War on education

Short of being able to evict the Taliban, there is little the government can do to protect educational institutions.

Amid the senseless loss of life that has become routine in Fata, thanks to a combination of militant violence and army operations, the effect this bloodshed has had on our next generation has been tragically under-reported. A report in the March 12 edition of this newspaper revealed that 89 schools have been destroyed in the fog of war. It is relatively easy to assign blame to one side for this war on education. In Fata, and other areas where it has acquired power, the Taliban have made the ‘cleansing’ of schools a priority.
Schools for girls are told to shut down and then forcibly done so, often through bombings, if the orders are not followed. Co-educational institutions have faced a similar fate. The Taliban have also used schools as depots for weapons and as hideouts for its fighters in the belief that educational institutions will not be targeted by the military.

Pointing out the problem is easy enough; finding solutions is much trickier. The military’s efforts to take over parts of Fata that it never actually controlled, even before the Taliban existed, have met with more failures than successes. Ultimately, the Taliban still control huge swathes of land and their rule reigns supreme in these areas. That means education is restricted to religious seminaries that cater only to boys. Short of being able to evict the Taliban, there is precious little which the government can do to protect educational institutions.

It is worth pointing out that the state of education in Fata was dismal long before the Taliban extended their reign in the region. Pre-2001 government figures claimed that the literacy rate was 22 per cent in Fata, with the literacy rate for women being merely seven per cent. That has now, according to the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child, fallen to 17 per cent. A combination of militant ideology combined with government inaction will only serve to further depress the figures. After all, when there are no schools to go to where will the children of Fata get an education?

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2012.