Three decades of war and civil unrest have significantly weakened Afghanistan’s educational infrastructure. Female education, particularly in rural areas, is minimal and literacy rates continue to be worse for women than men.
Across Afghanistan, fewer than 30 percent of the population (over the age of 15) are literate. Uruzgan province is particularly underdeveloped, with the literacy rate for women estimated at around 0.6 percent. Girls attend school for less than half the number of years of Afghan boys.
The Australian Defence Force managed works team, part of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Uruzgan province, helped to build the Malilai Girls’ School.
The school has capacity for 700 students and consists of 23 classrooms, three laboratories and a gymnasium.
MAMA’s Patron, Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce, along with MAMA’s General Manager, Paul Singer and Director, Stephen Brady, presented several thousand much needed Afghan textbooks during a visit to Tarin Kowt in April 2012.
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