afghan society is battling numerous issues due to no education for boys and girls as illiterate young boys join the local militias to earn their livelihood and serve as fuel to the unending revelry of warlords and religious clerics while uneducated girls and women become a burden to their relatives or lay on the cruel society when they lose their lone earner.

On other hand, young Afghan girls have the tremendous talent to prove their mettle in different walks of life, and their majority desire to join schools as early as possible. However, the ruling Taliban government once shut down girls’ schools hours after opening them, and currently, the government has no intention to initiate educational activities for girls over the sixth grade in the coming days.

Presently, different quarters within the country, the UN, international organizations, and global leaders have urged the reopening of girls’ schools above sixth grade so that Afghan women would have equal opportunities in life, however, these sane voices did not bring any positive impact so far.