Monday, July 12, 2010

Afghan Schools

Khaled Hosseini writes that "If we accept the premise that education is the key to achieving positive, long lasting change in Afghanistan, then it is impossible to overstate how encouraging it is that this year[2009] nearly eight and a half million children will attend school in Afghanistan, with girls accounting for nearly 40% of enrollment."

"During the 1970s, the women of urban Afghanistan enjoyed a level of professional freedom and autonomy that was relatively liberal for a conservative Muslim society.  According to the US-Afghan Women's Council a significant percentage of the women in Kabul worked for a living-tens of thousands of them serving in medicine, law, journalism, engineering.

 .. in Kabul , unveiled females could be seen inside factories, and offices, t.v.  and walking the street wearing Eastern European style cloths.

The Taliban ended that.

..every woman was forbidden to go outside their homes, unless with a male relative, clad in a dark burka.  Any street or town with a female name was changed.

Women who were ill could only be treated by female doctors, but all women doctors were confined to their homes, and denied permission to go out.  severing half the pop access to health care.

The cities war widows, 50 thousand, had no way to earn a living, prostitution or begging and stealing, which if caught meant stoning or amputations

100,000 school girls were kicked out , and 8000 university students,  8000 teachers lost their jobs