180 Schools In Daikundi Lack Buildings As Students Await Proper Learning Facilities

(MENAFN- Pajhwok Afghan News) "> NEILI (Pajhwok): As many as 180 schools in Daikundi still lack buildings despite efforts to construct school facilities in the central province.

Education experts say unsuitable learning environments can negatively affect students' attendance, motivation and learning.

Daikundi is a mountainous province of Afghanistan where difficult terrain, impassable roads and scattered settlements pose challenges to students' access to educational facilities. Alongside these problems, a shortage of schools and standard educational buildings has long been a major challenge in the province.

Students in Daikundi study in tents and mosques

Sultan Karbalai, a tribal elder from Omid village in Miramor district, said there was a school in his village, but it had no building. As a result, children had to study in tents or in the open air.

He added that hot weather, dust and wind during the warmer months, as well as severe cold in winter, seriously disrupted students' education.

According to him, many students were unable to attend school regularly because of illnesses largely caused by the unsuitable learning environment. He said the situation discouraged children from learning.

The tribal elder urged the Ministry of Education (MoE), aid organisations and philanthropists to help construct standard school buildings in the province so that children could study in a suitable and safe environment.

Ali, a student in Neili city, said they studied in a mosque because their school had no building.

“We have many classes in one mosque. When some classes have Dari lessons, other classes have mathematics, and each class studies different subjects,” he said.

He noted that having several classes under one roof, along with the noise made by students, prevented them from concentrating properly on their lessons.

The student expressed hope that a building would be constructed for their school so that pupils could study in separate classrooms.

Suitable learning environments and their role in education

Najibullah Yaseri, an education activist in Daikundi, said students were more motivated to attend school and learn when the learning environment was better organised and facilities were more accessible.

He explained that learning depended not only on students' mental abilities and teachers' teaching methods but also on the psychological, social and physical conditions of the learning environment.

Referring to teaching in the open air, under tents or in shared rooms, he said such conditions could reduce students' motivation to learn and hinder the development of their abilities.

He added that the situation could cause students to fall behind in their education and, in some cases, drop out of school and turn to hard labour.

Daikundi education official: Efforts to build schools continue

Qasim Akbari, administrative and finance director at the Daikundi Department of Education, told Pajhwok Afghan News that 438 schools and 113 madrasas were currently operating in the province. Of the schools, 258 had buildings, while the remaining 180 lacked them.

He said insufficient attention had been paid to school construction in the province in the past, although some steps had also been taken to build schools under the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA).

Akbari said that this year, buildings for eight schools in Ashtarlay, Khadir, Neili and Sangtakht-o-Bandar districts had been completed and put into operation at a total cost of 85,658,307 afghanis, with financial support from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

He added that since 1401 in the Solar Hijri calendar, buildings for another 17 schools had been constructed and put into operation using the Department of Education's budget and with support from aid organisations.

Akbari said students at these schools had previously studied in tents, mosques and takia-khanas (religious gathering places). The completion of the new buildings had provided them with a more suitable learning environment.

According to him, construction of buildings for another seven schools was under way with financial support from local residents.

Renovation work at several schools was also continuing, while the construction of new buildings for 27 schools and four madrasas in the province had been included in the plan for the next academic year, he added.

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