IAzmadeh Ghahvie             age:

Right to education in Afghanistan and the impact of the media

El derecho a la
educación en Afganistán y el impacto de los medios
de comunicación

Abstract:

Over the years scholars have researched how societies
in conflict develop
educational practices and examined the part education
plays in creating
or sustaining conflict.
Afghanistan, due to its changing regimes and general uncertainty, is among the countries with the lowest rates of enrolment in
modern education and of adult literacy. Given
the 2021 developments, this article will focus on the legal
obligations regarding the access to education, the history of the situation, the possible impact
of current events, the positive role media can have when it comes to providing information to people living
in conflict and the tangible
impact the media has on the enrolment percentages.

Keywords:

Afghanistan; gender equality; media; right to education; Taliban; women’s rights

Resumen:

Por años, académicos han investigado
cómo las sociedades en conflicto desarrollan sus prácticas
educativas y han examinado el papel que desempeña la educación en la creación o el mantenimiento de los conflictos.
Afganistán, debido a sus regímenes cambiantes y a la incertidumbre general, se encuentra entre
los países con las tasas más bajas de matriculación en la educación moderna y de
alfabetización de adultos.
Dada la evolución en el año 2021, este artículo se centra en las obligaciones legales relativas al acceso a la educación, la historia
de los hechos, el posible
impacto de los acontecimientos actuales, el papel positivo que pueden
tener los medios de comunicación a la
hora de proporcionar información
a las personas que viven en
conflicto, y el impacto tangible que
tienen los medios de comunicación en los porcentajes de matrícula.

Palabras clave:

Afganistán; derecho a la educación;
derechos de la mujer; igualdad de
género; medios de comunicación; Talibán

Summary. 1. Introduction. 2. Summary of the situation. 3. Scope of the relevant
provisions. 4. Government’s duties. 5. Analysis
of the situation in the field. 6. Role of the Media.
7. Conclusion.

Como citar: Malgorzata,
M. (2022). Right to education in Afghanistan and the impact of the media. Ñawi: arte diseño comunicación, Vol. 6, núm. 1, 201-213.

http://www.nawi.espol.edu.ec/ www.doi.org/10.37785/nw.v6n1.a10

This
work is under an international license Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial 4.0.

1.
Introduction

The situation of armed conflict in
the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (Afghanistan) has been ongoing
since 1978. The case escalated when the armed uprising, instigated by various
groups including the Taliban,
transformed into guerrilla-type combat against the Government and its
supporters, in an attempt to gain
control. The groups allegedly, amongst others, executed a significant number of attacks
against protected objects,
including schools, mosques
and hospitals. Consistent with Taliban’s doctrine, women have been attacked and
threatened via the means of “intimidation, death threats, abductions and killings”. Resulting
in women and girls not attending school or work due to the “climate of fear”. On the other
side, according to the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) findings, the Taliban is believed to have conscripted or enlisted children
under 15 and made them take part in the hostilities.
(Situation in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (Public redacted version of
“Request for authorisation of
an investigation pursuant to article 15”, 20 November 2017,
ICC-02/17-7-Conf-Exp), 2017, pp. 7-60)

Given the
recent events, the fall of Kabul on the 15th of August 2021, the writer wanted
to take this opportunity
to use this platform for advocacy for the conservation of women’s and
children’s rights (Internacional
Criminal Court, 2017; Bowcott, 2020). This piece will focus on the right to
education, which is recognised by the
Afghan Constitution and various international legal instruments, and the complications brought on by the existence
of an armed conflict. To illustrate the magnitude of this issue, in 2019 around 3-5 million Afghan
children were out of school (85% of whom are girls). This figure becomes more important when we
notice that only 37% of girls is literate, compared to 66% of their counterparts (Human
Rights Watch, 2019). It is abundantly clear that education has extensive influence on minors’ development
and their ability to exercise their freedoms, to develop skills, overcome
discrimination and more broadly to live fulfilling lives (Human Rights
Watch, 2009).

