No school building in Ghazni’s Ajristan district

GHAZNI (TOLOnews): There are no buildings for schools in Ajristan district of Ghazni province, where thousands of students must study in tents or disclosed areas. Based on official statistics, around 5,000 students are studying in 13 schools in Ajristan. “We have 13 schools. None of them have a building. They are living in tents and the tents are also not even enough,” said Mohammad Hanif Hanafi, head of the district department of education. TOLOnews’ reporter Nazir Shinwari went to the district and interviewed residents. According to the principal of Sultan Mohammad Khan high school, the students are also struggling with a shortage of notebooks, books and other facilities. “We have nearly 600 students in this high school. There are between four to five tents. No one has helped us,” said Abdul Jalil Jalal, the principal. “There is rain in the month of Hamal (March 22 to April 22). We are changing our location to continue studying,” said Abdulhudod, an instructor. “We call on the government to build us a compound and solve all of our problems. Give us books, notebooks,” said Shamsullah, a student. “We cannot go to the school while it’s raining because our school doesn’t have a compound,” said Arafatullah, a student. The provincial governor, Hafiz Mohammad Amin Omari, said that the efforts are underway to address the challenges for students in Ajristan. “There are challenges about the schools. We have shared these challenges with the education department,” he said. Based on figures from the Ajristan department of education, there are at least 13 schools, 60 local classes, one major seminary and 12 local seminaries. There are a total of 7,000 students including boys and girls who are studying at these education centers.