Millennium Development Goal 2 - Every child must receive primary education

As part of our EU funded awareness project on Afghanistan and the Millennium Development Goals, the 4 partner organisations from Sweden, Slovakia, Estonia and the UK will be coming together in November to hold a Manifesto Event on MDG2 in Afghanistan.

On the day of the event, 100 pupils, representing our twin schools, will come together at Parliament to present a letter encouraging the Government to do all it can to fulfill this goal for Afghanistan by 2020. There will be a panel with leading experts on Afghanistan providing various perspectives on education in Afghanistan and students will be encouraged to ask prepared questions.

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MDG 2 is being doggedly pursued by many governments and non-government organizations like AC in Afghanistan. Nearly 7 million children are now receiving education in contrast to 1 million in 2001. AC has supported 30,000 of these children, many of whom participate in the Twin School Programme. 

Despite all these encouraging efforts, and government MDG pledges in 2000, we are running behind schedule to ensure that by 2020, children throughout Afghanistan, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.

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Often it is not simply a lack of funds and support but other socio-cultural factors that make it difficult for children to receive an education:

- Distance: For many children it is too far for them to walk to school

Most children have to walk several hours to get to school, especially in rural areas with poorer infrastructure. Often the mountainous landscape or harsh climate in winter and summer make it impossible for children to reach their schools in time for morning classes.

- Lack of staff: Teacher-training is essential to AC's work in helping children receive an education.

There is no point in providing classrooms and resources for children without a teachers direction. The quality of teaching is another issue, since only 22% of trained teachers reach the minimum teaching standard qualification set by the Ministry of Education.

- Security: It may be too dangerous for children to travel there

Land mines, bombing and gun-fire pose daily threats for children who may have to travel far to school. The fighting does not always occur on specific front-lines but flares up in areas with little warning, so parents often decide it is not worth taking the risk.

- Impoverishment: They may need to work to support their family 

Many girls spend their days weaving rugs, as their small hands are perfect for the intricate weaving work. These are valuable commodities abroad but this industry still only makes up a minor part of the Afghan economy and can prevent young girls from receiving an education.

- Religious and traditional values: Some parents forbid their children, particularly girls, an education due to fundamentalist religious beliefs

The Taliban still exercise control in many regions of the South and depending on who has control in a given area parents might prefer to send children to a Madrassa religious school, where children learn Islamic values and practices through close study of the Qu'ran.

The Manifesto event aims to bring these issues back into the forefront of government debate and policy priorities in Afghanistan. In the run up to the day we are encouraging pupils to participate in coming up with effective ways to revive government commitment towards the completion of MDG2 in Afghanistan and their support for education initiatives:

In March, 15 teachers and students from the UK, along with twin school teachers and students from Slovakia, Estonia and Sweden will join us at the Twin School Conference in Brataslava. Together we will discuss and workshop ideas for the event, to highlight the progress of MDG2 in Afghanistan while addressing areas that require further government support.

To build up momentum for the Manifesto Event we are asking twin schools to create banners, write contributions to the letter we will present in Parliament and prepare questions for the panel. Below we will post some of the ideas, excerpts from letters and posters from pupils as Sarah visits each school. We welcome any contributions from twin schools via email or post too, if Sarah does not have a visit planned soon.


BANNERS

Moulsford Prep, 14 scholars, aged 13

• Education equals reformation, equals freedom for their nation
• Fulfill their needs so that they can succeed
• Education makes a nation
• Education provides information for the children of this nation
• Education across the Afghan Nation
• Give education; great revelation
• Make many preparations to help their educations
• You can read and write but can the Afghan children? Save them.
• Educate and provide the children with a future for they are the future
• Fulfill education fulfill dreams

Guernsey Grammar School, Age 13

• Stop the fight give us the right!
• Education is a right and we don’t want to fight
• Who cares about your reputation, it’s the right to an education
• Boys have rights but girls do too.
• School rules
• Show you care, simply share
• We will knock on your door until you give them more!
• A good education, a good future!
• Stop the fight, let them see peace and light.

Marshgate, Age 8

• We have education why cant they?
• Be fair and give Afghan children education like us!
• Make the dreams of Afghan people come true!
• Better Education for a bright future

Churchdown Village Infant School, Age 7

• Please help Afghan Girls and Women to go to school and have an education
• Help us build more schools in Afghanistan
• More sport for girls in Afghanistan
• Education for all in Afghanistan
• Let girls and boys go to school and have more time in school in Afghanistan
• More money for Afghan schools
• Please help the teachers to be well trained in Afghanistan.
• Please get security for every Afghan school.

Hampshire School, Age 13 (They gave assemblies on MDGs to prepare for our visit)

• Equal Rights for girls in Afghanistan
• There should be freedom and Peace in Afghanistan
• Why should they not go to school when we do?
• We can make a difference!

