Armanshahr Foundation, is pleased to invite you to its 60th (year IV) public seminar GOFTEGU, a bridge between the elite and the citizens, to be held in cooperation with Afghan National Association for Adult Education.
From illiteracy to war, from war to illiteracy
To mark International Literacy Day
Space is limited so please RSVP promptly to shourangizdadashi@gmail.com (0798537007)
Date & Time: Sunday, 5th September 2010, 13:00 h
Venue: Shahr-e Naw, Herat Restaurant Alley, Hajj & Oghaf Junction, ASSA2 Restaurant
Dinner shall be served after sunset at the end of seminar.
Contact Tel: 0779217755 & 0775321697
E-mail: armanshahrfoundation.openasia@gmail.com
This programme is organised with the financial assistance of the European Union. The programme is the sole responsibility of Armanshahr Foundation and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.
Armanshahr Foundation/OPEN ASIA is a member of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
From illiteracy to war, from war to illiteracy
To mark the International Literacy Day, Armanshahr Foundation organised a seminar under the heading, “From illiteracy to war, from war to illiteracy” in Kabul on 5th September 2010, jointly with the Afghan National Association for Adult Education and the Office of Deputy Education Minister for Literacy.
Attended by a number of the elites, university professors, students and citizens, two major questions were tackled at the seminar: 1) Why are there so many illiterates in Afghanistan? 2) Why is the anti-illiteracy campaign not a top priority of the government?
The rate of literacy is very low in Afghanistan in comparison with other countries. There are no official figures, but unofficial figures put the number of illiterates at around 10 million with five million children deprived of school. Deputy Education Minister for Literacy Mr. Hosseini said only 26% of the people at the ages of 15-45 were literate in Afghanistan, with only 12% of women being literate in that age group. Girls constitute only 37% of the eight million school students and many of them do not manage to finish their education owing to regional problems.
Unlike many countries in the region, there has not been a plan to combat illiteracy in Afghanistan, with the exception of the reign of the People’s Democratic Party. At times, there has even been a strong opposition to literacy. Addressing the issue of education in the eras of Zahir Shah and the People’s Democratic Party, Mr. Shabrang pointed out: “Whereas the government of Zahir Shah was based on land ownership, and feudalism, the same approach was mirrored in social and cultural issues. There was no minimum programme or specific mechanism to eradicate illiteracy in that era. The only development was the establishment of an adult education course for overlords and landowners in the final years of his era. The king faced problems when illiterate overlords visited him. Therefore, he decided that they should become literate.” Mr. Shabrang argued that the king consolidated the pillars of his government by keeping people in ignorance and away from participation in national political, economic and social issues.
Indeed, it was after the taking of power by the People’s Democratic Party that the government took a consolidated and planned approach to combating illiteracy. The first decree of the then president concerned the literacy in the entire country. It was precisely then that many people resisted social reforms. Some people have blamed the problem on the extreme backwardness of the society and the government’s haste for implementing social and economic reforms. However, the truth is that the people have always resisted plans from above, whether progressive or reactionary ones. Another example concerns the Taliban era when, in contrast to the era of the People’s Democratic Party, the schools were closed to the people and the girls. Then the people established clandestine schools.
Under the Communist regime, the government established a Literacy Department at great cost and drew on the experience of the neighbouring and other countries to formulate a national literacy plan. The political developments and the events that engulfed the country in the crisis of prolonged wars not only halted the literacy campaign but led to collapse of the Communist regime.
In the subsequent eras, literacy and the campaign against illiteracy, and the issue of education as a whole did not constitute a priority for the Mujahedin or the Taliban. Examining the conditions of education in that period, Mr. Abdulsamad Moshtagh said dominance of politics over other spheres, militarisation of the society and the allocation of economic resources to military affairs, insecurity and interruptions (with schools being opened one day and closed the next day), absence of a strategic management and cultural underdevelopment were factors that undermined education.
In his opinion, Afghanistan faced a quantitative and qualitative decline of education under the Mujahedin: Quantitatively, the greatest harm was inflicted on the universities, schools and other educational centres. Qualitatively, education reached a dead-end in content and ethics.
The peak of this crisis came under the Taliban. They struck the final blows at the frail body of education. Their first measure was to officially deprive by legislation half the people of the right to education. Mr. Moshtagh outlined the characteristics of the educational system under the Taliban as follows: 1) Lack of integrity. 2) Gender-based discrimination. Article 2 of the Taliban’s Education Law stipulated: “Education is the equal right of all citizens of Afghanistan.” However, Article 3 of the same law excluded the women. 3) Theologising the education in Afghanistan. 4) Anti-modernism in education had existed under the Mujahedin as well, but the Taliban brought full religious features to prevail in education. 5) Gender, ethnic and religious-based discrimination. 6) Revival of religious radicalism.
The overall goal of the Taliban in the field of education was to create an intellectual u-turn within the new generation so that it would not be concerned with intellectualism and modernism and handle everything fanatically.
In summing up the answers to the first question, the major reasons for backwardness of Afghanistan in the fields of literacy and education during the last century were: 1) Inattentiveness of various governments to education; 2) War and internal crises; 3) People’s resistance to government-directed social reforms (from above); 4) Prevalence of ideology in education under the Mujahedin and the Taliban.
To eradicate illiteracy and improve the conditions of education, the speakers made the following suggestions: 1) Formulation of a national plan to combat illiteracy; 2) Extensive investment by the government and the donor countries in particular for the education of girls; 3) Popular mobilisation to prioritise education; 4) Reform the laws and compulsory education to the end of high school; 5) Creating cultural grounds; 6) Reforming educational quotas based on the culture of respect for human rights, citizenship rights, elimination of ethnic discrimination etc.
In conclusion, the participants asked the government to give top priority to the campaign against illiteracy and to make comprehensive plans for it through allocation of adequate budget.
Invitation for 60th Goftegu Public Debate: From illiteracy to war, from war to illiteracy! To mark International Literacy Day
