Afghan children back in classroom

In a conflict with no frontline, civilians are frequently caught up in the deadly violence

Eight-year-old Dunya Saboori implores her mother to let her put on her blue shalwar kameez uniform. This weekend marks the beginning of the Afghan school year and she wants to be on time.

“It’s nearly 7:00am and we’re going to be late,” Dunya complains as she sits on a floor cushion in the family’s living room in Kabul, scooping up fried eggs with chunks of bread as her mother Maliha prepares backpacks and locates headscarves.

It is a scene played out in millions of homes around the world. But in war-torn Afghanistan the routine of getting children to and from school is fraught with danger. In a conflict with no frontline, civilians are frequently caught up in the deadly violence.

As the girls eat their breakfast and sip sweet, black tea with their father Baqi, Maliha is in near constant motion, going from room to room ensuring the family will be ready to leave the house on time. A few minutes before 7:00am, Maliha dresses Dunya and Sana in their well-ironed uniforms, covers their dark hair with black scarves, and slides their arms through the straps of their new backpacks. The sisters are at the top of their respective classes, Maliha says proudly.

Dunya and Sana are among more than eight million children enrolled in schools across Afghanistan this year, education ministry figure show. Around 40 per cent are girls.

But 3.5 million other schoolage children will miss out due to school closures, grinding conflict and poverty.