Did you know Afghanistan’s education system is one of the weakest in the world? In 1996 a Muslim fundamentalist group, known as the Taliban, ruled the country (Mohammed, 2) which had a huge impact on education. Although both males and females education were effected, less females were attending school during this time. Within the area of Afghanistan, the schools and education have been considered a fundamental part of the past, present and every culture (Fabrizio). Afghanistan’s education system has struggled due to various conflicts as organizations from around the world have contributed to the improvement and quality of education throughout the region that has had a lasting impact on the Afghan people.
There is a majority of reasons that caused the education in Afghanistan to weaken and become one of the poorest worldwide. One of these reasons includes war which brought devastating violence into the country. The war was fought between the Soviets and the Afghan’s in 1978. By this time, the literacy rate for both males and females were very low. For males the literacy rate was eighteen percent and for females it was five percent. Furthermore, the enrollment rates for students attending schools were fifty-four percent for males and only twelve percent for females. From 1978 through 1992, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan and as the war continued to progress, two types of education systems emerged. One of the two was established by Mujaheddin groups with Western backing, while the other was provided by communist Soviets. As the two systems formed, the Soviets attempted to use their education system to force social changes on the rural Afghans. The Soviets style of social changes contradicted the Afghan’s religious and social valu...
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... be at eleven million people. Schools lack the proper facilities and the number of qualified teachers are still low (Qazi). Today, Afghanistan is recovering from the impact of twenty-five years of instability that destroyed the meager education infrastructure that existed prior to 1979 and the war that followed (Mohammed, 2).
Due to various conflicts within Afghanistan, the education system has struggled as organizations from all over the world have contributed to the improvements that are leaving a lasting impact on Afghan people. Furthermore, Afghanistan’s constitution, which was adopted in January 2004, states that education is the right of all citizens, both men and women, and up to a certain level, it is free of charge (Qazi). As Afghanistan has long had one of the poorest education records in the world, it is continuing to progress toward success.
The Taliban regime was infamous for its treatment of women. Windows had to be painted black so men could not look into the windows of houses and see the women inside. Women were unable to work. Under Taliban rule, women were not allowed to be educated, unable to go to school or university. 9 out of 10 Afghan women are illiterate. Unfortunately, Meena was unwillingly cast into the role of teacher to young girls who wanted to learn how to read. Because she had been to university, girls flocked to...
Note to student: my teacher gave me a B+ and said I would have had an A if I had had more detail on the Taliban's reasons for these laws. The women of Afghanistan have been enduring unfathomable suffering since the Taliban, a religious faction, seized control of the country in 1996. (NOTE TO STUDENT: my teacher gave me a B+ and said I would have had an A if I had had more detail on the Taliban's reasons for these laws) Since 1996 Afghan women have been living fear for their safety and lives.
Since the tragedies of September 11th 2001, Americans have really opened their eyes to the political state of Afghanistan. The poor treatment of women in Afghanistan is an issue that, for many Americans, just seems to be coming to light as a serious concern that requires outside attention. Extreme Islamic leaders in the country persist in limiting the freedom that Afghan women have. Women in the Taliban-controlled country suffer unusually hideous acts of torment and are forced to abide by outrageous regulations because of stringent enforcement methods. Afghan women daily live lives restricted by Taliban law and risk having to endure cruel punishment and torture, yet Afghan political leaders continue to justify the their treatment of Afghan women.
Bibliography Yousafzai, Malala, and Christina Lamb. I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban. N. p. : n.p., n.d. print.
Women in America do not have to worry about a terrorist group coming and taking their rights away. They have a government that protects them from these groups and makes sure they have the same rights as others. In the Middle East, especially Afghanistan and Pakistan, women are scared to speak too loudly. These women live in fear each day of their lives because if they make one small mistake it could mean their life. Yet, there are some people who are fighting for women’s rights, especially women’s education. Malala Yousafzai is a girl who fought for women’s education. At the age of eleven, Malala began writing a blog for BBC Urdu. The blog described how she was upset that women’s education under the Taliban would be forced to stop. Malala also appeared on national television talking about women’s education. She has become a symbol of resistance against the Taliban. Even after Malala was put on the Taliban’s hit list, she continues to speak out about what she felt needed to be said. Malala would give her life for this cause, and she almost did. On October 9, 2012, Malala was on her way home from her morning classes when a man walked on to her bus and asked, “Who is Malala”. When she said it was her he shot her. The bullets hit her head and her leg. The Taliban ordered for her to be shot because she was promoting western culture in Pashtun areas. In another case Mukhtar Mai stood up for women’s rights and was sexually assaulted by multiple men with orders from the tribal council. The tradition in Mukhtar’s tribe was that a woman who is sexually assaulted by multiple men should kill herself, but instead of committing suicide she fought for her cause (Samira 28-30). Although the Taliban restricts women’s education for religious reaso...
The Taliban has made education unattainable for Afghan women. Although Joya had set up secret schools for women, they all lived in fear and risked being punished for trying to gain knowledge. At this same time period between the late 20th and early 21st century, in contrast, women of the West were given the same amount of education as men. This provided the women with the knowledge to have a better chance at getting involved in politics and making a difference in gender equality. At this point, the women in Afghanistan, without the knowledge of law or politics, had only the agency to know that they have an entitlement to be treated like humans that are able to make their own decisions just as men are. Despite the limited agency due to their lack of education, Afghan women were overall better equipped to fight for their rights as opposed to the US government. This is especially true when considering the Afghan women’s major goal in contrast to the United State’s focus. The Afghan women’s major concern was the liberation of women, while the United States centered their intervention on improving the stability and economic growth of Afghanistan “lecture”. As it can be seen throughout the Second Wave of feminism in the US, women acquired rights by working together in collective groups demanding equal job opportunities and political representation (Ewig
"Life as an Afghan Woman." Trust in Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. .
