In the biginning of a new educational year in Afghanistan, which has started a few days earlier than the years before, the Minister for Education Dr. Farooq Wardak said that over half a million school going afghan children will remain deprived of education this year. Citing various reasons ranging from economic to social and security reasons that hinder these children from attending schools in Afghanistan, he regretted that such large number of students won’t be able to show up this year. He said, “Although we have had substantial achievements in the last seven years, yet these children remain deprived of their basic rights.”

Karzai while ringing the Amani High School’s bell symbolically started the new Afghan educational year. He called upon the Taliban not to target schools and allow children attend their classes in peaceful environment.

Last year was the most bloody year for afghan schools. The most prominent incident that layed a scar was the event of acid attacks on school girls. Several schools were bombed, teachers harrassed and killed. This year expectations are even higher for such kinds of brutal attacks as the Taliban are gaining strenght day by day and the nation moves towards their elections.

School children have always been an easy target for both miscreants and Taliban and Taliban like minded individuals in Afghanistan. Further, the government in its own capacity have worsened the situation by non-provision of books on time and low salaries for teachers. The education system of Afghanistan is one of the worst in the world. Though recently some chians of new private schools have also opened up in Kabul but the access to them remains the right of the privileged who can pay high fees for their children.

Afghanistan is blindly walking into the footsteps of an unseen system where the system is falling apart and no one dares talk about it or mend it. Afghans will soon have a parallel educational system in English which is quite worrying. Afghans resisted Russians in this regard, they had an educational system of international standard offered in their national languages. Now, they are walking against the time and in doing so, they are trying to adopt a new language, their president is fond of i.e., English.

Afghans at this moment of time are not in such a position to follow a parallel educational system. Those parents sending their children to English Medium Schools which have newly been established are committing a serious mistake. Afghanistan has never been politically stable. Even when it has gained a bit of stability, it has proudly prefered its own national languages. Now, the system run by the Hamid Karzai is a mixture of differnt cultures which have nothing to do with afghans. The system is simply confusing. Every other person is confused and the direction of their country is unknown. The sailor has himself lost the control who will steer this sinking ship still remains a mystery.