This is the second successive year that the educational system of Afghanistan is negatively impacted by covid-19. Last year, when the school year arrived, the Corona virus also cast its shadow everywhere in the country. As a result, the gates of schools were closed due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus in the world and in Afghanistan. The Ministry of Education recommended online courses, but the students could not equally follow online lessons due to different reasons such as shortage of electricity, high cost of internet price, and more importantly the shortage of facilities in rural areas. In fact, the impact of covid-19 was more serious in villages and in remote parts of the country due to the level of economic gaps between urban and rural areas. In most rural areas, both online and offline classes were entirely shut down. The children remained completely deprived of the educational services in the country.
After one year of distance from educational services, when schools re-opened at the beginning of 2021, the students confronted so many new changes and challenges in educational systems. They found out that many things were not the same as in previous years. They faced various problems such as shortage of textbooks, shortage of teachers, shortage of classes, and other educational facilities. Even in the capital, school students protested due to lack of textbooks and teachers. Now after the second month of new school year, some students still complain about the aforementioned challenges. A few days ago, the west of Kabul saw a demonstration that a large number of students asking books and teachers.
Unfortunately, the schools are not only faced with quantitative challenges such as shortage of books and teachers but also qualitative challenges. Last year it was said that about 70 thousand teachers were needed to be hired across the country while 50% of the available teachers were not qualified. This year, the latest media report recently quoted from the Ministry of Education that only 20% of teachers have a bachelor’s degree while 57% of them have super-baccalaureate (graduate of 14 grade) and the rest have a baccalaureate degree (graduate of 12 grade).
In addition to quantitative and qualitative challenges in the field of teachers, Afghan schools are also faced with shortage of school buildings. According to the latest report, out of a total of 18,000 schools across the country, about 41 of these schools do not have buildings. On one hand, the schools are destroyed or used as military trenches in some parts of the country. On the other hand, The Afghan governments have not been successful in building new schools in the country. In spite of billions of dollars in aid during the last two decades, 41 % of schools have no buildings in the country. Last year, was supposed to be built nearly thousands of schools across the country, but now the report shows that only 250 schools have been built that year.
In recent weeks and days, following the media coverage of the shortage of teachers in schools, the government announced to recruit 11,000 teachers in 21 provinces of the country. The people welcomed the government’ measure, but later there have been complaints about unequal distribution of these teachers. Accordingly, there are complaints that the needs and requirements of schools have not clearly prioritized or defined. Although President Ghani emphasized the fair distribution of teachers when announced the program, the teachers have not been equally distributed. For example, unlike the needs and requirements of district 13, district 6, district 2, and 3, the lowest share have been allocated to these areas.
The next problem which highly has impacted the educational system is the rise of poverty in the last two years. Although the people were already not in a favorable condition, the outbreak of the covid-19 has further worsened the economic conditions of people throughout the country. Now, more than 70% of people do not have dry bread to survive, let alone send their children to schools and purchase educational items. Unfortunately, the prices of the goods have dramatically increased in the chaotic free market of the country. This issue has not only caused qualitative effects in the educational sector but also quantitative consequences as a large number of private school students shifted to public schools while the public schools are not in good qualitative conditions. 
In other words, private schools have largely deviated from a sound course of the competition. On one hand, the people are suffering from the consequences of covid-19 and the high rise of poverty in the country. On the other hand, private schools sharply increased school fees without enhancing the quality of educational services and without adding to the salaries of the teachers. It seems that they just think about how to fill their pockets by hiring the weakest teachers with low pay salaries while attempting to collect more fees. They compelled a large number of families to shift to public schools while the public schools have no further capacity to accept more students. They have already faced increasing challenges such as teachers’ shortage, book shortage, and building shortages as aforementioned.
As a consequence of new and old challenges in the area of educational services, Afghanistan is considered as one of the most exceptional countries in the world where many school-age children either have no access to educational services or have access to the lowest quality educational services. If we want to move towards changes such as state-building and nation-building, we must put education at the top priority with providing equal educational services in all parts of the country. As it is the best way to reaching sustainable peace, stability, and brotherhood. If we do not change our views towards education, trillions of dollars cannot change our country. Accordingly, if we cultivate the seeds of discrimination in minds of children now, we should not expect them to have feelings of national oneness in the future.