June 11, 2007:
One of the most powerful
counter-terrorism tools in Afghanistan has been education, especially of
children. Afghanistan has long had the highest illiteracy rate in Asia,
especially among women. A large part of this was cultural. Many of the Pushtun
tribes in the south had a tradition of keeping women at home, not even allowing
the girls out to go to school. This has been changing slowly, especially among
the wealthier Pushtuns, and those who had moved to cities. But millions of
Pushtun in the countryside clung to the old ways. It was from this group that
the Taliban got, and still gets, most of its support. But to put it all into
perspective, note that, since the Taliban fell six years ago, the number of
children in schools has gone from 900,000 to over six million. Only about 35
percent of the students are girls. In the Pushtun south, the Taliban used
violence against schools for girls, and in many areas, schools in general
(because the Taliban only accept religious schools, that concentrate on
studying the Koran). Thus in 2006, the Taliban shut down 537 schools (including
187 destroyed), and killed 85 students and teachers. But that was only 6.4
percent of the 8,400 schools in the country. Moreover, the lower number of
girls in school is largely a matter of limited resources. Only about half the
eligible children are going to school, and the boys are given preference,
because they will be the main earners for families.
Since 2001, the number of teachers has gone from
21,000 to 143,000, and the number of schools from 3,400 to 8,400. Under Taliban
rule, there were 265 students and six teachers per school. The quality of
instruction was low, and concentrated on memorizing passages from the Koran.
Today, there are 714 students and 17 teachers per school, and secular subjects
predominate. The shortage of teachers is largely the result of there being few
college educated Afghans.
The Taliban attacks on schools last year was very
unpopular among the parents of the children affected. In most southern
villages, the adults are divided on the issue of secular education, and sending
girls to school. The Taliban used a lot of threats, and that got 350 schools
closed. Where the threats did not work, violence was used, and that caused a
backlash that even the Taliban could not avoid noticing. So this year, the
schools have been largely left alone, and the Taliban are talking about
establishing more religious schools. The Taliban are also pressuring the
government to include more religious instruction in all schools, something the
government is trying to accommodate.
The Taliban has good reason to fear secular
education, for past experience has shown that it diminishes enthusiasm for the
old customs, and Islamic conservatism. The Taliban has been unable to stop the
spread of education, even in their own heartland. That, more than failed
military operations and terror attacks, has been the defeat that has done the
most damage.