2.
Summary of the situation

The
armed conflict stems
from the 1978 coup d’état, which
put the People’s Democratic Party
of Afghanistan (PDPA) in power. The PDPA ruling led to “a
massive repression, sparking
local revolts and mutinies
within the army”. This, in conjunction with the disputes
and coups inside
the factions, caused
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) to invade Afghanistan in
1979. Which in time gave a rise to
the mujahideen, a “nationwide resistance movement among both tribal and
urban groups”. The mujahideen received aid, mainly weapons, from, among others,
the United States (US). The USSR withdrew in 1988. However, both the US
and the USSR carried on providing, military and economic help to their clientele. The Government was dependent
on the militia groups, in return supplying
them with USSR provided money
and weaponry. When the USSR backed Government collapsed, in 1992,
a four year long civil war between
the rival mujahideen groups broke out. The groups executed various
attacks and used excessive force, which resulted in the deaths of
thousands of civilians and left vast parts
of the capital in ruins (“Request for authorisation of an investigation
pursuant to article 15”, 2017). This chaos enabled
the rise of the Taliban.
(2017, pp. 10-11)

In regard to education, the PDPA led
Government put pressure on an increase of the school enrolment numbers and introduced an adult study program.
Those plans faced
a considerable amount
of criticism and educational institutions were deliberately targeted, by
the mujahideen. The rural areas took the hardest
beating. Many teachers got attacked or killed and the schools
were ruined. The attacks
against the sector persisted during the civil war. Later on, the schools
became one of Taliban’s main targets (Glad, 2009, p. 7). Taliban’s oppression comprised of: “edicts restricting movement, the denial of the right to work, beatings and
other physical abuse, arbitrary detention and a near ban on post-pubescent
girls’ education”. The influence of these differed across the
regions and the execution was inconsistent and unforeseeable (Human Rights Watch, 2010, p. 16).

The parents kept their children out of school due to fear, spread by means of “public announcements and night letters”. Furthermore, the Taliban set school buildings
ablaze or destroyed
them using “IEDs, rockets and grenades”. (2017, p. 61)

In 2003 the Asian Development Bank
estimated that 80% of all school buildings had been damaged or were in ruins (Glad, 2009). Girls’ schools
were targeted disproportionally often (“Request for
authorisation of an investigation pursuant to article 15”, 2017). The
United Nations research showed that during that period
only 3% of girls received
any form of primary education
(Human Rights Watch,
2010). At the same time, there is reason to believe that the Taliban
recruited and trained children under 15. According to the Human
Rights Watch (HRW),
boys starting at the age of six were recruited and taught religious
subjects for as long as seven years (Human Rights
Watch, 2016).

These children have allegedly been
used to commit suicide attacks or carry munitions. This cycle continued until well after Taliban’s “fall” in 2001 (between
2010 and 2014 the recruitment and use of 401
children was reported) (Situation in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
(Public redacted version of “Request for authorisation of an
investigation pursuant to article 15”, 20 November 2017, ICC-02/17- 7-Conf-Exp), 2017, pp. 74-65)

The general situation did not improve
much directly after 2001 either. Over a thousand various attacks were reported (amongst them: grenades, night letters or
verbal threats and murder of students
and personnel) between January 2006 and December 2008 (Glad, 2009).
However, in spite
of the dangers,
some home schools for girls were established, with the help of different UN organisations and NGO’s working in the country
(Glad, 2009). In 2002, around one
million children were enrolled in
formal education, and by the 2008-2009 academic year, this number exceeded six
million (Glad, 2009).

From 2010
to 2021, the Taliban appeared to have mostly halted its attacks, they however
continued to impose
their (educational) policies via the means of threats and violence. In practice
they still controlled the
“school curricula, textbooks, hiring of teachers, and set other
conditions such as bans on mixed education and on girls’ secondary
education” (2017, p. 73). Within their curricula the Taliban focused almost solely on religious
studies and the children are usually not taught English (Giustozzi & Franco, 2020).

As of summer of 2021, after the announcement by US President
Biden of the complete withdrawal
of American troops from Afghanistan by 31 August
2021, the Taliban troops advanced across the
country leading to the fall of capital Kabul on the 15th of August
(Mohammad et al., Standing with Afghanistan: Women’s Rights and the Role of International Law, 2021). Officially, the Taliban leaders
have announced that they want to grant women rights “according to
Islam”. This however has been met
with great skepticism, including by women leaders in Afghanistan. These worries
have sadly become reality,
seeing as this July the United Nations
reported the number
of women and girls killed
and injured in the first six months of the year nearly doubled compared
to the same period the year before (Mohammad & Sapiano, 2021). The Taliban
in time also reimposed discriminatory restrictions on women, including the rule stating
that women should not leave their homes without an accompanying male relative and have also requested
households to marry off one of their daughters to the Taliban fighters. Girls have been banned from
school and their freedom of movement has been severely restricted. This has resulted in fears over the re-introduction
of the burqa and further discriminatory treatment
of women (Mohammad et al., 2021). Some women have even had to destroy evidence
of their education and life outside the home (Mohammad & Sapiano, 2021).

