Too often during times of chaos and conflict, children are marginalized victims and face extreme suffering and life-threatening problems.
This is especially true in Afghanistan, where an ongoing war between U.S. and coalition troops against Taliban insurgents has ripped apart the country and destroyed many basic institutions. Today, Afghan children face many problems and are being denied a basic human right: an education.
Stories coming out of Afghanistan show children living a dangerous life as smugglers, under cheap labor conditions, or in constant fear of being caught in the crossfire.
By most estimates, only around eight million of Afghanistan’s 15 million children are receiving an education from a broken national system.
They suffer from high illiteracy rates, attacks on their school by Taliban fighters and an increasing dropout rate throughout the country.
Even looking past their lack of access to education, Afghanistan has one of the highest infant and child mortality rates globally and, in 2009, was named by UNICEF the worst place in the world to be born.
These facts make something abundantly clear: It is the children of Afghanistan who are suffering the most during the current conflict and are not receiving the education they need.
Many of us here take our education for granted, considering America’s nationwide compulsory educational system.
In Afghanistan, some children in remote villages have little or no chance to receive a regular education, and those who do go to school in dangerous situations.
Of course, this is by no means localized to Afghanistan. Worldwide, there is a growing crisis as a future generation is growing up without the requisite educational base to succeed and take the reins of civilization.
However, the situation in Afghanistan is dire and of great importance due to the country’s prominence in international affairs.
The instability in Afghanistan plays a huge role in international affairs, especially considering its history of serving as a haven to Muslim extremists and narcotics producers.
Due to a series of successive civil wars, the educational system in Afghanistan, along with many other vital institutions, has been in tatters for decades.
This has created a dearth of educated human capital in the country to deal with many of the important problems that threaten the lives of its citizens.
Revitalizing Afghanistan’s educational system will help create a base on which the country can grow and advance.
This involves a concerted effort to put international aid to good use, bring educational opportunities to children in isolated regions, and resolve to safely end the current conflict that threatens to destabilize the country further.
It is this last requirement, an end to the fighting in Afghanistan and neighboring regions, that is the most unclear and hardest to attain.
However, educating Afghanistan’s children not only serves to improve their lives during this current conflict but help the country escape from the clutches of chaos and instability while breaking the vicious cycle of educational malaise, social degeneracy and economic hardship that has plagued the country for decades.
