School Burnings in Afghanistan

A little note from on the ground from the Institute for War and Peace Reporting:

Over the past year, more than 100 schools have been burned down. This threatens to reverse one of the key achievements of President Hamed Karzai’s administration.

Throughout the country, but especially in the southern provinces, schools that opened to great fanfare after the fall of the Taleban are being quietly closed because parents and pupils fear retribution from armed insurgents.

Most people blame the Taleban, citing the fundamentalists’ opposition to secular schooling, especially for girls. In statements made by various spokesmen, the Taleban have denied carrying out these attacks,

Whoever is torching the schools, it is having a widespread negative impact on education for a new generation of Afghans. Accurate statistics are hard to come by, but most experts estimate that no more than half of all school-age children are currently enrolled.

Afghan security forces have been overwhelmed by the problem, and the government freely admits that it lacks the capacity to protect all its schools...

Local residents contribute either labour or money. If they cannot take their turn guarding their school, they provide funding to pay those who do. Most schools will have two or three people on guard.