Girls Education

 Written by: Muhammad Anwar Andar

Zahida goes to the castle with her brother, Akram and they are waiting for Lalo Mama to come.

Lalo Mama arrives and welcomes his guests. He finds Zahida sad and asks about her sadness.

Zahida replies that her cousin, Marwa has studied for eight years but now their family has prevented her from going to school and she always cries and no one could help her.

Lalo Mama takes them inside the castle and there he says this issue is common in Afghanistan and most families do not let their daughters study school and some of them prevent their daughters after grade-6th.

Zahida asks about the solution to this issue.Lalo Mama opens a window for their information.

Window:

In the window, a girl, Rahila is arranging her school books. Her big brother, Rasheed prevents her from going to school and wants her to do her home chores afterward.

two days later, Rasheed wants her mother to tell Rahila to prepare him breakfast. His mother says that Rahila is sick and she is not able to prepare breakfast.

Rasheed asks the cause of her sickness. His mother replies that when Rasheed has been prevented from going to school, she is always crying and talking in sleep and eat nothing.

Lalo Mama closes that window. Zahida says that Marwa has the same problem.

Lalo Mama says that education is the religious and legal right of girls and if people do not let their daughters and sister study, the people would face problems too. Lalo Mama says that he has recorded the voice of Obaidullah, a resident of Jalraiz district, Maidan-Wardak province on his mobile phone. Obaidullah says, “Our elders do not let their daughter study school and we do not have even a single lady doctor in the whole district. Once a woman was to deliver a baby, as there was no woman obstetrician in the district clinic, the had taken to the Maidan clinic but she died on the way to the clinic.”

Lalo Mama closes this window too. Akram says that if they had a woman doctor in their district, the woman might not have died.

Lalo Mama says that article 24 of the constitution of Afghanistan states that girls and boys have the same education rights in Afghanistan.

Lalo Mama opens another window about this issue.

Window:

In the window, the reporter of the castle is talking to some juveniles about girls’ education.

A girl, Gulnoor, a resident of Qarabagh district, Kabul province says, “When I was a seventh-grade student, my mother prevented me from school. When I was seeing my classmates and other girls were going to school,

I was becoming more depressed. I shared the issue with my uncles, school administration, and our relatives and they talked to my mother and told her about the importance of girls’ education and finally, she was convinced and allowed me to complete my study.

Lalo Mama closes this window too. Zahida says that she will tell Rahila to asks for the help of others to talk to her family to let her goes to school.