With school teachers going on strike in Chicago, education has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. In Afghanistan, however, there are numerous reasons to appreciate education as well as the extent to which girls risk their lives in order to receive an education.

Education for girls has always been a controversial topic in Afghanistan because many armed groups have always forbidden it. There have been several instances of acid attacks on girls walking on their way to school, which has instilled a sense of fear in parents and children. As a result, a many Afghani women remain illiterate. According to the UNICEF, only six percent of Afghan girls receive a formal education.

Today, UNICEF reports, millions of girls are enrolling in schools. This piece of news is extremely heartening considering that Afghan parents consider the walk to and from school to be potentially life threatening.  This defiance of armed groups opposed to education is admirable and will contribute to educating a generation that is most likely to bring about change to Afghanistan.

While millions of girls are enrolling in school, the real challenge is to ensure that they continue their education. In Afghanistan, it is inappropriate for a girl to have a male teacher, which is a prime reason for many children dropping out of school. Hence, NGOs are trying to recruit as many female teachers as possible. Other obstacles that threaten girls’ education are child marriages and the status of women in Afghan society. When girls marry, typically before the age of 16, they are compelled to drop out of school in order to stay at home and fulfill familial duties. Since gender discrimination is prevalent in Afghanistan, girls are afraid of going to school post-marriage, fearing that they will be ostracized and perhaps even physically abused.

After so much bloodshed, current Afghan children deserve to be educated and enjoy the opportunities that the world has to offer. The world will certainly enjoy what talented and qualified Afghans are capable of doing. We should hope and pray that we hear more success stories of children enrolling in school and pursuing their studies so that we can watch Afghanistan grow into a prosperous nation in the years ahead.

Aditya Mehta is a College junior from Mumbai, India joint majoring in Sociology-Religion.

+ posts

The Emory Wheel was founded in 1919 and is currently the only independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University. The Wheel publishes weekly on Wednesdays during the academic year, except during University holidays and scheduled publication intermissions.

The Wheel is financially and editorially independent from the University. All of its content is generated by the Wheel’s more than 100 student staff members and contributing writers, and its printing costs are covered by profits from self-generated advertising sales.