Illiteracy and Vague Future Remains the Destiny of Afghan Refugee Children

The world has changed a lot since 1979 when first Afghans left their country in search of asylum but not for the Afghan refugees living in refugee camps in Pakistan and Iran. With the passage of time and increase in the intensity of conflicts in their country, their number rose exponentially to millions. Highest recorded number of Afghan refugees put them to 7.5-8 million people during the reign of fundamentalist Taliban regime. The major recipient of these refugees remained to be the neighbors of Afghanistan i.e., Pakistan and Iran. The return of refugees from these two countries restarted after the fall of Taliban but still millions live in the refugee camps and cities of these two nations. Pakistan is currently home to at least 2 million refugees, 1.7 millions registered while the rest unregistered and therefore living illegally in Pakistan..

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Amongst all ills what Afghans suffered the most, whether intentionally or unintentionally, was the education of their younger generation. Initially during the cold-war (Afghan war of independence against the former USSR) Afghan refugee camps received generous donations from across the globe particularly from the western nations. Though much of the aid and monetary assistance found their way into the pockets of warlords then known as freedom fighters, the little money that reached the poor refugees in one way or the other did its part in establishing a few refugee schools for the children but under the patronage of the Jihadis. Since the fall of Communist USSR and the establishment of Mujahideen government and later of the Taliban, Afghans remained a page of the past history. None paid attention to them in whatsoever way possible.

The biggest loss for these refugees amongst others has been the education that every child has a right to get. Apart from a few Jihadi Organization and other NGO's run schools that literally is the centers for learning for Afghan children, the major chunk of Afghan children still remain far from being educated. Only few lucky ones make it into the Pakistani schools and colleges. The biggest problem, of course, remains financial limitations. Afghan parents wish their children could get educated in Pakistani schools where the medium of education is either Urdu or English, none of which is an official or national language of Afghanistan. Afghan parents wish so because they don't trust Afghan Educational system nor they have enough number of schools in Afghan refugee camps or concentration areas. Additionally the curriculum that's designed for Afghan schools remains old and substandard both in approach and language. The content of a mathematics book on addition reads as "two bullets of Kalashnikov and two bullets of rocket can't be added because they are not alike" while a religious book reads as "Khalqis and Parchamis (referring to the loyalists of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan's branches) aren't Muslims because they don't offer morning prayers". In addition, the books aren't written in a reliable language. The capitalization, punctuation and other written fabric of the books remain full of mistake and go unchecked and unnoticed.

Exacerbating the situation is the lack of professional teachers. Most of the professional teachers have gone back to Afghanistan or are not ready to serve for the low salary they get. The salary of such teachers range from 30-50 USD per month whereas the rent of houses in Pakistan has recently shot up to 100 USD Per month due to the inflation in the prices of commodities in the recent years.

As the years of migration continue, the sufferings continue to engulf the poor Afghan children and yet another generation of Afghans who are supposed to be the future builders and decision makers of their country remain far from the basics of education.