The International Herald Tribune offers a in Afghanistan. Reporter Barry Bearak opens with a scene out of a war movie鈥攜oung girls trying to outrun gunmen lurking just outside the Qalai Sayedan School. Bearak says six girls were shot in the June 12 incident; two of them fatally. He cites 鈥渢ools of intimidation used by the Taliban and others to shut down hundreds of schools here. To take aim at education is to make war on the government. Parents find themselves with terrible choices. 鈥業t is better for my children to be alive even if it means they must be illiterate,鈥� 鈥� one father tells the newspaper.
Bearak also cites encouraging statistics about education in Afghanistan: The Ministry of Education there claims that 6.2 million children are now enrolled鈥攐r about half the school-aged population. Even so, all progress is made against a backdrop of uncertainty and fear. 鈥淏y attacking schools, the terrorists want to make the point of their own existence,鈥� Haneef Atmar, the minister of education, tells the Herald Tribune.
Education Week has also reported on the turbulent situation in Afghanistan. In its , Afghanistan鈥檚 Ministry of Education has set a goal of enrolling 60 percent of girls and 75 percent of boys in schools by 2010.