Nearly half of Afghan children are not in school

KABUL, Afghanistan — Nearly half of Afghanistan’s children are not attending school because of war, poverty and other factors, a new report shows.

The study, released by the Education Ministry and the UN children’s agency, says that 3.7 million, or 44 percent, of all school-age children are not attending school. It marks the first time since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 that the rate of attendance has declined, following years of steady gains in education for boys as well as girls, who were banned from attending school under the Taliban.

The survey says girls account for 60% of those being denied an education.

“Business as usual is not an option for Afghanistan if we are to fulfill the right to education for every child,” Adele Khodr, UNICEF’s Afghanistan representative, says in a statement. “When children are not in school, they are at an increased danger of abuse, exploitation and recruitment.”

Girls’ education is still frowned upon in much of the conservative Muslim country, and is banned in the steadily expanding areas controlled by the Taliban.

— AP