Holt School, Year 9 girls

• Education is a universal right
• Say yes to education
• We need air to live as well as an education
• Relocate and educate
• Everyone deserves to be educated
• Education is the key to life
• One dream, one ,one school
• We are women, so are they, we have an ,so can they
• If we get an education why cant they?
• Everyone deserves an education
• How would you feel?
• Give them a safe education
• The world is like a family, so treat Afghanistan like our siblings
• Get these girls an education!
• Light Afghanistan with education

QUESTIONS for the PANEL

Moulsford

• What is stopping you from sustainability in Afghanistan?
• What are your main priorities for the future of Afghanistan in education?
• What time do you expect to have every child in Afghanistan in school?
• What are the ways in which you could provide safe transport to school for all children?
• Regarding what your priorities and goals are do u think it is truly possible to give and enable the education of girls in Afghanistan for the majority considering the countries state?
• How much would you spend on transport to school that could be up to 3 hours away? Walking to school is normal but not safe and safety should be a necessity.
• We have gone to the moon, built sky scrapers, why can we not provide schools and education for the people that need it?
• How much money truly gets to those who most need it and makes a difference to their lives?
• When do you think, if ever, the laws against girls will be lifted so that the generation that is missing will be filled?
• Would you attack the Taleban if they were to shut down an Afghan school?
   

Holt School

• Why cant all girls have an education?
• If we have a good education why shouldn’t they?
• How can the government say education is important if they don’t help children in other countries to have one?
• Why don’t the Taliban understand that education plays a vital role in todays generation?
• Will security be guaranteed to schools to protect the pupils and teachers?

Marshgate

• Thank you for all you have done. Can you improve security for schools in Afghanistan?
• Why don’t girls and boys have the same right to go to school?
• Why don’t teachers get properly trained?

Hampshire School

• Why is there education for us and not enough for Afghans?
• Can you please encourage sports for Afghanistan
• There should be freedom and peace in Afghanistan or there might be more war!
• Could you think about funding school buses in Afghanistan?
• Why do girls and boys in the uk have equal rights but not in Afghanistan. What more can you do?
• Dont you think we should be encouraging a better Ministry of Education to make a difference in Afghanistan?
• Can we help to provide more protection and transport?
• Can we give guards for schools?
• Can you provide more Government spending for  buildings and teacher training?
• Can you stop young children working?

LETTERS

Moulsford

• Aid going into country for schools, helping to create more girls schools.
• School is normal here but it is such an advantage in Afghanistan. Children are so enthusiastic and would be brilliant if given the opportunity.
• Sacrifices raise more funds so schools are built faster and make sure aid gets to the right people
• Please provide buses for each school and more funding for girls schools.
• Transport and road connections for people to schools is poor. Safe and secure transport routes and schools hand in hand.
• Do the government feel that distance to school is normal and acceptable and if not why is not more being done about that, like more community schools.
• Try and make a percentage learn because this is the future of this heart broken country made corrupt by war.
• Education is the foundation of all progress. Make it safe, let them learn.
• Education is the key to everything and must be a focus. The more schools there are the less distance to travel the more can go to school
• If the Afghan children have the aspiration to walk so many km to school then all we need to do is to put the missing pieces in to the puzzle.
• Please ensure that we work ON ALL MDG's because they are all interdependent. Without security and an end to poverty we will never attain MDG 2.

Holt School

• Why is it so hard for a young woman to have an education?
• We are getting an education why cant they? They are the same as us and have the same rights and should have an education.
• You wouldn’t take away our education, so why not make a sacrifice for other countries who are not lucky enough to have an education.

Churchdown

• Please help girls go to school and play more sport. Help us build more schools because many children don’t have a school building - Robyn
• Many of the schools in Afghanistan don’t have teachers who are good enough so please make the teachers better - Oliver
• Please help more children go to school so they can learn more and help them to have better teachers - Rachel
• It is important to make the schools better so children will have a better career - Lewis
• It is important to give girls more education in Afghanistan because they want jobs in the hospitals and that would help many other women - Abigail
• It’s important to keep good security for schools because the children need to stay safe. Please help us make children not have to walk so far to school - Millie
• Please build more schools and bring more security so children can go to school - Isaac

Guernsey Grammar School

• We think that education is very important and we would appreciate it if you could help the Afghan children to have an education too.
• Please help the Afghan children because they need to know the true meaning of peace and without peace no chance for education.
• Don’t you remember the MDG's? You made your pledge please keep going.
• We take education for granted some people risk their lives for it.

Excerpts from Guernsey Letters to Mr Cameron,

Please can I remind you that in 2000, you agreed to take part in the MDG's, and it seems that nothing has been done about all the problems in the world. The children in Afghanistan still don't all have schools, and each day they have to walk 3 km to their nearest school, and then sit outside on the rocks in the boiling heat all day. Gender should be equal; girls still can't do as many things as boys. Medicine in some countries is limited, and lots of children are dying each day, out of simple things like vomiting and diarrhoea.

My question is, are we ever going to see the changes, or is it all talk?

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MDG's needed indeed! Afghanistan may be at war but do you ever stop amd think about what happens beyond the war?... These must not be treated like some small matter, at the back of your mind, smaller than the issue of what you are having for dinner. The MDG's are extremely important, please don't forget them.

Yours sincerely, Peter Wickham

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We know the UK has problems, but if we can start our change in Afghanistan, we could change the world. Did you know that Afghanistan has stunning rivers and mountain views? Who knows, if we fix Afghanistan, we could have a friend in the middle-east and could even help us in the fight against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

Yours sincerely, Dylan James, Gareth Davies and Stuart Sarre

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When we think of Afghanistan we think of war, fighting and death and we think that is is a terrible country but the people in the country aren't terrible. The people in Afghanistan are suffering and we need to help, so I hope you think about the things we can do and hopefully help.

Yours sincerely, Megan Graham