The education department in southern Kandahar province says the number of girls graduating from 12th grade has increased.
Final exams have just and summer vacation started in Kandahar, one of the militancy-hit provinces of the country.
Nazar Mohammad Samimi, spokesman for the education department, told Pajhwok Afghan News there had been a surge in the enrollment of girls.
The number of girls graduating from high schools has also gone up this year. He said about 60,000 children had been enrolled in schools, including 15,000 girls, this year.
About 10,000 had been enrolled last year.
According to Samimi, around 700 girls graduated from high school last year but the number surged to 1,300 in 2018 — a 40 percent increase.
“At least 5,500 students graduated from 12th grade – 1,300 of them girls,” he explained. Insecurity, lack of female teachers, school buildings and other issues affect the education of girls.
But officials say despite the problems, people realized the importance of education, something that has contributed to the improvement in this vital sector.
Earlier, the education department told Pajhwok about 13,000 girls were enrolled in schools annually but many of them dropped out for different reasons.
Officials link most of the problems to ancient traditions. Many families prevent their daughters from attending school after attaining maturity.
Samim said the education department was trying to raise awareness among the people about the importance of education, particularly for girls.
Samina, who recently graduated from the Zarghona Ana High School, told Pajhwok concerted efforts were needed to increase the number of girl students.
She expressed happiness over completing her school education despite problems. She underlined the need for quality education– an area where Kandahar was lagging.
Women Affairs Director Ruqia Achakzai hailed the increase in the number of female graduates as good news. However, she urged greater efforts to promote girls’ education.
She added there were 19 schools and two seminaries for girls, with 15 principals and 750 teachers. Kandahar has around 340,000 students, including 80,000 girls.