BAMYAN (PAN): Officials said Daikundi education witnessed immense development but residents said relevant authorities were needed to further expand the education to far-flung areas of the country.    
Residents expressed their reservations by saying that some of the schools had no buildings and were facing acute shortage of efficient and professional teachers.
Mohammad Ali Wasiq, head of Daikundi Education Department acknowledged the sector was facing challenges, adding authorities had stepped up efforts to address problems being faced by the vital sector.
The province has a total 339 schools in which 170,000 students are being imparted education by more than 400 teachers, he remarked.
The province has an established private university, five agriculture and business administration Institutes and four night schools where 4,000 students are enrolled with 44 % of them are girls’ students.
He said education achieved remarkable 30% improvement in terms of getting advanced infrastructure with the continued flow of students’ enrollment.
As many as 3,100 students from Daikundi had successfully passed the university entry test in 2012, which showed the education sector had gained momentum in the province, he added.
However, Hadi Rahimi, provincial council secretary said credit went to the students’ parents, education department and students themselves who extended their all out support bolster the literacy rate.
He said parents were now more willing to send their kids to schools, adding that more students went to Kabul for tuitions courses during their vacations in Daikundi educational institutions.
Ahmad Ali Sadiqi, a Daikundi resident said students worked hard by attending tuitions courses in Kabul during their vacation, making them more capable to pass the university entry tests.
He said people had now realized that education was the only way forward to resolve their problems and end their economic woes that was why they had shifted their focus to education.
Several schools face lack of infrastructure in the province, forcing students to take classes in rented houses or under open sky.
He said the problem of deficiency of professional teachers was a major challenge, which was threatening the entire education sector.
Problems:
Nauroz Ali, a resident of Daikundi said there were serious flaws in curriculum, adding that measures were needed to be taken to overhaul the education sector in greater interests of the nation.
Lack of professional teachers and teachers’ repeated absence from schools put the future of students at stake, he said, demanding the government to ponder serious ways to rehabilitate and develop the vital sector.
He urged community should contribute and extend its support to the education sector to remove the existing challenges.
However, the Ministry of Education said around 70 schools would be constructed in Daikundi, Ghor and Bamyan province with the collocated fund of $25 million.
At least 24 schools in Bamyan, 32 in Daikundi and 32 more would be built in Ghor province.
Education Minister Dr. Farooq had said last year that by the end of next year, every village of the country would have a school and every school would have teachers and every student would have books.
Every year, as many as $125 million being extended by the international community is spent on development of education sector, said the Ministry of Education.