Hundreds of girl students have to drop out of high school every year and some even skip the university entry test due to poverty in central Bamyan province.
Pajhwok Afghan News interviewed a large number of Bamyan girls, who have graduated from high school. Eager to pursue higher education, the girls say they are unable to realize their aspirations due to poverty.
Sakina, 17, is resident of Bamyan City, the provincial capital. Busy in picking fruits in an orchard, told Pajhwok: “I have studied till ninth grade and would stand first in the class. I wanted to be a doctor but poverty prevented me from continuing my education.”
She graduated from high school in an extremely difficult situation. “A student going to school needs things like pen, notebook and uniform. My father met the needs of mine and my three brothers with a lot of difficulty.”
After completing her school education, she said: “I was very eager to pursue higher studies. But my family’s financial woes forced me to work alongside my father.”
Sakina works daily in local gardens in return for some fruits and vegetables from farm owners. She eats some of them and sells the rest. She earns 100 to 150 Afghanis daily to help meet family needs.
But it is not only Sakina who has been unable to continue her education due to poverty. Many other Bamyan girls are in a similar dilemma.
Sughra, hailing from Yakawlang district, is a tailor. The girl said she was born into an impoverished family and her father was a manual worker.
While stitching girl dresses, she told Pajhwok: “I studied up to 11th grade. When I saw my dad working despite problems or being unable to work for many days, I thought I could help him. Then I left school.”
She said many well-educated Bamyan girls, even those who received higher education abroad, were yet to find proper jobs.
Sumaya, 20, is another resident of Bamyan who failed to continue her education because of financial problems.
She recalled: “Two years ago, I qualified the university entry test and got admission to the Faculty of Economics at the Baghlan University. But due to financial constraints, I couldn’t go to Baghlan.”
According to Sumaya, her father is a schoolteacher in Bamyan. He is the only breadwinner for his eight-member family.
Now married, she said: “I aspired to complete my higher education before tying the knot. But, unfortunately, my dream went awry.”
Mohammad Hassan Asadi, a member of the provincial council, reckoned around 3,000 girls left their higher education due to financial problems every year.
“Many Bamyan girls drop out of school because of economic problems,” the public representatives confirmed.
Asadi explained primitive traditions, lack of girls’ schools and other issues deprived girls of higher education.
Deputy Director of Education Ghulam Hussain Sharifi acknowledged many girls in the province could not pursue higher education.
According to him, the main reason behind girls’ failure to get higher education is poverty, as 63 percent residents of Bamyan live below the poverty line.
A survey by the provincial chapter of Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission reveals 23,000 girls and boys in Bamyan are deprived of education for various reasons.
Ibrahim Tolan, a civil activist, called poverty and traditional beliefs the main reasons behind girls’ inability to get higher education.
Over the last two years, he added, eight girls who had found their way to university from Kahmard district could not continue their studies.
He alleged Pakistani and Iranian religious scholars were promoting extremism in some district of Bamyan. The scholars allegedly tell residents of the districts their girls do not need higher education.
