KABUL (SW) – A number of female students who have missed education in the last two years say that they have had to turn to work in the city in order to escape the frustration and depression caused by staying at home and taking part of the burden of providing for the family’s needs.
12-year-old Huda, who sells fresh vegetables on a pushcart in Dasht Barchi, told Salam Watandar that she was supposed to enter the seventh grade last year, but the ban on girls’ education and the increase in poverty in the family have pushed her from the classroom to this street job. She added: “I work from morning to night. I have been selling carpentry items for a year. I had many dreams. I wanted to earn a livelihood for my parents through my pen. I forgot a lot of my lessons. I regret that I can’t study and I sell woodwork from morning to night.”
Her mother says that now her two daughters are out of school, which is very painful for her.
Saeeda, another student who was supposed to enter the seventh grade last year, said that to escape from the mental pressure of staying at home, she opened a grocery store and by working in it, she spends her time. Saeeda said that she feels a pain in her heart every day when she sees only male students heading to schools because she knows that she can no longer go back to the classroom and has to spend all his days in the shop. “When the schools were closed, I was very depressed. My father set up a shop again. People are still complaining and saying girls should not work,” she said.
Saeeda is upset about being away from her lessons and says that this has caused her to not even be able to read basic text these days. Saeeda asked the Islamic Emirate leaders to provide the opportunity to study again for her and other girls.
Sana, another student who has been prevented from going to school for the past two years, said that she has joined the sewing workshop because of the dark future ahead of her. “I regret why I can’t go to school and study. For two years, we have been waiting for the doors of the schools to know when they will open. I work from morning to night, I feel sorry because it’s time to study. My goals and dreams have gone in vain.
It has been almost two years that female students above the sixth grade have been prevented from going to school. Although, during this period, female students and a number of other female citizens, in many marches and gatherings, have demanded the provision of education by the Islamic Emirate government, but there is still no news about the reopening of schools for girls.
ENDS
