Afghanistan - Background

General

There are tons of information in the public media about Afghanistan. Especially the involvement of NATO soldiers is in constant controversial discussion and a main part of the news coverage. Unfortunately, the education problem or the possibilities for an improved education in this by war damaged country is rarely cover by the main media. Afghanistan is by population a very young state with up to 45% of the people being 14 years and younger. This fact alone shows how important education for these young students is, because this students will be the Afghan society in a few years. A good, sustainable education is necessary for this young students for a bright future for the Afghan people.

Education

At the moment, the Afghan educational system is in bad shape. This is especially with regard to the history of education in Afghanistan very surprising. In Afghanistan already in 1904 the first secular school like in western country were opened. 1932 the first university in Kabul was found. Especially in the big cities like Kabul and Herat the educational system reached its top at the end of the Sixties with the establishment and foundation of a lot of schools and the equal participation of men and women in the universities. With the overturn of King Zahir Schah in the year 1973, the establishment of a republic, a beginning civil war and the Russian invasion in 1979 many intellectuals flew in neighbouring countries or died in results of war. The destruction of infrastructure as well as the decline of the state speeded the desctrion of the education system up.

Also the obtrusion of the Russian education system did not respect the cultural situation in Afghanistan in any way and led to a decline of entrance into schools and universities. The takeover of the Taliban in 1996 forbid women to enter school completely. Education was now mainly left to so called madrassas and was mainly focussed on the teaching the Qur'an and some simple writing and reading skills.

The education system in Afghanistan was improves sustainable since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, but despite this it is still at a low level. At the moment an estimate of 7 million students are attending school, whereby 37% of them are women.

A Multiethnic state

Afghanistan is a multiethnical and multilinguistic state. There are approximately 49 different languages and the main languages, Dari and Pashto, are spoken as official languages. Pashtun are the biggest ethnical group in Afghanistan with about 42% of the people, followed by the Tajik representing roughly 27% of the people. There are several other big ethnical groups such as Aimak, Turkmen, Haraza, Uzbeke and the Kuchi nomads. This diversity is also a result of the English colonisation, which drew border at random, so for example the durand-line between Afghanistan and Pakistan divides the tribal area of the Pashtun.

Society

The loss of an intellectual elite and a just loosely developed middle class, also a result of the wars, leads to a deficit of qualified people in Afghanistan. But just with good educated and efficient structures and successful enterprises the economy can be prosperous and lead to a noticeable improvement of life. Therefore we want to bring forward the masterminds of tomorrow, so they can build a sustainable economy on a solid base.