Taliban-appointed official claims 152 schools in Paktika lack buildings

 As many as 152 out of 410 schools in Afghanistan's Paktika lack buildings, TOLO News reported citing Taliban-appointed head of the Paktika Department of Education, Abdul Qayom Faroqi.

Faroqi urged international organisations to help with the construction of buildings for the schools. He said 17 schools in Paktika will be built with financial support from Japan.

"17 schools will be constructed through the financial support of Japan in Paktika. A team from the ministry came here and conducted the assessment. The costs will be nearly 180 million Afs," TOLO News quoted Faroqi as saying.

Meanwhile, students in Paktika requested Taliban-appointed officials to build school buildings, adding that the lack of school buildings has impacted their education.

Rozi Mohammad, a student, said, "If our school is delayed one day due to rain, its effect is like the cost of one year for the country." Another student Hamidullah said they are being taught under the hot sun and cannot study properly due to wind, dust and rain.

Hamidullah, another student, said, "The students are being taught under the hot sun without a shelter. They cannot study well due to wind, dust and rain." According to Taliban-led Paktika's Education Department, the total number of students in Paktika is 130,000, of which 25,000 are girls.

Last week, women students in Afghanistan reiterated their request for the Taliban to reopen schools, saying they were facing an uncertain future, TOLO News reported.

Fareshta, a student, said, "We should together, men and women, improve and take Afghanistan to a position where everyone can consider us to be capable."

The request for school buildings follows Taliban's closure of schools for girls from grades 7 to 12.

Taliban’s policies of restricting women from public life, including from education and work, have sparked reactions at international levels, according to reports.

Further, according to the TOLO News report, Almatab Rasuli, a women’s rights activist, said, "If this process continues it will cause Afghanistan to go backward and towards less development and a period like the middle ages will come into effect."

Meanwhile, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in a new report said that the Taliban continues to restrict the rights of women and girls, TOLO News reported.

The seven-page report, which covers the period from May to June, highlighted the restrictions imposed by the Taliban on women.

The report stated, "On 3 May 2023, the de facto Ministry of Public Health announced that only male medical students would be permitted to take the ‘Exit Supplementary Exam’ in order to pursue further specialized medical studies," TOLO News reported.

It stated further that the move comes in addition to the earlier bans, preventing women from appearing in the medical school exit examinations. The added that the UNAMA recorded instances when the Taliban took measures to impose previously announced restrictions on women’s freedom of movement and participation in employment. (ANI)