Education Councils

Written by: Mir Aqa Atabar

A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. Different councils are working in Afghanistan. We had programs on the village council and district council in the past. Now we have another program about education council.

AEPO’s writer/producer has talked to some people about this issue.

Wajiha, a student says: “gathering of some teachers, principal of the school, headmasters, students, and elders of the area to find a solution to the problems in the school, is called education council.”

Mirajuddin, a chieftain of Deh Yahya, Deh Sabz district, Kabul province, a member of education council, Deh Yahya high school says: “we come together twice a month and evaluate the problems in the school, for example, some boys were harassing girls on the way to school. We talked to them and solved the problem. If some boys do not accept our wish, we share the issue with a government organ and they would find a solution to it. We also changed the school time of girls’ school to be different with boys’ school time.”

Ahmad Shah Arabzai, deputy coordinator, education department, Kabul city says: “school education council Provides public relations with the school administration. The members of the education council solve all problems through this council. Relatives, Parents, principal, headmasters, teachers and students’ delegations would be the members of a school education council. They solve the problems through personal relationships or through the education department.”

Ruqia Barakzai, the principal of Bibi Aisha Sediqa Girls High School, Kabul city says: “at the beginning, there was no council in our school. When they appointed me as the principal of the school, I established the education council in the school. The principal of the school must be the director of the council and the other members would be selected after election in the school. Half members of the council are male and half of them are female. We could solve almost any kind of problems through school education council. We installed two hand water pumps in the school with the assistance of the education council. The council helps the school administration to keep the school clean and it prevents students absences too.”