Education and state Afghanistan. Islam and state Afghanistan. Public schools Afghanistan.
,Afghanistan -- Politics and government -- 2001-.
Pamphlet LC94. / A3. / G587 2011
Library of Congress Classification / Monograph
3ACKU000373091 3ACKU000382191
Caption title. “Afghanistan Analysts Network”—at head of title.
Abstract: State education has long been controversial in Afghanistan and has fuelled violent conflict since at least 1978, if not earlier. Between 2006 and 2011, the Taleban redefined their attitude towards state schools. From an all out campaign of aggression, they gradually found an approach more acceptable to rural communities, which in many cases wanted their kids to have access to state education. The genuine development of 2011 is the Taleban's decision to stop attacking schools across Afghanistan. The Taleban explained this is meant to give the Ministry of Education the chance to adopt the Taleban curriculum countrywide. The reduction in the Taleban's attacks on schools and the concessions made by the Ministry of Education to the Taleban in order to reopen schools represent an improvement for Afghanistan's rural communities: children get access to free, secular education, even if the quality (never very high in the state sector) is further diluted, as hours dedicated to secular subjects are reduced to make room for religious subjects. From the perspective of the Afghan state, this development only seems good if it really can contribute to kick-start political negotiations and even this assumes that such negotiations would end positively.