KABUL, Afghanistan - Coalition members and the Kabul director of education visited the Bibi Hawa Elementary School Sept. 7 for a ground breaking ceremony to mark the beginning of a construction project worth $348,000 that will improve the facilities of the school.
In one of the school buildings small wooden tables with attached benches sat crammed into a small room with barely enough room for an adult to walk between. There are holes in the walls big enough for children to walk or crawl through, some are half way boarded up and others are just open. The ceiling is falling in, there are signs of water damage and wood rot everywhere and chalk writing covers the front walls like graffiti.
The desks are the only things that make the small room look like a classroom. This falling apart building is divided into four small classrooms. One room even had a small chalk board; the others teachers would just write on the painted plywood wall. These are the worst classrooms at the Bibi Hawa School in Kabul. The nicest ones, the ones currently being used to teach classes are overfilled.
But on Sept. 7 the students stood in the courtyard, many in their finest clothes, carrying flowers as the school prepared to meet representatives from the Ministry of Education and Coalition Forces for a ground breaking ceremony. Together they have partnered up to rebuild parts of the school.
“This school will be a nice school,” said Najibullah Kamran, Director of Kabul City Education from the Ministry of Education during a speech he gave at the ground breaking. “When done this will be one of the nicest schools in the Kabul area.”
The plans for the school include building a brand new six classroom building to replace the four room wooden structure that serves as classrooms now. They will also be renovating the 21 existing classrooms, to include new electrical systems and upgraded roof. The latrines will be renovated and plugged into the septic system. An additional well with be dug with a new hand pump to support the 6,000 plus students.
“The new and renovated classrooms provide the students with a conducive learning environment for a brighter future,” said 1st Lt. Rene Barber, special projects officer. “Each phase of this project is a step in the right direction for the kids, the community, and the country of Afghanistan.”
The project will take a little more than three months to complete, with students ready to occupy them in late December.
“This school will be a one of a kind,” Mr. Kamran said to the students of the school. “We need to protect it, keep it clean and it will last.”
Representatives from NTAO Training Mission - Afghanistan and the MoE cut the ribbon together on the construction site. They also took turns shoveling concrete into the spot where the cornerstone would go. Then both placed decorative stones signifying the first bricks of construction.
“Afghanistan has no other way but training and education,” Mr. Kamran said. “Children are the future of Afghanistan. You [the children] are the future. You need and deserve a quality education.”