BOUNDARY WALLS
IN AFGHANISTAN’S Parwan Province, at
CAI-supported Musakhil Middle School, a
few feet of stone and burnt brick are all that
stand between 150 girls and an education.
This in not because the school has a wall
keeping them out and a “no girls allowed”
policy. Quite the opposite. The school has
no boundary wall to speak of, and this is the
problem.
Boundary walls are an essential part of
school life in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and
Tajikistan. Many schools, especially those in
busy or conservative areas, run into problems
when they are unable to build the protective
barriers.
In May 2015, an eighth-grade girl at Mir
Afghan High School ran away from school,
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disappeared, and never came back. Her family
suspects she eloped with her boyfriend, and
bemoans the fact that this would not have
been possible if the school had had a wall and
security gate.
Incidents like this can result in female
students being pulled from the school, with
conservative parents refusing to reenroll their
daughters until a security guard and barbed
boundary wall are put in place.
DANGERS OUT, STUDENTS IN
This may sound extreme, but schools in
conflict areas are not only centers of learning,
they are also mini-fortresses keeping students
in and dangers out.
CENTRAL ASIA INSTITUTE