Teaching Afghan children to reject the extremism of the Taliban

Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee co-founder helps us understand the importance of continuing the international mission in Afghanistan the way in which the next generation can be educated to embrace a future free of the Taliban. This piece originally appeared in the Mark, in Teaching Peace:

In a recent op-ed in The Toronto Star, the president of the
International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), Patricia Aldana,
suggested that the international community along with Afghanistan could
"Taliban-proof Afghanistan by teaching children to read."

This
recommendation might perhaps contain the most strategic, stabilizing,
forceful antidote to war that is possible, in Afghanistan or anywhere.
Too often we think of “peace-building” as men in suits sitting around a
table drawing up accords, negotiating a peace deal, and trying to bring
feuding parties together in an effort to resolve violent conflict. Yet
where peace building truly happens is inside classrooms, in teacher
training institutes, in the building of village libraries, and in the
binding of books. It happens when kids have the right and the
opportunity to read.

The Taliban
were birthed from the lethal cocktail of an impoverished Afghan refugee
population easily recruited into radical Islamic madrasah boarding
schools that rose up in the thousands in response to the Pakistani
government’s failure to create a viable basic education system. There,
in exchange for a bed, food and free “education,” boys and young men
faced an extremist and violent religious ideology, militant training,
systemic rape, and the denial of contact with any females, even from
their own mothers. Misogyny festered along with xenophobia, a fanatical
brand of Islam, and intolerance for political, ethnic, and religious
diversity. In light of the scale of the thing – it is estimated that
there are more than 50,000 madrasahs in Pakistan – the outcome was
somewhat predictable.

Despite the
challenges, since 2002, extraordinary gains have been made in
Afghanistan, including the return of millions of girls to school, the
beginnings of a functional primary health-care system, the availability
of micro-credit to women, a parliamentary quota for women MPs, and
promising economic growth. Having closely followed developments in
Afghanistan since 1996, I have watched in awe the changes that have
occurred over the last seven years. These include changes to the
physical landscape – as reconstruction takes place, roads are paved,
and Afghans have cultivated gardens and parks – as well as to the
psychological landscape. People are free from the oppression of the
Taliban, women take part increasingly in public life, and the arts and
culture sector are on an exciting rebound. It is an entirely different
place than it was in any part of the 1990s.

Yet
for what the education sector has in quantity, it lacks in quality.
Capacity to deliver remains poor in the Ministry of Education – few
pupils have ever seen a textbook before, few schools have even
rudimentary science laboratory supplies, and most teachers have no
post-secondary education. International donors are indeed supporting
education, not the least of which is the Canadian government, but they
are failing to see a robust investment into the education sector as the
solution to the country’s insecurity over the long-run. The development
of the education sector has been painfully slow.

I
think it’s imperative that an international security force remain on
the ground in Afghanistan for at least a decade to come, and that
should include representation from Canada. This is part of the solution
in that it will provide much needed breathing space to build the
foundations of a long-term solution: the establishment of effective,
quality education, health care, good governance, legal reform, poverty
alleviation, and space for the growth of civil society. But the
Canadian government, and other donor governments who want to see a
stable, peaceful Afghanistan must begin to explicitly make the link
between long-term security and quality education; and they must be in
it for the long haul.

Education
is the most important place donor governments can put their money. But
it will take years, if not decades, of commitment and there must be
clear measures of accountability for results. It’s not enough that
schools are open and pupils – girls and boys – are in their seats. More
must be done, and soon. By investing in a quality education system in
Afghanistan, Canada will help prevent future wars; and by maintaining a
military presence on the ground now and beyond 2011, they can help stop
this one.