The real schools of Afghanistan and Pakistan

Failing Grades

The real schools of Afghanistan and Pakistan look nothing like the fantasy peddled by Greg Mortenson.

APRIL 19, 2011

Humanitarian activist Greg Mortenson built a legacy out of building schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan -- a legacy that a recent 60 Minutes piece and investigation by journalist Jon Krakauer found was largely disingenuous. Mortenson's organization, the Central Asia Institute (CAI), has claimed enormous success in its school-building endeavors: As of 2010, CAI reports it has established over 170 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, providing education to over 68,000 students. The investigation alleges that Mortenson lied about parts of his personal story -- including the especially inspirational bit where, lost and sick, he stumbled into a small village near the mountain he had been climbing, K2, was nursed back to health by villagers, and vowed to build them a school. 60 Minutes said it went to 30 of Mortenson's schools and found about half empty, built by someone else, or not actually receiving support from Mortenson's organization.
To be sure, building schools has been a central element of development efforts in the region and a way to fight terrorism and combat Islamic extremism. But in the real schools of Afghanistan and Pakistan, a much different and more nuanced picture of the battle to educate millions emerges.
Above, in the small village of Dand, Afghanistan, one of Cheplany Primary School's landowners crosses paths with Kamilah, a student at the school, in June 2006. The school was built by an NGO in 2004 on land donated by the headmaster. The school was burned in May 2006, reportedly by the Taliban.

Getty Images

Before the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, decades of war and mismanagement -- and strict religious Taliban edicts -- resulted in an estimated 80 percent of school buildings in the country being damaged or destroyed. Women and girls, in particular, were especially disadvantaged. The number of girls in the educational system has risen from 5,000 in 2001 to 2.4 million in March 2011, though many still do not attend regularly or are forced to drop out early.
Above, Afghan students head to their homes in Lakari, Helmand province, on March 5, watched over by patrolling U.S. Marines and Afghan National Army soldiers.

ADEK BERRY/AFP/Getty Images

There were nearly 300,000 internally displaced Afghans as of January 2010, according to the U.N. refugee agency. In a country where about half of its citizens are under age 18, that's a huge number of children left without a home, let alone a school. Above, an internally displaced Afghan man stands outside a temporary school at a refugee camp in Kabul on Feb. 11, 2011.

ADEK BERRY/AFP/Getty Images

The Taliban's distaste for women's education is widely known -- and educating girls was reportedly one of Mortenson's top priorities. The suppression of girls' education has resulted in an illiteracy rate of 87 percent among Afghan women.
And Taliban violence against schoolgirls is again on the rise. Above, an Afghan man closes the main door to the Totya Girls' School in Kabul, following the suspected poisoning of its students in August 2010. About 40 students fell ill and were taken to the hospital after a suspected gas poisoning.

YURI CORTEZ/AFP/Getty Images

In Afghanistan today, boys typically spend about 11 years in school, while girls average about seven years. Above, Afghan girls attend class in Kabul on Sept. 20, 2010.

PATRICK BAZ/AFP/Getty Images

Progress in education is one of the few success stories of international efforts in Afghanistan over the past decade. According to a report from 16 aid agencies, including Oxfam and Care International, 2,281 schools were built in Afghanistan over the past two years.
But before aid agencies and government programs poured approximately $1.9 billion into the Afghan educational system, things were dire. Above, Afghan boys in the Shamshatoo refugee camp in Pakistan listen to a teacher in October 2001. A nearby school building for girls was left unfinished due to lack of funding.

Getty Images

In many places in Pakistan, the school situation is not much better. Only about 63 percent of schoolchildren finish primary school. But Pakistan has been making progress. According to the U.N Development Program, it has the 18th-worst literacy rate in the world, but literacy levels are rising by 10 percentage points every generation, according to UNESCO. Above, Pakistani children displaced due to last summer's massive floods receive Eid al-Fitr care packages in a refugee camp in Sukkur on Sept. 7, 2010.

ADEK BERRY/AFP/Getty Images

The Zharghona Ana High School for Girls in Kandahar was one of the first girls' schools to open in the deeply conservative Afghan south. Its opening in early 2002 was met by a campaign of posters telling fathers that their daughters' noses and ears would be cut off if they went to school. Above, a teacher addresses her first-grade class during a Feb. 25, 2002, lesson.

Getty Images

Nasrullah, 4, and a friend stand outside the bullet-ridden Habibia High School in Kabul on Jan. 23, 2002. The school, severely damaged by years of war, was reopened that spring. At the start of the international effort in Afghanistan, one report from the Asian Development Bank estimated that in order to enroll 85 percent of school-age children in primary schools over the decade, 43,500 teachers would have to be hired and 13,851 schools would have to be built. That goal has not been reached.

Getty Images

Even before the floods of 2010, Pakistan had a huge internally displaced population. Approximately 3 million people were forced to leave their homes due to fighting and ongoing military operations against the Taliban. Above, internally displaced children recite the Arabic alphabet in a madrasa at the Shah Mansoor camp in July 2009. Pakistan has seen tremendous growth in attendance at Islamic schools -- there are about 20,000 madrasas currently in Pakistan, up from roughly 137 at the time of Partition in 1947.

Getty Images

Not all girls' schools in Afghanistan are under siege. In the relatively peaceful province of Bamiyan, girls are able to attend school without fear of violence. Above, an Afghan student reads to her classmates during a math class at the Shirin Hazara High School on Oct. 13, 2010.

Getty Images

Afghan schoolchildren attend a class in Helmand province on March 5, 2011, as U.S. Marines patrol with Afghanistan National Army soldiers nearby. The progress made on education, especially for girls, is at risk as the international community prepares for withdrawal. The Afghan school system faces significant challenges -- high absentee rates, poverty, corruption, increasing insecurity, and a shortage of supplies, buildings, and teachers. While over 2,000 schools were built in the past two years, 47 percent still lack actual buildings -- a figure that may include some of the schools that Mortenson's NGO claimed to have constructed.
FF