Hope for displaced children in Badakhshan as UN provides education support

BADAKHSHAN -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has provided access to education for more than 500 IDP (internally displaced person) children in Faizabad, the provincial capital of Badakhshan.

The children are from Kunduz and Takhar provinces, and were displaced along with their families by war during the past two years.

The IDP students all are temporarily studying in houses that UNHCR converted into classrooms, the agency said March 25 on Facebook.

"The organisation has launched 11 classes -- for grades one to five -- for 512 female and male students in Wakil Abad village, and the classes are taught by six teachers," said Baz Mohammad Sarwari, principal of Shir Khan Elementary School in the eighth district of Faizabad city.

"We started these classes in late March and teach the students according to the Ministry of Education's curriculum," he said.

"Most of the children enrolled ... are from the 1,200 families living around the school who are internally displaced, whose families could not afford books, notebooks, pens and other items," he said.

UNHCR provided the books and school supplies.

"Students in Wakil Abad village of Badakhshan are excited to return to school for the new academic year," UNHCR said.

"These kids, most of whom come from internally displaced families or families who have recently returned to the village, are temporarily studying in houses converted into classrooms."

Hope for the future

Children have welcomed UNHCR's initiative, saying they have missed going to school since being displaced.

Mawloda, 13, whose family is from Yaftal district, Badakhshan province, said she missed school for two consecutive years but hopes to continue her education up to the 12th grade.

Mawloda's family was forced to flee to Faizabad city in June 2021 by conflict and insecurity. She is now studying at Shir Khan Elementary School.

"One of my long-held dreams is to become a doctor, but I missed school for the last two years," the fifth-grader said.

"I am happy now that my hope for education has become a reality."

"I hope that schools will open to girls in the higher grades soon so that all of our sisters can serve their country in the future," she added.

Sultan Mohammad, 12, a resident of Kart-e-Faizabad, Kunduz city, also fled to Faizabad city in June 2021 with his family because of the conflict, insecurity and unemployment.

"If security was better and we didn't have to leave our home, I would have been in the sixth grade now. But now I have to study in the fourth grade," he said.

"We are happy to resume our education, but we need more facilities and materials," said Sultan.

Almost 50 students study in a single room at the same time, and this crowding may threaten their health once the weather gets warmer, he said.

Education top priority

Proper school buildings are coming someday, say officials.

UNHCR has provided the funds to build two concrete schools with 12 classrooms total according to modern construction standards, said Mohammad Younes Jahadmal, director of Badakhshan's Department of Refugees and Repatriations.

"Fortunately, these schools will be constructed in the eighth and first districts of Faizabad city, where mostly children from IDP families will be admitted," he said, adding that construction work will begin soon.

"We had several meetings with officials and representatives of aid agencies," he said. "Supporting IDPs and their children, especially for education, is their priority at all levels."

Badakhshan's Department of Refugees and Repatriations has provided education for another 400 IDP children in co-operation with international aid agencies, according to Jahadmal.

They have also referred a number of IDP children to the provincial Department of Health and the National Statistics and Information Authority to address their health issues and also to help them obtain identification documents, he said.