Schools in Afghanistan began in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, hundred of years ago with a few male students. Schools began with boys because the males are revered in Afghanistan. Women take a back seat to men, particularly in education. The cultural tradition of enabling male students to attend school, while not allowing women, began with the first Afghan school. And then, after many years the government began allowing girls to attend school. In Kabul, for instance, by the 1970s, girls and boys, as well as women and men attended school together; they were even in the same classrooms, especially at the university level. Shah Mahmud, prime minister from 1946 to 1953, who also sanctioned free elections and a relatively free press, and the so-called “liberal parliament” that functioned from 1949 to 1952, started this wave of liberalism. But Mahmud’s ideas were not accepted in the countryside. So schooling spread throughout Afghanistan slowly and many people outside Kabul weren’t interested. Eventually the president ordered the children from the streets into schools. Children were forced into school. It was the beginning of compulsory schooling. Before school, people in Afghanistan got their education in the Islamic schools – Madrasahs controlled by Islamic priests. The new Afghan schools started with Indian teachers; they, in turn, trained other Madrasahs’ teachers. The local teachers taught new subjects, but behaved in the same manner they were used to. As was my experience and what I have heard, after the war with the Russians and the Taliban, schools changed from the way they were under Mahmud’s rule and teachers in traditional schools behaved very harshly towards students. In Afghanistan, teachers are very formal with students and very often this formality leads to violence. The theory is that violence makes students work harder.
Teachers in Afghanistan punish students, beating them with a stick, slapping them, and forcing them to stand until the end class in front of other students, sometimes behind a door. Some teachers even squeeze a pen between students’ fingers. The punishment in schools for boys differs from the punishment in schools for girls. From my experience in different schools in Afghanistan, girls are insulted rather than physically abused. Punishment in schools for boys is very hard, sometimes even violent. Teachers beat the students very hard. I know a boy from my schooling years, in primary school, that was slapped so hard that he became deaf. The boy’s father came to the school and yelled at the teachers. The teacher was fired from the school, but after a while he came back. I have a nephew who was always on time for his classes. Whenever he was late he cried, fearing physical punishment. He preferred not to go to school than to be late because he knew he would have to suffer at the hands of his teacher.
Current students in Afghanistan appear to have a different experience, though. Firuz Rahimi, who is living in London, shared his schooling memories with me by email. He studied in one of the northern provinces of Afghanistan. In his words, “I went to school in Kunduz, Afghanistan, back in 1970s. I had two very cruel teachers. They use to beat us and even kick us from time to time. If we were late to the class or if we didn’t do our homework we would have been punished. I remember one boy was beaten up with a stick when he missed one day of school. I am hearing now that things are changing but I am not sure how they will change our memories” (Firuz). A student will test the teachers’ beating early on in the school day in Afghanistan. The teacher will beat students if they are late or if they didn’t do their homework. From my experience, some children, before going to school, were aware of the teacher’s behaviors. They accepted the teacher’s beatings as a form of teaching and learning.
Teachers are kings in the Afghan education system. Arguing with the teacher is not acceptable at schools. The teacher will get angry when students challenge her. Pupils cannot say anything if the teachers wants to do whatever they want. The type of punishment given to a student is totally opened to the teacher; it is his choice. “I was going to school in Ningrahar province,” says Abdullah. “I remember one day our history teacher punished a boy when he was not able to answer a question. His punishment was to put a pen between his figures and then he pressed his fingers together. That boy was crying but our teacher was looking at other students and saying if you don’t work hard that will happen to you too, so we have no control to say anything” says thirteen year old school boy Abudllah Ahadi.
But a teacher’s importance is different in a school for girls. When girls can not answer questions in the class the teacher encourages them, but if the answer is not correct then teachers embarrass the student in front her classmates so that next time she will study harder. I can’t forget the day when I couldn’t solve a math question on the board and I was forced to stand in front of the door for a half an hour. I cried the entire time, but the teacher didn’t let me sit. I just stood there, humiliated.
When I started researching the role of teachers in Afghan schools, most of the students in Afghanistan or who studied in Afghanistan shared bad memories of schooling with me, but there were some who were happy with the system. Firishat Tahmas, a 12th grade student in Kabul, said to me via email, “I am a student in Kabul. I love my teachers as they are very kind and friendly with us. They never beat us and they always speak to us gently. My Mother is also a teacher. But she is not in my class. My mother tells me that all students are her children and she is looking after them. I am proud of her and I know other students like her too because she never beats them. She helps students during the exam” (Tahmas). There are many students that agree with the education system in Afghanistan. They believe it does work. Mirwais, another Afghan student who is studying at Middlebury College, told me that the system is very good in Afghanistan; teachers are respected and students are friendlier at schools than most parts of the world. He said it would be very good if students were also respected.
For sure there are teachers that are very kind and students can study their subjects effectively because they love the teacher. But in some cases there can be partiality between the teacher and the student. Favoritism among the teachers and students is very strong. Unfortunately, it is encouraged in our educational system. Shabana Basij Rasikh, an Afghan student studying at Middlebury College, told me that she did feel happy with the system at first, but when she looked back she realizes favoritism in school. “I was one of the students who benefited by favoritism,” says Shabana. “I was always used as an example to students who were having difficulties with their lessons — something that encouraged me to study more as a young girl. But now that I look back, I realize that it diminishes many students. I hope the support system will extend to every student” (Basij Rasikh). Favoritism because of family relations also has the negative impact. Often a student will be the first in her or his class, not by merit, but because a parent or a relative is a teacher in the same school. Of course all the teachers do not have the same idea and accept neither favoritism nor family relationships; many of them are very patient.
