HERAT CITY (SW) – The lack of text books and teachers have irked students in Herat province.
A number of students said the textbooks are distributed among a small number of students every year, but a large number of them have to buy textbooks from the market.
These students added that most families cannot afford to buy textbooks compelling the students to study for a year without the textbooks.
Sunita is a 10th grade student at a school in Herat. This year, she has received only 2 books out of a total of 15 books from her school. According to her, she received only 3 books last year.
Soroush and Azizeh, two other Herat school students, also expressed concerns about the shortage of textbooks and teachers, saying that four to five students receive books each year and the rest do not. They called on the government, especially the provincial education department, to address the issue of shortage of textbooks for students.
Civil society activists in Herat have also criticized the Ministry of Education, saying that no new textbooks have been sent to the province for the past three years.
Sayed Ashraf Sadat, a civil activist in Herat, told Salam Watandar that the lack of textbooks is a major challenge in the province’s central and district.
Meanwhile, Zakaria Rahimi, Herat’s director of education, acknowledged the shortage of teachers, but said that the Ministry of Education was expected to deliver 5 million books this year. Herat’s director of education considered the shortage of teachers to be a serious problem, adding that the province now lacks 5,000 teachers.
Rahimi said that in previous years, the problem of teacher shortage was solved through contract teachers, but so far this year, the Ministry of Education has not ordered the recruitment of contracted teachers. He emphasized that the problem has been reported to the Ministry of Education and the Ministry has assured that this problem will be solved soon.
At the beginning of this academic year, officials from the Herat Department of Education said that more than 50,000 new students would enter the province’s schools this year.
ENDS
