By Mumtaz Saley Moosa
26:08:2021

Whilst the world is caught up with news about the way forward for Afghanistan, we have omitted to look at the state of literacy in the region.

The narrative has always been that girls could not study, and it was against the law, but have we ever questioned this viewpoint?

Let’s take a look; the literacy rate in Afghanistan is meagre. Most stats show that about 43 per cent of people are educated in Afghanistan. The gender gap is vast, with most males educated. Still, my question remains, and I would like to add to that: What has the American government done for the people of Afghanistan? Why was the education of more women and girls not given priority? Was online education not an option, seeing as the Taliban enjoy 5G connection?

Interestingly enough, in most developing countries, and we can take a page out of our history, some families choose one family member in the home to attend school; to this day, this is still happening in many parts of the world.

Naturally, males are seen as providers and are chosen to attend school with the assumed premise that they will help the family out of poverty. Most females, however, do not attend school and often acquire no other skills. A generation ago, many of our parents did not finish school, but most had a profession as skills that were passed down as an heirloom from generation to generation.

Everywhere in the world, we are still fighting for gender equality in almost all spheres of society. The Taliban seems to be promoting education for young women, so time will tell if the literacy rate will increase. At the moment, all we can do is speculate on the outcome and pray that we do not witness another humanitarian crisis as, for far too long, the average person on the ground has endured too much suffering.