20.06.2022

​Mobile Schools Provide Hope For Afghan Children -- Especially For Girls

Afghan volunteers have organized a mobile educational program to tour remote areas, giving children hope after the Taliban closed schools for girls in March. An Afghan NGO, Pen Path, gives lessons and library books to children who might otherwise be starved of any opportunity to learn. The campaign is being conducted while it has been more than 200 days since the Taliban regime has closed the education doors to girls. The PenPath Mobile School was founded by Matiullah Weesa and Ataullah Weesa in Kandahar in 2009. Their NGO is conducting door-to-door campaigns, distributing books, building libraries in remote areas and launching awareness drives across Afghanistan encouraging people to educate children and protect schools. An estimated 4.7 million children in Afghanistan are out of school, with girls accounting for 60 per cent of that number, according to a report by World Bank. It also says almost half of Afghanistan’s 18,000 schools lack proper buildings. According to Mr. Wesa, some do not have female teachers or toilet facilities for girls. Children in rural communities are exposed to multiple risks. On top of the pandemic, drought and war, they also face child marriage and forced labour. Pen Path focuses on encouraging parents to send their children to school to combat these risks, hoping to create a cultural shift in attitudes toward education. Working with 2,400 volunteers, of which 400 are women, since 2009 Pen Path has managed to enroll more girls, reopen over 100 schools and distribute study material to 54,000 girls. Credit: ALJAZEERA