“
We can have educated men . But only when females are educated are minds changed .
— Sayed Mohammad
The student body at the Ishkashim Girls ' Higher Secondary School gather for an assembly at the end of the school day . to school . When teachers started working here and getting paid , they could help families . Other jobs started coming in government and NGO offices . Then people had hope and started sending children to school ,” he said .
Arabic and Islamiat teacher Rabya Zafari said enrollment has also increased “ because the quality of education has got better . Students have notebooks and books and people like CAI are helping them to get education .”
Last year , 62 girls finished class 12 and graduated . Of those , 13 passed Kankoor , the university entrance exam , and now study at universities in Kabul and Faizabad . “ About 20 married and the rest are in teacher training in Ishkashim ,” Baik said .
Bushra , 20 , graduated in 2011 is now in her second year at teacher-training college in Ishkashim , although that ’ s not exactly where she wanted to end up .
“ I wanted to be an astronaut . Now I want to be a teacher , I guess ,” she said . “ I really don ’ t know what I want to be . After teacher training , I want to continue [ education ], but I am not sure I will get opportunity . I took Kankoor two times and didn ’ t pass . But it is also economic . For university , there are travel charges , food , housing .”
There is no in-school preparation for Kankoor , said Bushra and Masoona , 19 , a firstyear teacher-training student . “ Most of the school textbooks , we don ’ t finish them , but Kankoor test covers topics in final pages . We really need prep classes just for that ,” she said .
The other obstacle for higher education is that “ girls can ’ t rent house or home for staying alone because this is our culture ,” Masoona said . “ I want to be a journalist . Maybe I will take Kankoor again and if I don ’ t pass I will continue teacher training . I want to work .”
“ Today ’ s generation is not yesterday ’ s generation ,” Maryam Ghamgosar , director of Voice of Afghan Women Journalists , told Afghanistan Today earlier this year . “ Today , women cannot be silenced . They demand equal rights .”
Women ’ s rights are still all-too-frequently violated , even by members of their own families . Women are beaten , raped , and killed in the name of “ honor .” Forced marriage and buying and selling of girls continue .
But the new first lady , Rula Ghani , a Lebanese-born Christian , has vowed to play a more public role than her predecessor , with a focus on strengthening women ’ s position , “ but without drastically upsetting Afghan society ,” Radio Free Europe reported . What shape and form that will take remains to be seen .
Sayed Mohammad in Musakhil village , father of the headmaster working so hard to increase the number of girls in that school , said girls ’ education must be a part of Afghanistan ’ s future .
“ Without girls ’ education no changes will come in village , country , and world ,” he said .
“ We can have educated men . But only when females are educated are minds changed . The first step of each child passes with the mother ; the mother is the first school for the child . If the mother is educated , change will come .
“ We are backward in the world . Because of lack of girls ’ education we don ’ t have improvement in Afghanistan . When I went to Haj , the Afghan women there didn ’ t know what to do . Other Muslim women from other countries , they could read the signs and move around and knew what to do . But Afghan women were just sitting there because of lack of education . We have a big problem in this village where one thing happens wrong with one girl and nobody sends girls to education . This has to change , but it will take time ,” he said . y
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