Reconstruction project enables western Afghan school to re-open doors to 1,200 students

HERAT PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

07.26.2010

Story by Sgt. Brian Kester 

NATO Special Operations Component Command-Afghanistan

HERAT, Afghanistan - Personnel from the United States Agency for International Development and a U.S. Army Civil Affairs team completed a $120,000 school reconstruction project in Herat province July 26.

USAID and coalition personnel worked hand-in-hand with the Parmakhan village leadership to provide a safe learning environment for 1,200 school-aged children in the Zer-e Koh Valley, according to U.S. military officials.

“Schools are damaged throughout the country,” said U.S. Army Capt. Terry Stevenson, a Civil Affairs team leader. “The Commanders Emergency Response Program, used to assist in funding this project, was essential in enabling this community to provide a safer place for children to come and learn.”

The damage to the school in Parmakham was significant enough to cause parents not to allow their children to attend the school for safety reasons, according to village elders. Prior to the reconstruction, school officials reported the attendance of registered students dwindled approximately 60-percent.

Local teachers said they expected the current attendance of approximately 700 students to return to its original enrollment of 1,200 in the coming months.

The refurbishment work began earlier this year after the Parmakhan School was left in disrepair following the fighting between insurgents and coalition forces in 2007 and 2008, according to U.S. personnel involved with the project. Stevenson said the job required a lot of masonry, tiling and painting, installation of bathroom fixtures, and a new water pump and well. The school also received furniture for the classrooms.

According to nationsencyclopedia.com, adult illiteracy for Afghan males was 49 percent, while females rated a 79 percent illiteracy rate; the combined total leaves Afghanistan with one of the highest illiteracy rates in Asia.

“Education in the western part of Afghanistan hasn't been a priority for many years,” said Stevenson. “It is still low on the list for villagers. The elders all want clinics and doctors, but do not necessarily understand that it takes the education of the children to create the doctors to run the clinics.”

• Date Taken: 07.26.2010
• Date Posted: 07.25.2010 15:15
• Story ID: 53366
• Location: HERAT PROVINCE, AF