Generally three types of text books have been published under the Afghan refugee Educational Curriculum:

1. Text books published by the fundamentalist parties, which were highest in number and distribution.
2. Text books published by the Afghan Commissionerate
3. Text books published by the NGOs

But,
Why not a single pattern of books?
Were these books worthy enough to be used?
Is this what we call an Educational System?

Our educational system in the last two decades has been a helpless target of misuses and betrayal. And the different pattern of books could in no way guarantee a leveled education.

So called Educational Departments were established by ISI, Commissionerate and fundamentalist parties. And reason behind rejecting IRC's books was not the incompatibility of their subject with the ideology the publishers followed, but the unavailability of opportunities for business.

For instance, there were four schools established in Chitral by the fundamentalist parties under the names of four Caliphates. In every school the number of students could not go more than 10-15, but on the day of inspection they used to borrow student from each other so to collect money from the funding NGO. In this way 50 was raised to 5000, and if every student needs 10 books, it equals 50,000, and if Rs.20 is spend for each and every book then Rs.1,000,000 is taken just for the arrangement of books. They could buy books from IRC but they would have not been able to carry out the business they wished to, and it was not the education of the young generation according to their so called ideologies, but money, as their main purpose.

According to The Washington Post investigators, over the past twenty years the US has spent millions of dollars producing fanatical schoolbooks, which were then distributed in Afghanistan. These books were developed in the early 1980s under an AID grant to the University of Nebraska-Omaha and its Center for Afghanistan Studies. "The primers, which were filled with talk of jihad and featured drawings of guns, bullets, soldiers and mines, have served since then as the Afghan school system's core curriculum. Even the Taliban used the American-produced books, though the radical movement scratched out human faces in keeping with its strict fundamentalist code." According to the Post, these violent Islamist schoolbooks, which "served...as the Afghan school system's core curriculum" produced "unintended consequences."

Washington Post, 23 March 2002

The books were not only in a position for a reasonable use, but were a betrayal to all the classes in particular the primary ones. They held unnecessary material as were not written with the purpose of education but ideological propaganda.

We come across the following examples in math book:

- If out of 10 atheists, 5 are killed by 1 Muslim, 5 would be left.
- 5 guns + 5 guns = 10 guns
- 15 bullets - 10 bullets = 5 bullets, etc.

A very important aspect while writing a book to be considered is the compatibility of the subject of the book with the minds of children and this factor necessitates the equipment of the writer with sufficient knowledge of children's psychology and its development with the growth of the child. But unfortunately you could see no sign of this in the above mentioned books.

Another example of violation of this factor is the large number of Qur'anic Verses and Hadiths in the text books of class three.

Also, one of the topics of Islamic studies of class three is the Wajibat-e-Ghusl (obligation of taking a bath or get "clean"). This is one of the topics which have to be discussed with even students of 12th grade with a bit of hesitation. But children of class three, who are not yet in a position as mental and physical growth matters to understand it, have to study and learn all these. They learn it or just waste their time is another worth answering question.

Generally all these books are written with the purpose of keeping children away from today's world and its developments.

Hadiths and Quranic verses are such an important aspect of the books that the books of Dari, Pashtu, History and sciences resemble more books of Islamic Studies than of the very subjects. Specially the text books of Dari and Pashtu start with Hamd (praise of God) and Naat (praise of Prophet Muhammad and end with the Four Caliphates and their bio data and if it is not to be so "religious" it says of Mujahid, guns, bullets, atheism, martyred and ghazi.

And the last but not the least, chemistry of ninth grade is organic chemistry, and in one of the chapters it discusses alcohol. To give a detail of the consequences of drinking alcohol in the world after, they have given a large number of Quranic Verses and Hadiths. If they would have described briefly the consequences from health point of view, it could have been reasonable, other wise these are topics related just to Islamic Studies.

Zoology book is not deprived of this "significant" addition. Whether it is the reproduction of cells or the circulatory system, whether the system of digestion or functions of kidneys, none of them are, but a collection of religious teachings in the light of Scientific Discoveries!!

The assessment of the loss in the last 15-20 years is very obvious but painful.

Before going further, it is worth mentioning that a prominent common point we did and will notice in all patterns of books published is the interference and impact the politics of fundamentalist parties have had in the educational system of Afghan refugees.

Second comes the text books published by the NGOs which again due to the very reason of fundamentalist rule and the fear the administrators had of them, could not bear much different fruit. text books provided by NGOs were also much more suitable for Madrassas (religious schools) than normal schools.

The Afghan Commissionerate which was under high influence of fundamentalist parties of both Afghanistan and Pakistan was also not much preferable as far as the out come of their work is concerned.

"AFGHANISTAN IS AN ISLAMIC COUNTRY. THE PEOPLE OF AFGHANISTAN STARTED BELIEVING IN ISLAM IN ABOUT 1400 YEARS BACK DURING THE TIMES OF HAZRAT USMAN. AND IT IS DUE TO THE BLESSINGS OF ISLAM THAT THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY LIVE PEACEFULLY SINCE THEN. SO IN THE LIGHT OF QURAN AND THE TEACHING OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD (P.B.U.H.) WE MUST STRIVE FOR THE PROTECTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF OUR RELIGION AND COUNTRY TILL THE DAY END, AND MUST FOLLOW IT TO THE LAST OF OUR LIVES."

So this is the history of Afghanistan and what a child of class three must know of his country. And as far as the world history is concerned, it is none but the Ship of Hazrat Noah and the story of Habeal and Qabeal.

It is necessary to mention that no one can and should stand against religion. And we are also not with the intention of rejecting Islamic Studies as a subject or religious education on the whole.

But we used to and still have some educational principles for teaching in schools and religious institutions.

With the coming to power of Taliban, new books were ordered to be published in accordance with their own style, i.e. books with out pictures, with the idea that the picture of any living thing will ask for a spirit in the world after!!

In the Dari books of the primary classes which again have been in the centre of these attacks, the alphabet "D" is explained with the word "dihqan" (farmer) and the farmer is described in a picture where there is a man who works on his fields, but he has no head, he is following a bull which is also head less, and his daughter is brining him lunch and she again is with out a head!

Nothing more than that was expected from the medieval-minded Taliban. But it more panic when we see an American university walks on the foot steps of Taliban and Jehadis, presented such materials to our school children that further the agenda of treacherous Taliban and Jehadi terrorists.

And at last the University of Nebraska at Omaha and United States Agency for International Development, USAID, took the initiative to review and rewrite the text books of the Afghan Educational System for the new educational year of 2002. These books are written under the observation of the Educational Ministry of Afghanistan. These bookls are also full of the same rubbish which teaches nothing but hatred and fundamentalism to our innocent children.

From RAWA Orphanages

RAWA's Teaching Policy

Slidesow of RAWA Schools

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