By: Salman Yousafzai
PESHAWAR: The Afghan girls’ dreams of receiving education in Pakistan are likely to shatter as Pakistan has asked Afghan refugees to leave by March 31.
“After the Taliban took over in Afghanistan, I came to Peshawar for study because we were forced to leave the country due to the ban on girls’ education there so that I could go to a country where I could get an education,” This was stated by Ayesha Usman, a native of Kabul, Afghanistan, who is currently attending classes of an English language and computer courses at a private institution in Peshawar.
Ayesha said that she fears that if she goes back to Afghanistan, her dream of getting an education would be shattered.
The federal government has set a deadline of March 31 and asked legal and illegal Afghan refugees to leave Pakistan, while government and private educational institutions in Peshawar have issued notices to Afghan students to leave their educational institutions.
Details of Afghan children holding Afghan citizen cards have already been collected. Such children were admitted to government and private educational institutions in Peshawar and various districts of the province, but now notices have been issued to them to leave school, and the implementation of this has begun.
On the other hand, according to statistics, more than 10,000 students are studying in 37 private schools of Afghan refugees in Peshawar and its suburbs, while according to UNHCR spokesperson Qaiser Khan Afridi, more than 55,000 students are studying in 103 schools established in 43 settlements of Afghan refugees in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He further said that these schools provided primary and secondary level education, while some schools were established in homes. However, after the government decides to deport Afghan refugees, the educational journey of thousands of boys and girls may be in danger.
