Siddiqa (pseudonym), a woman ho has been a teacher in one of Afghanistan’s public schools for more than five years, She taught for two years as a fee, And in 2019, she was able to be recruited in one of the public schools by scoring in the competitive exam that was conducted by the National Examinations Committee of Afghanistan during the republic to recruit teachers in public schools
Siddiqa graduated from the chemistry department of Seyyed Jamal al-Din Afghan teacher trining college in Kabul and has been teaching biology and science. she considers the Taliban regaining power in Afghanistan as a big shock for all the people and women of the country.
Siddiqa: “I have been working as a teacher in one of Afghanistan’s public schools for four years, teaching male students, and one of my goals and dreams was to become a teacher, and I worked hard to achieve this dream and goal. I faced many problems, after the presence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, it was a big shock for me after more than 20 years.
When the schools were closed at the beginning of the arrival of this group, I felt a sense of hopelessness, I said to myself that all my hard work to study and become a teacher was wasted!”
Like other teachers in Afghanistan, Siddiqa lives in a bad economic situation, she manages her and her family’s income with six thousand Afghanis a month. She says that after the presence of the Taliban, the income of each teacher has decreased compared to the republican era, and with the price It has become more difficult for him to provide food and fuel.
Siddiqa has to feed her family of 9 people with a small salary as a teacher, because she is the only worker in the family, she lost her father more than seven years ago and her brothers are small.
Siddiqa: “After my father left, I was the only child in the family and I had to work. With the support of my mother, I was able to become a teacher.”
I asked Siddiqa about the school where she teaches and the teaching process these days?
Siddiqa: “I teach in a high school, because the school is far away, I have to walk for about an hour and a half to be there at 8:00. In the republic, I used to teach high school classes, and now that female teachers don’t allowed teach high school and middle school, that’s why I teach elementary school from fourth to sixth grade.”
I asked her about the quality of lessons in public schools.
Siddiqa: “After the fall of the system and the destruction of the schools and the expulsion of many professional teachers, the schools faced problems, and most importantly, Recruitment of teachers against the teaching field is one of the serious problems of the government schools in Afghanistan, which has never been addressed not done”
I asked her if how many of her colleagues were dismissed after the presence of the Taliban?
Siddiqa: “I don’t know about other provinces, have female teachers really been removed from their duties or not? But in the school where I am a teacher, none of my colleagues, male or female, have been removed from their duties.In 2022, female teachers were forced out of boys’ schools to work as a service in girls’ schools that are open up to 6th grade, and this year told us that we can teach 1st through 6th grade. And in the girls’ schools of our region, the male teachers, who were extra formed due to the lack of middle and high school classes for girls, changed from girls’ schools to boys’ schools.
she said about the girls now that they can’t continue their studies, “I remember one of my students in the sixth grade had a lot of absenteeism. One day when she came to school, I asked her, why don’t you come to school, my daughter, what is your problem, her answer brought tears to my eyes.( Here, Siddiqa’s voice was taken, it was clear from her voice how much pain she felt as a teacher and woman who was banned from working and studying in the country)
Teacher, I’m not coming because I don’t want to finish the sixth grade, I want to fail so that I can come to school next year, this is really the depth of the disaster. He thinks how to fail himself so that he can come back to school. It is really sad and disappointing. It is a pity that our generation remains illiterate.”
At the end, Siddiqa pointed out and said that the economic situation of teachers in Afghanistan was not good during the republic, and during the Taliban era, the economic situation of these teachers has become worse, not better.
After entering Kabul, the Taliban have imposed many restrictions on the right to work and education of women and girls. This group closed secondary and high schools for female students based on an order until further notice.
These decrees resulted in the reactions of international organizations and the world community, including the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and these organizations have condemned the actions of the Taliban.
Also, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation called the ban on the education of women and girls “against the Sharia and the traditions of Islam” and asked the Taliban to cancel the ban on women working in charitable institutions.
Leila Rezaei