The Italian Civil and Military Cooperation (CIMIC), of the Train Advise Assist Command West (TAAC-W) organized and conducted last weekend two important donations in favor of schools in the villages of Syawashan and Sarjegal which respectively have 5000 and 900 students.
Three hundred series of double desks, blackboards, chairs and teaching aids, in an adequate number, will make it possible to set up another 20 classes for boys and girls from the two villages and the neighboring rural areas, while the computer supports and stationery will be dedicated to the implementation of the directions and teaching rooms. The lack of school buildings and equipped classrooms is among the main criticalities of the province's school sector; for several years, in fact, for the approximately 15.000 students who finish their schooling, 100.000 new enrollments have arrived, with 35% of students forced to attend outdoor lessons.
The materials, purchased with Italian civil-military cooperation funds, were delivered to the school leaders and elders of the villages concerned, gathered at the Gozarah district police station, at the end of a shura held by General Massimo Biagini, commander of the TAAC W.
During the assembly, the commander of the TAAC-W first listened to the intervening elders and school administrators, then focusing on the vital importance of school education for children - a company's real wealth - emphasizing the need to always implement plus women's access to schools of all levels, a focal point of the work of the Italian contingent in the field of female integration.
The province of Herat, area in which the Italian contingent operates from the 2006, hosts 1.180 schools with 980.000 students and 20.000 tenured teachers, with a percentage of around 80% of young people of school age. In most districts, the 48% of students are female, while the 52% are male, with the exception of the Injil district, where there is a clearer male majority. Furthermore, the 65% of the teachers' body is made up of women. These very encouraging data show a markedly improved situation compared to the beginning of the 2000 when women's education and teaching roles open to women amounted to zero.
Support to the population, in adherence to the 2017 Master Plan realized in collaboration with the specialists of the Multinational Cimic Group of the Army of Motta di Livenza, is an activity that joins the main one of training and assistance of the Afghan Security Forces, focus primary of the mission of Resolute Support.