3.
Scope of the relevant
provisions

Nationally, article 43 of the 2004
Afghanistan’s Constitution establishes that education “is the right of all citizens which shall be
provided up to the level of the B.A. free of charge by the State”. The administration must, as codified
in articles 43 and 17, “devise and implement effective
programs for a balanced
expansion of education all over Afghanistan, provide compulsory intermediate
level education” and
“adopt necessary measures for promotion of education at all levels”
(Human Rights Watch, 2016,
p. 112)

However, when previously mentioned
attacks happen, as part of armed conflict, the rules of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) apply simultaneously
(Henckaerts & Doswald-Beck, 2005). IHL is the section of international law that
deals with and regulates the conduct of hostilities (Melzer & Kuster,
2016).

IHL governs the military actions of
the combatants and balances it against the principle of humanity and humane treatment. This area is made up of two
paths: the law of The Hague (the law of
war) and the law of Geneva (the humanitarian law) (Pictet, 1975). This piece only focuses on the second
part.

To
understand the applicability of this domain
of law, we first must unravel the meaning of the armed conflict term. IHL distinguishes between two types of armed
conflicts, namely: the international
armed conflicts (between two or more States) and non-international armed
conflicts (International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC), 2008). Non-international armed conflicts, such as this situation, are defined, by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia in the Tadic case, as follows:
“protracted armed confrontations occurring between Governmental armed forces

and the forces of one or more-armed groups, or between such groups arising
on the territory of a State (party
to the Geneva Conventions).

The
armed confrontation must reach a minimum level
of intensity and the parties
involved in the conflict
must show a minimum of organisation” (Prosecutor v. Dusko Tadic aka
“Dule” (Decision on the Defence
Motion for Interlocutory Appeal on Jurisdiction), 1995, pp. 561-568).

The
universally ratified Geneva
Conventions, lay down the groundwork in regard to International Law for humanitarian treatment during
armed conflict (International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), 2009). In this
case, it is art. 3 of the Geneva Conventions which is relevant as it
encompasses “armed conflicts
not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties”. This definition includes “armed conflicts in which one or more non-Governmental armed groups are involved” (International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC), 1949, p. art.3). Which
is the part the Afghanistan situation falls under (Office of the
Prosecutor, 2017). In short, this article,
in conjunction with art. 11 (which prohibits
any form of derogation), strictly
forbids attacks on civilians or civilian objects. Schools qualify as
civilian objects, as long as they are not occupied and utilised by the enemy’s armed forces. Students,
teachers, and so forth are protected given their civilian status, unless they are “directly taking
part in the hostilities” (Muzima,
2018). It is the Government’s duty to then sufficiently grant that protection.

4.
Government’s duties

The committed acts can also be seen
as human rights violations, which infringe on the people’s right to education. Human Rights Law
(IHRL) and IHL law have the same purpose namely protecting persons
(Hyll-Larsen, 2010). During
armed conflicts, the above explained IHL applies and is viewed
as lex specialis (Anderson et
al., 2011). Nevertheless, IHRL is continuously applicable, keeping in mind that some civil and political rights
can be suspended or suppressed (derogated from) in case of “public emergency threatening the life of the nation, such as an armed conflict”.

Besides what has been mentioned
above, the Declaration of the Rights of the Child states that children due to their “physical and
mental immaturity, need special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection”
(Declaration of the Rights of the Child, G.A. res. 1386 (XIV), 14 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 19 (entered into
force 20 November 1959), 1959). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights takes a similar approach:
“motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance” (The United Nations
General Assembly, Draft Comittee, 1948). Pointing out that children
are one of the most vulnerable parts of the population and have been given extra insurances under domestic and international law,
especially during situations of armed conflict (International Committee
of the Red Cross, 2020).
More concretely, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) obligates the States to: “take all feasible measures to ensure protection and care of children who are
affected by an armed conflict” (UN General Assembly, 1989, p. art. 38).
One of the fundamental guarantees codified
in Protocol II is that the children
will obtain the required care and aid, especially:

“that they shall receive an education, including
religious and moral education, in keeping with the wishes of their parents, or in the absence, of those responsible for their care” (UN General Assembly,
2000, p. art. 4(3)).

Concerning the use of child soldiers,
article 38 of CRC, requires
the States to: “respect and ensure respect for rules of international
humanitarian law applicable to them in armed conflicts, take all feasible measures to ensure that
under-15-year-olds do not take a direct part in hostilities, refrain from recruiting them into armed forces and give priority
to the oldest when recruiting 15- to 18-year-
olds” (UNESCO, 2007). Protocol II follows the same pattern.
(UN General Assembly,
2000, p. art.1)

In addition to the above, the
International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW) establish the existence of similar duties, all of which have been
ratified by Afghanistan (UN General Assembly,
1966; UN General
Assembly, 1989).

