Return of Afghan school children to exceed all expectations, UN survey shows

Preliminary results of a United Nations survey of Kabul’s primary schools shows that the return to education by youngsters following the start of the new term in March has exceeded all expectations.

According to a rapid appraisal of half of Kabul’s 200 schools, there has been a 34 per cent increase in primary age enrolment, a spokesman for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said today at a press briefing in the capital. In grade one alone, there was a 68 per cent jump in school attendance.

There were also positive trends in the enrolment of girls, as the survey showed 100,000 of the 202,000 primary school-age students attending classes in the 100 schools were female – 42 per cent more than anticipated, spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva said.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was quick to stress that this was a rapid and small survey and that a nationwide assessment of schools was under way, Mr. de Almeida e Silva said. Broader results would be available by the end of May.

“However, the agency feels that this initial snapshot is encouraging, and is a credit to those in the Interim Administration and education departments who worked so hard on the Back to School campaign,” he added.