A New Start for Afghanistan’s Education Sector

Abstract

The Afghan education system has been undermined by 23 years of war, by widespread physical destruction, by restructuring under a communist regime, and by its use as a political and religious pawn by succeeding governments. The concept of secular education has been under constant attack for decades—first as a source of foreign ideas that led to the communist takeover, and then by the Taliban, who banned education for girls entirely, and promoted and expanded the system of religious schools at the expense of secular schools. As the school year started in March 2002, the capacity to supply education had been decimated in both quantity and quality, even as the demand for education was expanding in both quantity and complexity.