However, the right to education is
classified as a progressive right. By means of the ratification of the international agreements the State
agrees to: “take steps . . . to the maximum of its available resources to the full realisation of the right to education” (UN General Assembly, 1966,
p. art.2(1)) The law
does not specify what level of education has to be put forward, except the
following: “primary education
must be compulsory and available free to all and secondary education must be
available and accessible to every
child”. (Convention on the Rights
of the Child, 1990, art. 28)

The prohibition of discrimination, on the other hand, has a different legal standing. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
the body which interprets the provisions of the ICESCR, has stated that: “the prohibition
against discrimination enshrined in art. 2(2) of the ICESCR is subject to neither
progressive realisation nor the availability of resources; it applies fully and immediately to all aspects
of education and encompasses all internationally prohibited grounds of discrimination”.

The Government is obligated to provide education “on the basis of equal opportunity and without discrimination of any kind irrespective
of the child’s race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national
ethnic or social
origin, property, disability, birth or other
status”. (Convention on the Rights
of the Child, 1990, arts.
28(1), 2(1)) Meaning
that, even though
the applicable law allows the continuation of, for example, the
existence of separate educational systems or institutions for the various genders, these have to
“offer equivalent access to education, provide teaching staff with qualifications of the same standard
as well as school premises
and equipment of the same quality, and afford
the opportunity to take the same or equivalent courses of study” (General
recommendation No. 30 on women in conflict
prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations, 1 November 2013).

Regarding the possibility of
derogation, the Committee on the Rights of the Child stressed that States should “take measures to
secure the rights of all children within their jurisdiction in times of armed conflict” and that “the
principles of the Convention are not subject to derogation in times of armed conflict” (UN Committee on the Rights
of the Child, 28 September
- 9 October 1992).

Article 4 of ICESCR states that
Governments can only make use of the derogation provisions if such is “determined by law only in
so far as this may be compatible with the nature of these rights and solely for the purpose of promoting
the general welfare in a democratic society”. (Government of Australia, 2020) The UN Committee
established that these limitations have to be: “proportional and must be the least restrictive alternative where several types of limitations are available, and that even where such limitations are permitted, they should be of limited
duration and subject
to review”. Additionally, acts which are retrogressive to the fulfilment of the human rights have to be adequately justified (Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department). In general recommendation 73(c), the CEDAW
Committee established that States should: “ensure that new constitutions
provide for temporary special
measures, apply to citizens and non-citizens, and guarantee that women’s
human rights are not subject to
derogation in states of emergency” (General recommendation No. 30 on women in conflict
prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations, 1 November 2013).

5.
Analysis of the situation in the field

As a result of the conflict, a vast
number of children live too far from a school to be able to participate, which impacts girls
particularly (Human Rights Watch, 2019). Before 2021, community- based education has granted access to education to many of these girls,
however this was never meant
to be a long-term solution. Additionally, even though the government
schools are tuition- free, the families still
face various costs.
For example, they are still expected to buy the supplies and often must purchase textbooks (HRW, 2017, p. 20). These costs
are generally enough for the children to be kept at home, seeing as around 25% of Afghan children has to
work, for their household, to sustain through
impoverishment. Girls “weave, embroider, beg, or pick garbage
rather than study”. (HRW, 2019, p. 4) Moreover, parents frequently prefer to grant the access to education
to the sons, “girls’ education
is seen as wholly undesirable or acceptable only for a few years before
puberty” (recognising that in Afghanistan
30% of girls gets married under 18, which indisputably leads to discontinuation
of their education) (Blum et al., 2019).

Even if they overcome these first hurdles, the absence of infrastructure, materials and monitoring frequently results in the children “studying in a tent
with no textbook for only three hours a day” (Blum et al., 2019). Around 41% of government schools does not have actual
buildings, even when they do, they are overpopulated most of the
time (Human Rights Watch, 2019). In addition, the existing buildings
are often “damaged, decrepit and lacking
furniture and supplies”. One- third of the schools
lacks non- toxic tap water and over half does not have toilets.
Lastly, as of before 2021, overcrowding, as a consequence of the prescribed gender
segregation, lead to schools having to split the days into two or three parts, creating
an insufficient amount
of time to correctly cover the curriculum.

On
the other side, teaching is no longer
viewed as a preferable profession and adults with
an insufficient level of education and training are recruited for the
positions (HRW, 2017, p. 21). Furthermore, there is a general shortage
of professionals (Centner,
2012). The lack of accountability

results in situations where the teachers are often not
present and usually do not get replaced. This
combined with the deficit of, especially female teachers prepared
to be stationed in the rural regions
has undercut the success of the undertaken efforts.