In Afghanistan respect for elders is traditional. The young have to respect the elders, so Afghan teachers expect to be respected. Perhaps teachers assume that students should stick to this cultural tradition. Emal Pasarly, an experienced Afghan journalist, said in a phone interview, “Apart from the culture issues teachers think that they are not being respected by the society or the government by not giving them a good paying job nowadays. According to some people recent barbaric killings of some teachers by armed groups and Taliban helped in worsening the teacher student relationship. There is this feeling that teachers believe they are losing good pay and being targeted by armed people yet they don’t get proper respect from their students” (Pasarly). Afghan teachers are not as friendly as they are supposed to be. Students cannot talk with them freely. Students are not allowed to eat anything in the class, not allowed to laugh, and cannot even ask questions. Journalist Pasarly says somehow Afghan teachers believe that by not being friendly they can control a classroom with much ease. He believes a teacher’s violent behavior is used for controlling students and a way to gain respect. Another reason is that they are not paid well and some even think that if they get a better job they might leave teaching. Teachers are worried about their harsh economic situation. People have ideas that a teacher’s family economic situation compels them to act badly towards students. Teachers are not paid well in Afghanistan, approximately 2500af per month, which is equal to $50.
Mostly teachers in elementary schools punish the students and beat them to control the class. “Students can do the homework and study hard when they fear the teacher, otherwise they won’t care about a teacher’s hard working,” said Qudsia Zahir a teacher in one of the schools in Afghanistan in an interview with the BBC’s Persian section. (Why Violent?). Afghan children are brought up, wrongly or rightly, in a strict lifestyle. They are punished all the time at home. There is even a famous saying in Afghanistan that without the fear of punishment there might not be a noble person. Wile I was talking on the phone to my father who has 40 years of experience in education, he said to me, “With that sort of background if one teacher changes his or her attitude towards the students, he/she might not get what they want out of students which might be homework or reading and properly preparing for exams” (Niroo). He believes that there must be some sort of control but it shouldn’t be violent. There are some experts that do agree with the controlling of the classes by changing the teacher’s behaviour. “The Afghan children’s situation doesn’t tell them about the value of knowledge. It needs to be pushed early on. This is why in some periods of education are forced onto children,” says Muhammad Musa an educational expert in Kabul in an interview with the BBC’s Persian section (Why violent?).
But all people in Afghanistan do not accept this idea. Some teachers believe that not having good behavior at schools may affect students physiologically. Firishat Dashti is one teacher that believes that punishment is not good for students. She has been teaching for more than 3 years. “If we react violently to the students they will learn just violence in the society, thus adults are trained in violence from their childhood, so they will learn how to be rude with the people and once they grow up might do violence. Children will learn violence from the teachers’ beatings” (Dashti). On the other hand, psychologists point to the trust relationship between the teachers and students. They consider forcing students to study hard by violent behavior is the way to lose trust towards the teachers. Thus, negatively impacting to the student’s personality and society as a whole.
Mostly primary school children are afraid of teachers; thus many of them leave school. Research shows that most of the violent behavior and abuse at schools can be seen in rural areas. According to researches, in this current year 25 % of the students leave these schools. Experts say beside the security, poverty and shortage of teachers, violent behavior can be the reason. Abdul Aziz a headmaster in one of the schools in Kabul says that, “Students will scare from school when teacher beat them if they just start schooling. Even they may lift the school forever. It can affect their learning process. We should refuse violence from teaching methods” (Why Violent?). Speeches about rejecting violence can be heard all over the Afghan education system, but somehow people believe that violence is the main way to reach their aim. This manner of thinking, and behaving, is not easy to cope with and even impossible to refute. Experts believe that starting the idea of refusing violence either in education or in any other system can be an early, effective strategy in order to have a society without violence. Turning the tide on violence as a solution to problems and a method to reach goals can begin in the educational system.
The Afghan government is trying to raise the quality of education in the country. Reconstruction of school buildings, the acquisition of quality printed books for teaching and learning and new teaching methods have been the focus of the government for the last six years, but violence has yet to decrease in schools. People believe that government can do nothing to decrease the violence in schools; it is accepted as a pedagogical method. But just raising the teachers’ tuition can be helpful. On the other hand, officials emphasize that government cannot focus only on education; they say in a country like Afghanistan bringing peace is a priority. According to Hamida Nezami, head of the education system in Kabul, there are some activities in schools to prevent violent behavior. According to Ms. Nezami, there are seminars to make teachers aware. She said that they are trying to reduce this problem. But in a country where everything is done by force and violence is it possible to reduce violent behavior in the education system? This is the question that only time may answer.
Work Cited:
Ahadi, (Violence behavior at schools) November 10, 2008. Email interview
Basij Rasikh, (Violence behavior at schools) November 11, 2008. Email interview
Dashti, (Violence behavior at schools) November 8, 2008. Phone interview
Faiz, (Violence behavior at schools) November 8, 2008. Email interview
Nizami, (Violence behavior at schools) November 17, 2008. Phone Interviewed
Niroo, (Violence behavior at schools) November 8, 2008. Phone interview
Pasarly, (Violence behavior at schools) November 8, 2008. Phone interview
Rahimi, (Violence behavior at schools) November 8, 2008. Phone interview,
Tahmas, (Violence behavior at schools) November 11, 2008. Email interview.
“Why violent” by Najafizadah, Haroon
http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/afghanistan/story/2006/04/060430_s-corporal- punishment.shtml. Online, November 8, 2008.
