Rise in attacks on Afghan schools

By Pam O'Toole
BBC News

Human Rights Watch has documented more than 200 attacks

A rise in attacks by the Taleban and other armed groups on Afghan teachers, students and schools is causing schools to shut down, Human Rights Watch says.

In a report, it says advances since the Taleban defeat in 2001 are being threatened, with another generation of children being deprived of education.

It says girls' schools have been hit particularly badly.

The report comes amid a worsening security situation in Afghanistan.

Human Rights Watch documented more than 200 attacks on teachers, students and schools since January last year.

It says that recently, such attacks appear to have increased sharply, with more attacks on the education system in the first half of 2006 than in the whole of 2005.

Southern and south-eastern Afghanistan are worst affected, but other areas have also been targeted.

Implications

The effect on education in Afghanistan is devastating - another generation is losing its chance to get an education Zama Coursen-Neff Human Rights Watch

A co-author of the report, Zama Coursen-Neff, said the attacks were being carried out not only by the Taleban, but other armed groups as well, for a number of reasons.

"There are other groups that are in opposition to the central government - drug traffickers, other armed groups that wish to see no presence of central government in Afghanistan. Some groups are simply opposed to secular education or girls' education," she said.

Human Rights Watch said attacks with rockets or mines, or the killing of teachers, had forced schools to close.

It found entire districts where all schools had been shut down.

In others, female pupils were being withdrawn because of a lack of security.

Students are forced to study outside after their schools are burnt down

Ms Coursen-Neff says the violence is taking its toll.

"The effect of attacks on education in Afghanistan is devastating.

"We are literally losing another generation - another generation is losing its chance to get an education and this has severe implications for Afghanistan's chances to emerge from the despair and poverty that has characterised the last 25 years."

The report says insecurity, resistance within some parts of society to girls' education and a lack of resources means that despite advances in recent years, the majority of girls in Afghanistan remain out of school.