Moreover, the teachers face many
obstacles such as: “short school shifts, gaps in staffing, low salaries (often under US$100 a month) and
the impact of poor infrastructure” (HRW, 2017, p. 22). Additionally, the present corruption, in
its various forms, undermines the sector notably (Centner, 2012).

The
previously explained legal framework requires
the Government to ensure that all children
are able to receive
sufficient education. It obligates the
States to abstain from hampering the exercise
of the right to education, such as the refusal of access to certain
individuals or groups. They are also required to take preventative measures to ensure that third parties do not undermine
the application of the right education, for instance sheltering primary schools from attacks.

Violations can take place through
either acts of commission (when the Government actively interferes or permits others to interfere with the exercise of
the right) or omission (when the Government
does not undertake any action to actualize the right, even when it has the
essential resources). Three main ways
in which a State can violate its duty are: (legislative) retrogression, discrimination and failure to take measures
to provide accessible education (Anderson, Hofmann
and Hyll-Larsen, 2011, pp. 111-112).

As of 2019/2020,
Afghanistan spent around 13% of its public expenditure and 4% of its GDP on
education, which is less than prescribed by UNESCO (Human Rights Watch, 2019).
The reality, as illustrated above, is that to this day a significant number
of minors still does not receive basic education and even if they do it often does not
surpass class nine. There is no effective way of locating out-of- school children and (re)enrolling them. The families who choose to keep their
children at home do not face any consequences (HRW, 2017, p. 41). The ongoing attacks
and the lack of resources create real obstacles (Human Rights Watch,
2019, p.6; Beaumont,
2019). Furthermore, given
the present gender
norms, attempts to encourage parents
to educate their daughters could
be seen as controversial and result
in violence (Sudduth, 2009, p. 584). The situation after the summer of 2021
remains highly uncertain, however
it is clear that women and girls will be highly disadvantaged.

6.
Role of the Media

This century (social) media plays a
significant role with regards to the spread of the information about people’s rights and the situation on the ground
when it comes to their violations. Furthermore, the documentation of current affairs is all the more important
in the pursuit of justice, as an educational
tool as well as possible evidence. Film is also commonly being used for
advocacy, fundraising, illustrating
the plight of the people, in real time allowing for significant impact.
Protests such as the one organized by Afghan women in Kabul
against Taliban rule,
the regime’s new curbs on their rights
and Pakistan’s
influence on the country are now being broadcasted visually
(live) all over

the globe. Cell Phones are now being used as cameras, replacing
the more rigid camera teams, which allows for flexibility and to capture and
post the ongoing events immediately. Images taken at the airport during the evacuation will stay in the minds of people
for at least a generation, the quality of the
footage being insignificant. Phones have become the witness of the day,
allowing for messages such as
“We want equal rights, we want women in government,” and “Why
is the world watching us silently and cruelly?” are being seen directly by key players
(Bloch, 2021).

It is vital for the younger
generation to see messages like the ones mentioned above and to understand the importance of what they
stand for. This shift in thinking is enabled by various platforms, the media being the most convenient and accessible one. Alongside the previously mentioned more broad messages, the importance of education, especially for girls has been explicitly expressed in various (news) reports, which have been watched by an extensive part of the population. Even though the following is extremely hard to measure,
it has at least planted
a seed in the citizens/
parents’ minds, which will hopefully lead to them following
through and putting emphasis on their children receiving education.

7.
Conclusion

The
law is clear, every child deserves to receive an education, no matter the conditions prevailing in their country of residence (Azhar, 2012). Additionally,
education in situations of armed conflict is
especially important, given that these children are the most vulnerable to various types of exploitation (Richards, 2011). Despite the allocation of humanitarian aid
“poor security in many parts of the country,
lack of infrastructure and inadequate numbers of trained personnel”
severely restrict the ability to
realise a substantive upswing, these issues will only become more pressing as
the situation develops
over the next couple of months of 2021 (Human Rights Watch,
2004). The visual
media plays a vital role in keeping an eye on the
situation allowing politicians and civil society to put pressure on the Taliban, and to amplify the voices of
the girls and women in the country encouraging the various aid organisations to continue to take action to help the most affected and endangered (Azhar,
2012). In doing so, even
though it is extremely difficult to extract the exact numbers from the field at
the moment, raising awareness about
the importance of keeping the schools accessible, especially for girls.

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Image: Azadeh Ghahvie