Travesties are committed against women every day, in every country, in every city, town and home. In Afghanistan women are not only discriminated against, they are publicly reduced to animals. Women are deprived of basic human rights: they are not allowed to travel outside their homes without being completely covered by the traditional shroud-like burqa; they are not allowed to speak or walk loudly in public; they are not allowed to laugh or speak with other women; they are not allowed to attend school nor work; they are expected to be invisible; they are the ghosts of what were once educated, notable, and successful women. With their ruthless and extreme laws, the Taliban have effectively removed the physical presence of women in Afghanistan. The Taliban have stolen the very souls of these women and have turned them into the “living dead” of Afghanistan. The Taliban’s harsh restrictions and extreme religious laws have tainted the freedoms and basic human rights of the once valued and prominent women of Afghanistan.
Afghanistan was used as a buffer zone during the Great Game by Soviet Union and the Great Britain. They did not provide Afghanistan with the means to industrialize and that is why Afghanistan remains subsistence agriculture and a reinter state. With the decline of Colonialism after the Third Angola-Afghan war Afghanistan declared Independent (Barfield). When Amanullah Khan seized the throne he was very enthusiastic to develop a strong and modern state. Before Amanullah Khan only some effort had been taken place for state building according to Charles Tilly which was exterminating the internal rival, during the reign of Amir Abdul Rahman Khan, he centralized the power. The trepidation that exists among most of the Afghans leader particularly Abdul Rahman Khan, he was afraid of modernizing the country and did not build railroad because he was assuming that once we build rail road it will open the gates for invasion by super power. And because of territorial integrity Abdul Rahman khan disregarded British direct involvement in building infrastructure. Instead, Abdul Rahman Khan primarily relied on subsidiaries which as a result Afghanistan remain “reinter state” (Barfied, 2010). As Tilly argues attributes of state building worked in Europe was because of industrialization prop up by capitalism. The state became powerful in bringing the producers under its supervision. Charles Tilly argues, war formulates state and duress exploitation played a vital part in the establishment of the European states. In addition, Tilly makes it very lucid that in Europe, state making and mercantile capitalism reinforced each other (Tilly 1985). By this, he means the four main aspects of state building: state making, war making, extraction and protecti...
In 1996 the Taliban took over Afghanistan and immediately imposed their fundamentalist ideals on the citizens. They effectively did this by oppressive tactics maintaining control on their people. The Taliban, lead by spiritual leader Mohammed Omar, has used many different ways to oppress the nation of Afghanistan. One way they did was was by destroying ancient art structures that have became a huge part of their culture. These acts had a great effect on the people in Afghanistan stripped them of a very sacred symbol in their eyes. The Taliban oppression has left citizens scared and powerless.
Change is sometimes a difficult thing to undertake. Therefore, when you force change upon children who do not fully understand everything that is going on around them, this can cause things to not work like they are suppose to. This is the main reason why the education system of Iran was a failure. The students were forced to go from a secular based educational system to a religious based education system. Individually the education systems of Iran may have succeeded, but
Afghanistan since its beginning has been a place of conflict, despair, and at times lost hope. It has been taken advantage of and lost its sense of identity, which has had a direct effect on its people, and there own sense of what justice truly is.
Women have always been the most affected during times of social and political conflict. An example of a third world country where women have experienced this is Afghanistan. Afghanistan is one of the most challenging places in the world to be a woman. In the article Life as an Afghan women we learn that 9 out of 10 women are illiterate and their life expectancy is 44, one of the lowest in the world. We can also see the causes of all the difficulties of being an Afghan woman. More than fifty percent of Afghan girls are married or engaged by the age of 10. They are forced to marry far older men whom sometimes meet for the first time at their wedding. Afghanistan remains a deeply conservative society, where men dominate and hand out ruling that offer girls and women to settle debts and disputes. Girls that marry at such a young age do not continue their education and are more likely to be abused by their husbands. There is also an unfair division of girls and boys attending school. There are approximately three times more boys attending school than girls. These are some of...
Napoleon Bonaparte said, “Of all our institutions, public education is the most important. Everything depends on it, the present and the future. It is essential that the morals and political ideas of the generation which is now growing up should no longer be dependent upon the news of the day or the circumstances of the moment. Above all, we must secure unity: we must be able to cast a whole generation in the same mould” ("Parents and Citizens Council”). Over the course of our history, many have striven for equality in all fields of life, be it government, domestic life or education. The responsibility now lies on our shoulders to carry forth this struggle. So when it comes to education, Pakistan should exercise a uniform curriculum at the elementary and secondary level. Although, some consider the idea of uniform education in a country to be futile and impossible; however, such a system will help development of an underdeveloped country, unity of the nation, will provide equal opportunities to citizens of all classes and will lead to intellectually united communities.
For long periods of time, education has been important to the development the different scientific, moral and ethical fields of the humanity. In addition, it has been recognized by some governments as a human right, but in some places around the world; education is not accessible for everyone. Many people believe that having an educational system without any cost would mean a better educated society, whereas others argue that this would not be possible. To develop a better educated society, governments should establish a totally free education system for the following three reasons.