PANJSHIR PROVINCE, Afghanistan — Within the next few months, primary school students in Shutol District, located in Panjshir province, will trade their tent and temporary classrooms in for a new school with a real roof, blackboards and desks.
The Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team, in coordination with the Panjshir director of education, is facilitating the construction of the Golbahadin Shahid Primary School, a $208,000 two-story, 16-classroom school on the property adjacent to an older school, the Shutol Primary School.
Set to open within the next few months, the new school will attract nearly 3,000 students from throughout the district's villages. The school plans to offer three sessions a day to accommodate the number of students, based on gender and age. In this part of Panjshir, students are separated by gender, normally around third or fourth grade.
As of right now, more than 500 children cram daily into the weathered Shutol Primary School. On average, most walk a half hour each way to attend class.
Officials expect the Golbahadin Shahid Primary School to draw in more students than the older, Shutol Primary School because it will be the district's newest and largest school. PRT members, during missions throughout the district, have noticed that many children still attend class under tents or in abandoned buildings.
Air Force Master Sgt. Richard Flaherty, a PRT engineer, has spent the past nine months overseeing the new school's construction.
"As a parent, one of the most rewarding aspects of this deployment has been facilitating projects that will help Afghanistan's next generation," he said. "We've seen a lot of children attending class outside, under tents, in the rain, snow, heat and cold. I'm happy they'll finally have a better place to learn."
The Panjshir PRT is facilitating 12 education projects worth $2.8 million, including nine schools, two dormitories and one multi-purpose building, which will be used as a library and laboratory.
According to the Afghanistan ministry of education, half of the Afghan population is below 18- years-old and Afghanistan has one of the highest proportions of school-age children in the world — approximately one in five Afghans is a primary school aged child. There are 1.7 million girls studying in primary schools across the country, of which only 30 percent reach fifth grade, compared to 56 percent for boys.
| Date Taken: |
07.10.2009 |
| Date Posted: |
07.10.2009 22:49 |
| Story ID: |
36240 |
| Location: |
PANJSHIR PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: |
245 |
| Downloads: |
223 |
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