There have been no high school graduates in the past 20 years in five districts of the southeastern province of Paktika, tribal elders said, saying the lack of high schools and the poor education system are the reasons thousands of youth are deprived of an education.  

According to the students of these districts, the families who are in a good economic condition send their children to the provincial capital city, Sharana, to continue their schools but those families struggling with severe economic conditions are unable to send their children to the capital for continuing education.

The districts Worombai, Tarwi, Dila Khoshamand, Naka and Barmal are where the education system was not properly active due to security tensions during the former Afghan governments. 

“No school has been constructed in our district. Our youth migrated to other countries,” said Zahid, a student in Barmal district.  

“There was no school in Khoshamand district during the former government's time. The Islamic Emirate should construct us a school,’ said Mohammad Daud, a student in Khoshamand district.  

The tribal elders called on the Islamic Emirate to construct schools and provide educational opportunities for the residents of these districts.   

“We don’t have any high school graduates in far areas and some districts of Paktika. We call on the Islamic Emirate officials to construct schools for us,” said Abdul Rahim, a tribal elder in Khoshamand.  

The provincial education department confirmed the issue, saying that there were no high school graduations in the past 20 years in these districts.  

“Our focus is currently on the areas that lack absolute access to this right (education), we try to provide them their rights in a proper way,” said the head of the Paktika education department.  

Paktika is along the Durand Line in the southeast of Afghanistan. The education health sectors of Paktika have not properly developed over the past 20 years, in which billions of dollars were provided by the international community as part of the humanitarian support to Afghanistan.