Access to school is a significant social justice affair; success in education is a primary step in achieving brighter future not only for Afghanistan but also for re-invigorating the nation in terms of opportunity, combating poverty and economy. It is significant to offer system of education which can counter the worrying effect of unique religious doctrine which is dangerous and rampant within its ideology and jeopardizes the stability as well as the future of Afghanistan.
In Afghanistan, 40 percent of girls attend or access elementary school, and just one in 20 Afghan girls attend school past the sixth grade (Ahmed-Ghosh 6). On the other hand, about 3 times more Afghan boys access school than girls (Ahmed-Ghosh 6). A number of Afghan families permit their girls to go to girls’ schools near their homes and not many such schools exist. Some families consider it needless for girls to acquire education. Girls’ schools have been demolished and many instructors teaching girls have been killed or threatened, and Afghan girls have been harmed on their way to or from school (Khan and Rehana 25).
Inadequate security from 30 years of war, as well as the possibility of rape and kidnapping, has forced a number of families to compel their daughters into early marriage. Moreover, insecurity is worsened by death of many men within the armed conflicts, creating about 1.5 million widows (Ahmed-Ghosh 6).
Throughout the reign of Taliban from 1996 to 2001, women were ruthlessly treated than any other period in the Afghan history. Women were banned to work, to seek medical assistance from a male physician, and leave their homes without escort of a male. Women who were teachers and doctors suddenly were compelled to become prostitutes and even beggars to meet their families’ needs.
Since the collapse of the Taliban rule in 2001, women have achieved political as well as social rights. The current Afghan constitution guarantees equal duties and rights before the law regardless of one being a woman or a man. To this end, many women have been assigned to prominent ranks in the government.
The government and international institutions are working towards women rights, because many women are still illiterate. In 2009, Karzai, the president signed a law that affects many key rights of women including: denying women their right to leave home except for legitimate reasons; banning women from receiving education or working without permission of their husbands; permitting marital rape, reducing mothers’ right to become guardians of their children upon divorce; and disallowing inheritance of land and houses by widows. Whereas this law is applicable to Shi’a, less than twenty percent of women, such a draconian regulation show how easily rights of women may be bargained away when women are still isolated and illiterate.
Since 2002, with the present government, the number of Afghan girls attending school rose by over thirty percent; nonetheless, an approximated 1.5 million school aged Afghan girls are not enrolled in schools (Khan and Rehana 28). A report indicates that 34% of school aged children enrolled in classes are girls, even though this figure excludes large disparities within provinces. Some provinces enroll as low as fifteen percent (Ahmed-Ghosh 6).
The Afghan government of late amended the legal marriage age for Afghan girls from 16 years to 17 years. Men who marry under 17 are never entitled to get marriage certificate, even though most men never bother to formally register their marriages. Nevertheless, it seems that fewer Afghan girls are forced into marriage.
Works Cited
Ahmed-Ghosh, Huma. "A History of Women in Afghanistan: Lessons Learnt for the Future Or Yesterdays and Tomorrow: Women in Afghanistan." 5.3 (2003): 6. Print.
Khan, Farida, and Rehana Ghadially. "Empowering Muslim youth through computer education, access, use: A gender analysis." 1.2 (2009): 25-28. Print.
